Another Turn for Two Epic Chamberlain Miniseries

TV or not TV. . . .

BIG: With networks slashing costs and thinking smaller, viewers are about to get two major reminders of the glory days of epic miniseries.

TNT cable will rerun “Centennial” starting next Tuesday and ABC will repeat “The Thorn Birds” beginning July 18, both starring the longtime king of miniseries, Richard Chamberlain. His other credits include “Shogun” and “Wallenberg.”

“Centennial,” which first aired in 1978-79 and co-starred Robert Conrad along with numerous other top TV names, traced the development of a Colorado town from the late 18th Century to contemporary times.

“The Thorn Birds,” a 1983 production that earned huge ratings, was set in Australia and presented Chamberlain as an ambitious priest in love with a beautiful woman. The cast included Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown and Piper Laurie.

It will be a big month for Chamberlain, now 58, because he also stars in “My Fair Lady” at the Music Center from July 6-18 and then takes the show to the Orange County Performing Arts Center from July 20-25.

CHOICES: Good thing Ed Bradley is out of “Street Stories,” which CBS says is being retooled. The series sometimes looked tacky and wasn’t doing his “60 Minutes” image any good.

INSIDE SCOOP: Jay Leno says those would-be New York terrorists were captured last week when they were surrounded “by a dozen NBC executives trying to buy the rights to their TV movie.”

THE LONG GOODBY: Say, those NBC farewells are turning out to be terrific--the farewell to “The Cosby Show,” the farewell to Johnny Carson, the farewell to “Cheers,” the farewell to David Letterman. I don’t know, though--there must be a better way to earn ratings.

Anyway, NBC’s parent company, General Electric, says we should all stop calling the network “beleaguered” and “embattled” because its “pretax income and cash flow are up dramatically in 1993.” Well, that certainly should keep viewers happy. The program flow kind of counts for something too.

SLAM DUNK: Pro basketball, once a ratings dud, gave third-place NBC something to really cheer about in the Chicago-Phoenix playoffs. The first three games ranked in the top five programs for the week ending June 13. And the last three contests--plus a post-game show--were the four highest-rated broadcasts for the week ending June 20.

SCORECARD: ABC’s “World News Tonight” remained ahead in the ratings in the week of June 14-20, with the “CBS Evening News,” which recently teamed Dan Rather and Connie Chung, a distant second.

IMAGINATION: Superstation TBS has a July 18 documentary that focuses on a coral reef as “a hotbed of reproductive activity.” Title of the show: “Sex on the Reef.” Geraldo and Sally Jessy couldn’t do better.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The late Groucho Marx told David Frost on TV: “I don’t want to see anything on stage that I don’t do at home.”

ON THE ROAD: Huell Howser has a July 8 special on KCET-TV Channel 28 about the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Switzerland, then returns to the station July 11 with an examination of the Golden Gate Bridge on the show “California’s Gold.”

SUMMING UP: “The television industry has trouble in dealing with African-Americans in leadership roles,” says Sandra Evers-Manly.

And that’s a big reason for the lack of drama series about blacks on TV, says the leader of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP.

“You’ve got the comedies, but you don’t have balance,” she says. Sitcoms perpetuate the image that blacks “sing and dance and we’re funny people” but are not to be taken seriously.

“What’s missing is the common people who do normal things, go to the store and raise their children. A lot of the time we’re held to different standards in a black drama series. If it fails, we’re out the door. You get just one try and that’s it.”

Adds the executive, a director in the equal opportunity program for Northrop Corp.: “It comes down to who’s going to do the right thing. The comedies are just one side of the experience.”

FOXY: There’s logic in the new campaign that advertises Chevy Chase’s upcoming, late-night, Fox TV series in United Artists Theatres. Chase, whose show premieres Sept. 7, has a strong movie link. In addition, Fox’s main viewership is the young audience that comprises the bulk of filmgoers. The campaign began Friday and runs through Sept. 9.

NOW AND THEN: Stand-up comedian Brett Butler, whose new, fall ABC series “Grace Under Fire’ is being touted by Madison Avenue as a strong entry, once did a turn as a writer for Dolly Parton’s ill-fated variety show. The experience “is best forgotten,” says Butler, who stars as a working mother in her half-hour sitcom.

WHO’S THE BOSS?: Tony Danza is co-executive producer of boxer George Foreman’s new, fall ABC sitcom “George,” in which the fighter plays a family man who starts a youth center. Before starring in “Who’s the Boss?,” Danza played a struggling boxer in “Taxi.”

BEING THERE: “Well, uh, gosh, what do you think, Harriet?” --Ozzie Nelson in “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .