Chung Trades Series for Chance at Motherhood : Television: CBS newswoman postpones her new Monday night program but will still do six network ‘specials.’

In one of the more unusual developments in network television, newswoman Connie Chung declared Monday that she is postponing her new CBS magazine series while she and her husband, TV journalist Maury Povich, try to have a child.

The program, “Face to Face with Connie Chung”--a retooling from her Saturday night show of last season--was scheduled to begin a regular run in September at 10 p.m. on Mondays.

But CBS News announced on Monday that she will only do six as-yet-unscheduled “specials” through December, and will continue anchoring the Sunday night edition of “CBS Evening News.”

CBS Entertainment then announced that it will fill the Monday night slot with a new Sharon Gless series, “The Trials of Rosie O’Neill,” in which the actress will play an upscale Beverly Hills corporate attorney turned public defender for downscale clients. The executive producer is Barney Rosenzweig, who also ran “Cagney & Lacey,” in which Gless co-starred.

The new series will debut Sept. 17 during the network’s premiere week.

A CBS News publicist said that the weekly “Face to Face With Connie Chung” series will be started “as soon as possible.” But there was no estimate of when that might be.

“Maury and I have reached an important point in our lives,” Chung said in a prepared statement released by the network. “We want very much to have a child. Unfortunately, time is running out for me when it comes to childbearing. I will be 44 next month.”

Povich anchors the daily syndicated magazine series “A Current Affair,” although he is leaving when his contract is up next summer to develop a talk show for Paramount Domestic Television.

Chung said that after consulting her doctors last week, she felt that she needed “to take a very aggressive approach to having a baby.”

She asked the network “to lighten my workload” and said that the network was accepting her decision “wholeheartedly.”

“This was an extremely difficult decision for obvious reasons,” she went on. “I have always kept my private life just that. It’s difficult to publicly reveal such an important private moment. But I want to be honest with everyone. I look forward to returning to a weekly prime-time series as soon as I can.”

The network also released statements from CBS executives saying that they supported Chung’s decision and would welcome her back when she is “ready.”

A CBS News spokeswoman in New York, Catherine Upin, said that there has been no discussion at this point about adjusting Chung’s contract.

During a press conference July 14 in Los Angeles at the annual summer interview tours for TV writers, Chung was asked if she wanted to co-anchor the nightly newscasts with Dan Rather.

“I have my plate full,” she said emphatically. “I mean, I’m doing just fine with . . . I have a lot of work to do. I’m very old”--she laughed--”and it’s hard to keep up with all this traveling around.”

Upin related Chung’s schedule that week: Monday interviews in New York, Tuesday interviews in Washington, Wednesday and Thursday interviews in a small California town, Friday interviews in L.A., Saturday the press conference and the last flight to New York for the Sunday night newscast, then Monday back to L.A. for two stories.