TV & VIDEO - Jan. 18, 1988

NBC’s Emmy-winning medical drama “St. Elsewhere” will voluntarily cease production in March and its crew will move to a new series, a spokesman for MTM productions said Friday. There was no immediate reaction from NBC’s Brandon Tartikoff, who said in a news conference last week that the network wanted the show to return. An NBC spokesman said that the issue involved “the financial deficit of the show” and that discussions between the network and the show’s producers were continuing. After the final taping of the show’s 138th episode, the “St. Elsewhere” production team headed by executive producer Bruce Paltrow will relocate to New York to begin work on “Tattinger’s,” slotted to debut next fall on NBC. Stephen Collins plays Nick Tattinger, a New York restaurateur and man-about-town who will become involved in the lives of the people he meets.