No Shock: ‘Big One’ Does Well in L.A.

TV or not TV. . . .

BOX SCORE: That NBC miniseries about the major earthquake predicted for Los Angeles naturally got a heavy tune-in here in its opening segment Sunday.

“The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake” averaged 29% of the local TV audience--with the figure actually soaring above 30% as the first half of the two-parter ended.

And NBC’s version of the quake, with all its horror, was yet to come Monday.

Big-city viewers around the nation, however, showed hardly more interest in L.A.’s nightmare than in two competing broadcasts Sunday--CBS’ Michael Douglas-Glenn Close film, “Fatal Attraction,” and ABC’s “Call Me Anna,” in which Patty Duke starred in a story of her life.

Overnight averages for the major markets gave “The Big One” a 16.3 rating, “Call Me Anna” a 16.2 and “Fatal Attraction” a 15.8, with each of the programs winning 24% of the audience, according to NBC figures.

National ratings, yet to come, sometimes vary.

ABC actually gave competitor NBC a slightly bigger audience for its earthquake opener. But NBC said its figures may be weighted differently to allow for such factors as preemptions and market size. “The Big One” was preempted by NBC’s Dallas station for the Dallas-San Francisco NFL football game.

The second part of “The Big One” was scheduled for showing in Dallas Monday, with a brief opening recap of the first half that viewers missed.

While Sunday’s competition was the biggest showdown of the November ratings sweeps, interest was also high Saturday as ABC’s “Twin Peaks” finally--apparently--resolved the murder of Laura Palmer. The episode averaged a solid 22% audience share in Los Angeles and 19% in big cities overall.

Although the Big Three networks pulled out the stops promoting their Sunday specials, none came close to last week’s one-hour NBC program celebrating the 200th episode of “Cheers.” National ratings show it earned a 29.5 rating with a stupendous 44% share of viewers.

SILVER LINING: Considering TV’s shameful lack of black family life in weekly drama series, it’s good to see NBC’s police show “In the Heat of the Night” make some progress with the married couple played by Howard Rollins and Anne-Marie Johnson.

Even competitor Roseanne Barr says she likes “In the Heat of the Night”--although it goes head-to-head weekly against her Tuesday “Roseanne” series on ABC. She’s a big fan of “Heat” co-star Carroll O’Connor from his days on “All in the Family.”

NAILED: Hurrah for the viewer who sent a blistering letter to his cable company, saying: “Charging subscribers for a program guide is equivalent to a restaurant charging its patrons a stiff fee for a look at its menu.”

RETREAT: “Personalities,” the syndicated news magazine shown on KTTV Channel 11, is hurting. First, host Charlie Rose quit. Now the series--pummeled by such 7 p.m. competition as “Entertainment Tonight,” “Wheel of Fortune” and “Cosby Show” reruns--has been yanked and rescheduled, starting this week, at 11:30 p.m. daily (12:30 a.m. Friday nights). It’s replacement at 7 p.m. on KTTV? Good old standby “MASH.”

TREAT: TV viewing may be low on Thanksgiving Day, but KCOP Channel 13 figures it has the perfect solution--the Oscar-winning film “The Last Emperor,” which will air uncut at 7 p.m. The female lead is Joan Chen, now of ABC’s “Twin Peaks.”

COUCH POTATO SPECIAL: Should be a cornucopia of show business history when Carl Reiner visits NBC’s “Later With Bob Costas” for a two-part interview Wednesday and Thursday nights following the David Letterman show. Worth taping, for sure.

GRAND SLAM: On the Costas show last week, Chris Evert said Martina Navratilova was coached into developing a killer instinct against her that made all the difference in their rivalry. “Unfortunately, it worked,” said Evert. “It was bad for our relationship, but she started beating me.”

ALL SHOOK UP: NBC’s outrageously exploitative promotion for “The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake” reached some kind of nadir with a press release that was headlined: “Small Quake Felt in Southern California Four Days Before ‘The Big One.’ ” This was just one of a series of promotional dispatches from a network that suddenly developed this great sense of public responsibility about earthquakes just in time for the November sweeps.

DRAWING BOARD: ABC apparently would like a stronger series than “Head of the Class” between its high-powered Tuesday tandem of “Who’s the Boss?” and “Roseanne.” And the producers of “Head of the Class,” worried that this could mean the ax even though the show’s done well, have sent out letters asking for press support. An ABC spokesman says no decision has been made on “Class” and that “it wouldn’t necessarily be off--it could be moved.”

VISITORS: Jack Benny’s daughter, writer Joan Benny, drops in on the Johnny Carson show Friday. And Dennis Hopper hosts this week’s “Saturday Night Live,” with Paul Simon as a guest.

MOODY BLUES: If the show’s as good as the script, “Midnight Caller” will have something special Friday when Robert Klein guest-stars as a once-famous, now-troubled, radical radio disc jockey of the 1960s.

Say good night, Gracie. . . .