Two soap opera stars--Susan Lucci of daytime’s...

Two soap opera stars--Susan Lucci of daytime’s “All My Children” and John James of “The Colbys”--are paired in a movie for NBC, “Secret Passions.” Billed by the network as a “sensual thriller,” it features Lucci and James as a vacationing married couple whose lives take an unhappy turn when Lucci is possessed by a murderous ghost (Finola Hughes).

Neil Simon’s play “Plaza Suite,” adapted for the movies in 1975, is now going to be done for television. And just as Walter Matthau played three roles in the movie version, so will Carol Burnett take on three parts in the two-hour special for ABC. Joining her in Simon’s three one-act stories set at the Plaza Hotel in New York will be Dabney Coleman, Richard Crenna and Hal Holbrook.

Susan Dey of “L.A. Law” portrays a nun in “Angel in Green,” a movie for CBS that’s being filmed in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Bruce Boxleitner of “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” plays an Army officer who helps her defend an island against rebel soldiers. Milo O’Shea co-stars.

Edward James Olmos, who plays Lt. Castillo on “Miami Vice,” will portray Jaime Escalante, a teacher at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, in “Walking on Water.” The movie will be released theatrically and then shown on PBS’ “American Playhouse” series. Olmos previously starred in “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez” for “American Playhouse.”

Judith Light of ABC’s “Who’s the Boss?” has the lead role in “Hit and Run,” a TV movie that will be broadcast on NBC next season. She plays the mother of a boy who has witnessed a murder. Also in the cast are Rhea Perlman, Jimmy Smits and Audra Lindley.

Oprah Winfrey will host a three-hour Fourth of July special that ABC is cooking up. The program will originate from St. Louis but will feature musical performances from around the country as it celebrates Independence Day and seeks to call attention to the nation’s illiteracy problem.

Raquel Welch has been given a challenging role in a TV movie for NBC, “Right to Die.” In it she plays a woman with a degenerative disease who wants to die but must wage a lengthy battle to do so.