MOVIES - Oct. 25, 1993

Top of the Hill: “The Beverly Hillbillies” jalopy rolled into first place at the box office over the weekend. The 20th Century Fox film grossed $7.4 million, according to early industry estimates. The action movie “Demolition Man” from Warner Bros. fell to second place with $7 million. But this week’s big story is at No. 3: Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” took in $6.2 million at just 562 theaters, compared to more than 2,000 screens each for the top two films. Next weekend, the spooky animated fantasy musical from Touchstone Pictures will go into wider release in time for Halloween. Disney’s “Cool Runnings” was in fourth with $5.7 million; TriStar’s “Rudy” was fifth with $5.1 million.

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The Return of Schwab’s?: Plans are underway to reopen Schwab’s Pharmacy, the former Hollywood landmark known for the oft-repeated legend about Lana Turner being discovered while sitting at the ice cream soda counter there. Schwab’s will be at a new, as-yet-undetermined location within the next year, according to Rick Latman, the grandson of founder Leon Schwab. Latman said $4 million has been raised for the new drugstore (the old Schwab’s closed in 1983), which he described as “a little bit of Planet Hollywood and a little bit Hard Rock Cafe, reflecting the image of Hollywood as it was in the 1930s and ‘40s.” Latman said plans are also in the works to produce a movie and book telling the “rags to riches story” of Leon Schwab and his family.

TELEVISION

Bashing the Barney-bashers: The current fad of knocking children’s icon Barney “reflects a cynical lack of awareness” of the critical role the popular purple dinosaur plays in the lives of his young fans, two prominent educators say. In a study of the PBS series “Barney & Friends,” Jerome and Dorothy Singer, co-directors of the Yale University Family Television Research and Consultation Center, said, “Something very basic is being met here--a loving, caring, predictably benign presence for the child, once a role played by grandparents or uncles or aunts when extended families lived in close proximity, but now much less available because of family fractionalization and mobility.”

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Mom vs. ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’: The mother in Ohio who blames “Beavis and Butt-head” for the fatal fire her 5-year-old son started says it is not enough that MTV has toned down the show and moved it to a later time slot. Darcy Burk said she wants the show “completely off the air, and I’m going to do everything I can to get it off there.” The Oct. 6 fire killed Burk’s 2-year-old daughter. Said MTV’s Carole Robinson: “I think the fire was an unbelievable, terrible tragedy. But we do not feel the program is responsible.”

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More, More, More: It’s pick-up time. ABC has picked up the new sitcom, “Grace Under Fire,” starring Brett Butler, for a full season. The Top 10-rated show, produced by Carsey-Werner, airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ABC has also picked up “Boy Meets World” for the rest of the season. The show, produced by Touchstone, Television airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. And Fox has ordered 13 additional episodes of another Touchstone show, “The Sinbad Show,” starring comedian Sinbad. The sitcom has performed respectably in its Thursday 8:30 p.m. time slot.

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MTV-Style Talk: For those who can’t find enough talk shows on TV already, MTV offers its new yak-fest hosted by comedian Jon Stewart beginning tonight at 10 p.m. “The Jon Stewart Show” will air Monday through Wednesday and on Fridays. Stewart will talk to an array of celebrity guests, as well as do satirical takes on current events and recent musical performances.

STAGE

New Critic?: Does the New York Times have a new chief drama critic waiting in the wings when Frank Rich retires in January? Informed sources say yes, but a spokeswoman from the newspaper said, “No decision has been made.” The sources say the paper will name Ben Brantley chief drama critic when Rich becomes a cultural columnist on the Op-Ed page. Brantley, a former writer for the New Yorker, replaced Mel Gussow, the paper’s second-string drama critic, this summer. The sources said Rich personally picked Brantley.

POP/ROCK

Struck a Chord: Simon LeBon has belted out his last song for a while after tearing a vocal chord and forcing Duran Duran to postpone indefinitely the remainder of its U.S. tour. LeBon’s doctors prescribed antibiotics and rest, the group’s publicist said. The tour began Oct. 12 in Merrillville, Ind., and was to end Dec. 10 in Bozeman, Mont.

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Fainting Spells: Michael Jackson has recovered from his latest concert-canceling malady, but his fans aren’t holding up too well. Scores of people fainted and had to be carried away by guards and Red Cross volunteers as some 65,000 people jammed a stadium in Santiago, Chile, for his concert Saturday night. More than 120 people required medical attention.