NEW FALL TV SEASON : CABLE MENU’S FIRST-RUN FARE

Instead of the familiar menu of theatrical movies and second-run network programming, expect a broader array of original productions on cable TV this fall as the companies scramble to carve their own unique and marketable niche in the competitive video market.

Although most cable companies will continue to rely at least in part on recent theatrical releases and syndicated programming to fill out their schedules, cable representatives say that original offerings--including comedy, variety, special events, made-for-cable movies and that nebulous commodity called “reality programming”--are by necessity becoming the staple of cable TV.

Some cable companies are developing situation-comedy and drama series, but the focus is on specials and movies that do not fit the current network issue movie mold, rather than on product similar to network prime-time offerings.

“I think the entire marketplace has changed,” said Rick Bieber, a senior vice president at Home Box Office. “We certainly no longer see ourselves as just a distributor of theatrical films to the household. We see ourselves as a full-fledged production company.”

HBO has stepped up its production of original movies because they have become at least 50% more popular than the theatrical movies that inspired the Home Box Office name, Bieber said. The number of movies produced per year has risen from 6 to 8 in 1983 to 10 to 12 in 1987.

“We see a great deal of interest in original programming,” agreed Fred Schneier, executive vice president of Showtime/The Movie Channel. He estimated that 30% of the company’s prime-time offerings this fall will be original productions. “It’s very much a part of the staff of our lives. These are the things we can provide as a major alternative to network and (other) pay-TV services.”

Not only HBO and Showtime, cable’s two largest companies, have gotten into the original-programming act. New York-based Lifetime, which programs for women, recently acquired a new program development executive and a large new production facility in Queens strictly for in-house productions. “We have now opened our own stand, if you will,” said Charles Gingold, vice president of programming.

Gingold believes that eventually cable services will have complete schedules of original programs, although not soon. “I think that has to be the goal,” he said. “Until that day comes, I don’t think the cable stations will be considered in the same league as the networks.”

A preview of this fall’s cable highlights:

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Debuting tonight is “Double Helix,” a docudrama starring Jeff Goldblum and Tim Pigott-Smith as 1950s scientists Jim Watson and Francis Crick, who discovered the secret of the structure of DNA, the genetic code. Later will come “A&E; Passport: Footsteps,” an eight-part British series in which David Drew explores the life of a 19th-Century explorer (Oct. 3), a two-hour profile of Mikhail Baryshnikov, hosted by Shirley MacLaine (Oct. 22); a tribute to the National Theatre in Washington, featuring such performers as Helen Hayes, Angela Lansbury, Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey and Debbie Reynolds (Nov. 3); and “The Divided Union,” a five-part documentary series in which a team of modern-day warriors re-enact the battles of the Civil War (Nov. 11).

THE DISNEY CHANNEL

“College Bowl--The National Championship ‘87,” a revival of the classic collegiate competition, began running Sunday. Coming Oct. 3 is the world television premiere of Disney’s animated feature “Sleeping Beauty” and the premiere of “The Missing Episodes of Ozzie and Harriet,” a series of 100 episodes of the 1957-66 series unseen since their original run. In November the channel will present “The Christmas Visitor,” a new holiday movie with Dee Wallace Stone.

HOME BOX OFFICE

HBO’s first-run dramatic fare for fall begins Sunday with “Mandela,” about the lives of South African human-rights activists Nelson and Winnie Mandela, followed in October by “The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains,” about Robert Eliot Burns, who escaped from a chain gang in the 1930s, starring Val Kilmer and Charles Durning, and “Intimate Contact,” an AIDS drama starring Claire Bloom and Daniel Massey. They’ll be followed by “Laguna Heat,” a steamy murder mystery set in Southern California, starring Harry Hamlin, Rip Torn and Catherine Hicks; “Swallows Come Back,” about a man whose search for his missing daughter leads him into the world of a right-wing political organization in the Midwest, and “The Impossible Spy,” the true story of Israeli spy Elie Cohen, starring John Shea.

SHOWTIME

Upcoming comedy specials include “Gallagher’s Overboard!,” Elayne Boosler’s “Broadway Baby,” “The Rich Hall Show” and “Just for Laughs II,” featuring the international comedy festival at Montreal, hosted by David Steinberg. On Nov. 14, Bob Einstein begins his own spinoff series from Showtime’s “Bizarre” series called “Super Dave,” in which he portrays Super Dave Osborne, a bumbling stunt man and variety-show host.

BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION

Two new series premiere this week. Tonight: “Going Places,” a magazine-format travel show from a black perspective. Coming Wednesday is “Gospel Magazine,” an “Entertainment Tonight”-style show on gospel music.

BRAVO

This programming service is introducing a series this month called “Bravo, Broadway,” a collection of plays, operas, music performances and profiles of playwrights and composers such as David Mamet, Edward Albee and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Among the programs that will play in coming months: “ ‘Master Harold’ . . . and the Boys,” “True West,” the Richard Strauss opera “Der Rosenkavalier,” “Aida” and “Anita O’Day Live at Ronny Scott’s,” with tunes by Gershwin, Porter and Ellington.

CINEMAX

Original programming for the fall includes “High School Video Yearbook” with Franken and David, “Father Guido Sarducci’s Vatican Inquirer: The Pope’s Tour” and Garry Trudeau’s play “Rap Master Ronnie.”

THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL

“The UNICEF Hour,” beginning Sept. 22 and continuing through November, will feature children from around the world. “No Guts, No Glory,” premiering Oct. 17, is a six-part series profiling handicapped athletes. In November it will present an eight-part series, “Africa” with historian Basil Davidson.

LIFETIME

“Way Off Broadway,” a daily variety show starring comedienne Joy Behar, premieres Sept. 21. On Sept. 26, Susan Lucci will host “The Working Women’s Survival Hour,” a special offering innovative alternatives on how women can cope in the working world.

NICKELODEON

Premiering Oct. 4 is “16 Cinema,” a series of five one-hour programs about teen problems in family situations. The following day, Nickelodeon introduces “Elephant Show,” a fantasy-mystery for preschoolers. “Finders Keepers,” due Nov. 2, is a game show in which teams of children solve puzzles in a mansion built for the show.