I REMEMBER MAMA

Valerie’s dead in a car crash, David can’t cope and Peter Pan flies in to the rescue.

So begins season three of NBC’s “Valerie”--uh, make that “Valerie’s Family”--at least according to the script being rehearsed at press time for the sitcom’s Sept. 21 kickoff. Broadway’s erstwhile Peter Pan, Sandy Duncan, joins the cast as Sandy Hogan, sister of widower Michael (Josh Taylor) and a recent divorcee herself--replacing the sacked Valerie Harper.

The opener finds Sandy already living in the Hogan home and landing a counseling job at the boys’ school. One of her first cases: a distraught David (Jason Bateman) still reeling from his mother’s death nine months earlier and taking on more responsibility than he can handle.

The death of Harper’s character effectively slams the door on her return to the series. But: “I just read a draft but I don’t want to commit to that one,” said an NBC rep. “You know how those things change.”

The new segment replaces two false-start premieres previously shot--one with Harper (dropped last month by producer Lorimar following the contract disputes) and the other without her (made during her contract hold-out). Both will be modified and aired later in the season--a prudent move given the show’s half-mil-plus-per-episode cost.