TELEVISION - Aug. 3, 1993

Fugitive Alert: Fans of the long-running ‘60s TV classic “The Fugitive” have a heavy weekend ahead. The Warner Bros. film “The Fugitive,” starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, opens Friday. Meanwhile, on Saturday at 4 p.m., A&E; will air Episode One, “Fear in a Desert City,” of the original TV series starring David Janssen, followed by “The Judgment,” the series’ two-part finale, at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. A&E; has aired all 120 hourlong episodes of the TV show a total of nine times since January, 1990, and is currently airing the show Monday through Friday at 1 p.m., with a repeat the following morning at 8. Ford and Janssen each play Dr. Richard Kimble, an innocent man accused of murder who tries to avoid capture as he searches for the one-armed man who killed his wife.

*Late News: Because its newsroom computer system crashed, KTLA-TV Channel 5 was unable to broadcast its 10 p.m. newscast Sunday. News director Warren Cereghino said it was the first time in the station’s 46-year history that it didn’t air a newscast as scheduled. The system, which handles the newscast’s script and technical instructions, crashed at about 9:15 p.m. and was revived shortly after 10 p.m., Cereghino said. An episode of “Hunter” was rerun in place of the newscast, which then began at 11 p.m. “I feel badly for our audience and apologize to them. We are taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Cereghino said.

*Premiering at No. 1: The Saturday night premiere of KTTV Channel 11’s “Culture Clash,” a comedy show starring the group of the same name, came in first in its time period. KTTV said that compared to the previous Saturday, the show also improved the time period standings by at least a third for the Fox network’s “Three’s Company” and “I Love Lucy” shows.

Baby Makes Four: Kathie Lee Gifford gave birth to a girl Monday, her husband, Frank Gifford, said in a telephone call to “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee.” He reported that Cassidy Erin, their second child, weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces and that both mother and baby were doing well. Kathie Lee Gifford is expected to return to work in September.

*Ailing Actor: Leonard Stabb, an actor on CBS’ “Guiding Light” soap opera, was in critical condition at Westchester County Medical Center in New York after he smashed head-first into a tree while hang gliding last weekend. Stabb had been cast as Hart Jessup in February after a three-month, six-city talent search. The 29-year-old, who had 10 to 15 years of hang-gliding experience and was a part-time instructor, was at Ellenville Mountain, about 70 miles north of New York City. Prior to joining “Guiding Light,” Stabb played Hunter Guthrie on ABC’s “One Life to Live.” Stabb’s role will be temporarily recast beginning with the Aug. 16 episode, said a spokesman for Procter & Gamble Productions, adding that prior to the accident, Stabb taped episodes of “Guiding Light,” which will air through Aug. 12.

MOVIES

French Fare: Southern California will be the test market in September for expanding the French film industry’s international outreach. Daniel Toscan du Plantier, president of France’s film industry export body Unifrance, announced that Unifrance and the American Multi Cinema (AMC) chain, which controls 1,700 movie screens in the United States, plan to dub a sample of French films into English and show them first in Los Angeles and selected suburban Southern California shopping malls. The films will be light comedies with good box-office records in France, and among the 15 possibilities are “Une Epoque Formidable” (“A Great Period”), a bittersweet comedy about loss of status, and the bedroom farce “Le Zebre” (“The Zebra”).

POP/ROCK

Madonna Eyes China: Madonna has apparently toned down her act enough for Chinese officials to resume chats with her regarding a performance in China. Her New York-based publicist Liz Rosenberg said, “Madonna is very interested in playing in China.” Chinese reports said the international star “indicated that she would respect and accept conditions and demands laid down by the Chinese side.”

QUICK TAKES

Janet Jackson has been set as a live performer on the “MTV Video Music Awards” show Sept. 8 and is expected to launch a national concert tour in October. . . . Malcolm-Jamal Warner has been named the host of “CBS Storybreak,” a returning CBS Saturday morning series of animated adaptations of popular children’s books. . . . Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson and George Kennedy are set to begin principal photography for the Paramount Pictures film “The Naked Gun III: The Final Insult.”