Richard Kiley and Eva Marie Saint have...

Richard Kiley and Eva Marie Saint have been cast as the parents of four grown children in “A Year in the Life,” a six-hour miniseries that NBC plans to broadcast in December. It follows a middle-class family through one year of events. Also in the cast are Adam Arkin, David Oliver and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Burt Lancaster is keeping busy. He’s starring as the legendary showman P. T. Barnum in “Barnum,” a TV movie for CBS, and in “Control,” a movie for Home Box Office. It’s about an international experiment to study the psychological effects of living in a nuclear fallout shelter. Also in the HBO cast are Kate Nelligan, Ben Gazzara, Kate Reid and Erland Josephson.

The Showtime cable channel is planning a series of original movies based on the popular Harlequin Romance novels. The first one to go before the cameras is “Love With a Perfect Stranger,” starring Marilu Henner and Daniel Massey. It’s due to be shown early next year.

Coming up Sept. 13 is the 33rd annual Miss America Pageant. Gary Collins of “Hour Magazine” will be back as host for the fifth year. The event will be telecast from Atlantic City on NBC.

NBC’s “Today” show will make its second prime-time appearance Sept. 11 with an hourlong look at the television medium. Bryant Gumbel and Willard Scott will host the broadcast from Universal Studios. The program will look at the coming season, will talk about TV news and will feature a coversation between producers and critics.

Briefly noted: John Ritter, formerly of “Three’s Company,” will be a guest star on an episode of Lucille Ball’s new ABC series, “Life With Lucy”. . . . Dana Elcar, who appeared intermittently on “MacGyver” last season, will be a regular this year on that ABC series, playing a man who works closely with the character of series star Richard Dean Anderson.

CBS will broadcast a movie this season called “Outlaw,” based on the exploits of Claude Dallas Jr., a mountain man who killed two game wardens, eluded capture for months, ultimately was imprisoned and then broke out. Matt Salinger will portray Dallas, with Rip Torn, Claude Akins, Lois Nettleton and Pat Hingle featured in other prominent roles.

As has become the custom in recent years, Johnny Carson will mark his anniversary as host of “The Tonight Show” with a prime-time special. This year’s program, celebrating his 24th year at the late-night helm, will be broadcast Sept. 25 on NBC, with the usual array of highlights from years gone by.

Andy Griffith will be a regular on NBC this season in a series called “Matlock,” but he’s also set to turn up on CBS Sept. 28 in a TV movie, “Under the Influence.” He plays the head of a family that is upset by his alcoholism. Joyce Van Patten portrays his wife, with Season Hubley, Paul Provenza, Keanu Reeves and Dana Andersen as their children.