ET CETERA

Republic Pictures Corp. and United Artists Communications Inc. will spend $60 million over the next five years to develop and produce TV programming under a new unit, Republic Pictures Television. . . . Debbie Reynolds will play a film star hoping for a comeback in a Broadway musical in a “Perry Mason” TV movie starting production next week in Denver. . . . “Lassie” is coming back as a weekly half-hour series to be produced by Al Burton Productions. . . . TV stars past and present are being rounded up to appear on “Couch Potatoes,” a new TV trivia game show from Saban Productions and Group W Productions. . . . Cancun will be the site of this year’s “Miss Universe” pageant on May 23, to be covered by CBS.