‘Elvis’ Versus Lansbury: It’s Now or Never

TV or not TV. . . .

CHALLENGE: Is “Murder, She Wrote,” CBS’ top hit, ready to be taken?

ABC thinks so--and believes it has the guns in two new series, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Elvis.”

“Videos” has already shown ratings muscle in several outings. “Elvis” is about Elvis Presley as a young man.

And ABC will fire the two half-hour series against “Murder, She Wrote” as a Sunday tandem starting Feb. 11.

It’s not the first challenge for “Murder, She Wrote.” NBC tossed “Family Ties” against it, but the Angela Lansbury detective yarn held its ground.

And Lansbury’s amazing drawing power could well pull her through again.

But ABC will give “Elvis”--starring Michael St. Gerard--a whopping sendoff with a Feb. 6 preview following No. 1 “Roseanne.”

Priscilla Presley, the singer’s former wife, is one of the executive producers of “Elvis.”

BIG: Now that Roseanne Barr’s got a new husband (over the weekend) and a new producer to keep her happy on “Roseanne,” will she suddenly become a little buttercup? Nahhhh. She wouldn’t be half the star she is if she were predictable.

FAREWELL TOUR: Judy Woodruff became host of PBS’ “Frontline” after anchor Jessica Savitch was killed in a 1983 car accident. And she’ll launch tonight’s season debut of “Frontline”--about the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland. But come June, Woodruff is out of there despite her impressive growth on the series. Says she wants to spend more time in her reporting role on PBS’ “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.” Kudos.

SHOCKER: It’s infinitely sad to read of the tragedies of former child actors. And the suicide of Rusty Hamer, 42, once the funny and feisty little son on “The Danny Thomas Show,” is another stunner. Couldn’t help thinking of troubled Anissa Jones--the lovely little pig-tailed Buffy on “Family Affair”--who died at 18.

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: Paul McCartney is the subject, on stage and off, when CBS’ “48 Hours” expands from an hour to 90 minutes Thursday. The conversations with the former Beatle took place during his first U.S. tour in 13 years.

IN A WORD, NYET: ABC took out huge ads for last week’s Moscow visit by the Diane Sawyer-Sam Donaldson show, “Prime Time Live.” Leading with its chin, the network described it as “a broadcast you can’t possibly say nyet to.” Oh my. The show died with just 15% of the viewing audience. It got creamed by “L.A. Law” and “Knots Landing.”

BALLOON PAYMENTS: “Saturday Night with Connie Chung” and “Prime Time Live” came in 74th and 75th among 86 shows in last week’s ratings. What does that tell you about the value of anchor salaries?

SLEEPERS: On the other hand, CBS’ unheralded “Jake and the Fatman” cracked the top 30 last week. And ABC’s “Coach,” which replaced “Chicken Soup,” seems to be building steam in its back-to-back pairing with “Roseanne.”

FUTURE PERFECT: Keep an eye on Jay Leno’s 1989 prediction that Home Shopping Network will merge with C-SPAN “for those of you who want the convenience of buying a politician in the privacy of your own home.” Seems particularly appropriate for California these days.

REVENGE: Sportscaster Scott St. James, fired by KCAL Channel 9, plays a TV station manager in ABC’s upcoming “Equal Justice” series and says, “To get into character, I’m refusing to return phone calls.”

FAST BREAK: Biggest kick in TV sports these days is watching the Clippers suddenly come of age.

EXECUTIVE SUITE: Now that Barbara Corday has split from CBS as head of prime-time programs, how long will it be before another woman reaches that level in male-dominated network TV?

CLASS ACT: Did you catch last week’s vivid NBC drama, “Blue Bayou,” by producer-writer Terry Louise Fisher, co-creator of “L.A. Law”? Real series possibilities in “Blue Bayou,” which starred the superb Alfre Woodward as an L.A. district attorney who moves to New Orleans with her son.

MORNING LINE: Sunday’s San Francisco-Denver showdown will be among the highest-rated TV shows ever because all Super Bowls are--but the champ is still the 1983 finale of “MASH.” It scored an unreal 60.3 rating and attracted 77% of the national TV audience.

PRIME CHOICE: After our item suggesting that TV carry Cal State Long Beach football because George Allen’s the new coach, Prime Ticket called to say it was doing just that--at least three games this fall. On the other hand, the channel also reminded us it carried three of the team’s games this past season before Knute--I mean George--began his reign.

OBSERVER: Reader Barbara Bartole of La Habra says James (“Gunsmoke”) Arness and the Rev. Billy Graham are look-alikes. “Must be the noses,” she writes.

ALL-PRO: Bill Murray’s low-life saloon singer in those “Saturday Night Live” reruns gets cheapness down to a level where it’s never been before. Caught him singing “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” to a group of feminists--Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman.

AROUND THE BEND: Saigon and Vietnam look pretty distant and real when you watch them on “Tour of Duty”--especially considering the show is shot in the Santa Clarita Valley.

BEING THERE: “History is mostly killin’ people.” Who said it? Beaver Cleaver in “Leave It to Beaver.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .