TELEVISIONSuperman Bows to ‘seaQuest’: According to early...

TELEVISION

Superman Bows to ‘seaQuest’: According to early estimates, Sunday night’s debut of NBC’s “seaQuest DSV,” the new adventure series from Steven Spielberg, was a big ratings hit, with more than 17.1 million homes tuning in during its two-hour premiere. “seaQuest DSV” aired opposite another season premiere, ABC’s “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” which drew 11.2 million homes, according to early estimates.

Time for ‘Paula’ and ‘George’: ABC has weighed in with premiere dates for two of its new fall series, “The Paula Poundstone Show” and “George.” The hourlong “Paula Poundstone Show,” starring the comedian, will premiere Saturday, Oct. 30 at 10 p.m., moving to its regular 9 p.m. slot the following Saturday. “George,” the half-hour comedy starring former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman, premieres in its regular 8 p.m. Saturday time period on Nov. 6.

Carroll Goes to NBC News: Larry Carroll, a KCAL-TV reporter and weekend anchor who was let go by the independent Los Angeles station earlier this year, has joined NBC News as a general correspondent based in NBC’s Burbank bureau. Carroll had been with KCAL since 1989 and had previously spent 17 years at Los Angeles’ KABC-TV. He began his broadcasting career at Los Angeles’ KJLH-FM (102.3). Earlier this year, he won the National Assn. of Black Journalists Award for Excellence in International Reporting.

MOVIES

The Shadow Knows . . . : Sir Ian McKellen, Jonathan Winters and Peter Boyle have been signed to co-star with Alec Baldwin in Universal Pictures’ “The Shadow,” which begins filming in Los Angeles on Sept. 27. Baldwin stars as Lamont Cranston and his alter ego, the Shadow, the same character first introduced during radio’s golden age by the legendary Orson Welles. The film, scheduled for release next summer, also stars John Lone (“The Last Emperor”) as the Shadow’s archvillain Shiwan Khan and Penelope Ann Miller (“Awakenings” and “Kindergarten Cop”) as the hero’s companion, Margo Lane.

POP/ROCK

Future Hall of Famers?: The Band, the Jackson 5, Elton John, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell and Pink Floyd are among the 1993 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees announced Monday. Those artists--all appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time--are joined by returning nominees the Animals, the Buffalo Springfield, the Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Martha & the Vandellas, the Moonglows, Rod Stewart, the Velvet Underground, the Young Rascals and Frank Zappa. More than 600 record executives, musicians and critics will select up to seven artists to be inducted Jan. 19 in New York.

No Profits for Michael: Pop star Michael Jackson is selling thousands of tickets overseas, but profits are eluding him because of the high costs of mounting his huge laser-filled show (expenses are said to top $2 million each week). Jackson is scheduled to play at Moscow’s state-owned Lenin Central Stadium Wednesday night, but organizers say the Russian government could lose as much as $150,000 on the show, mainly from nearly two weeks of profitable bookings that were canceled to accommodate Jackson’s crew. And while 68,000 $11-$111 tickets have been sold (80,000-90,000 are available and the cheapest seats cost the equivalent of a week’s average wage) promoters scarcely expect to cover their costs. Meanwhile, Jackson moonwalked for 60,000 screaming fans in two sold-out performances at the newly built Fukuoka Dome stadium in Japan over the weekend. Organizers in both countries say they didn’t expect to make money on the shows but mounted them based on Jackson’s international prestige.

STAGE

Musicians Playing On: The show will go on, at least for now. Broadway musicians opted late Sunday to continue negotiating rather than strike in protest of a plan to cut the minimum number of players used for a show. The union’s contract with the League of American Theaters and Producers expired Sunday, but the two sides negotiated all afternoon. They planned to meet again on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Last week, union members had voted 309-7 in favor of striking.

QUICK TAKES

Singer Gloria Estefan and playwright Luis Santeiro were among five recipients of Hispanic Heritage Awards in Washington Monday. Estefan was recognized for her philanthropic work on behalf of the Latino community, and Santeiro, the winner of 10 Emmy Awards for writing for children’s TV, was recognized for excellence in literature. . . . The nascent Hollywood Entertainment Museum will honor Hollywood’s powerful Fonda and Bergen families--including special tributes to the late Edgar Bergen and Henry Fonda--at the Hollywood Legacy Awards V on Nov. 13. The event is being held at the Hollywood Palladium as the first event focusing on the historic venue’s revitalization.