TELEVISIONAnother Contract, She Inked: Angela Lansbury will...

TELEVISION

Another Contract, She Inked: Angela Lansbury will return for at least one more year of “Murder, She Wrote,” CBS announced Thursday. Lansbury both stars in and executive produces the show, which is now in its 10th season, ranks seventh in the weekly Nielsens and dominates its Sunday-night time slot. “We’re celebrating the holidays early at CBS because Angela’s decision to stay with us for another year (through the 1994-95 season) is the best gift we could hope to get,” said Jeff Sagansky, president of CBS Entertainment. “Angela’s in a league all her own.”

POP/ROCK

Listen to the Music: Although plans still aren’t set for a memorial to musician Frank Zappa, who died Saturday of prostate cancer, a statement from Zappa’s daughter, Moon Zappa, asks fans to “just play his music” in remembrance. “That will be enough for him,” she says. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Zappa’s name to either the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Assn. in Chicago, or to the Cousteau Society, Greenpeace or any environmental cause.

Prince’s Personal Ad: Who says the personals are only for those with no admirers? The Purple One (as in the rock star who used to be named Prince but now goes by the unpronounceable male/female symbol) has taken out a half-page ad in Entertainment Weekly that reads: “Eligible bachelor seeks the most beautiful girl in the world to spend the holidays with,” and includes an address for the submission of videos and photographs. In addition to a photo in which his face is disguised, the ad contains fine print that says Prince’s Paisley Park Enterprises has “the exclusive right to exploit same in any manner and media.” No word from the musician’s camp on why he is seeking such a female.

New Edition of New Edition: The long-rumored reunion of 1980s pop group New Edition--featuring now-solo artists Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant, plus Ronnie DeVoe, Ricky Bell and Michael Bivens of Bel Biv DeVoe--is “definitely going to happen,” according to New Edition manager Brook Payne, who gives details on the reunion album and tour on this weekend’s edition of the nationally syndicated “Lee Bailey’s RadioScope.” Payne says that all six New Edition members will hit the studios in January to start work on a fall 1994 album release. The program airs locally on KJLH-FM (102.3) at 8 a.m. Saturday.

LEGAL FILE

Writer Sues Over Tabloid Story: Usually it’s celebrities who sue the tabloids over false tell-all stories, but in an unusual twist, a writer of celebrity biographies has sued the Globe, alleging that the tabloid concocted a phony biography of actress Julia Roberts and attributed it to him. In a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, J. Randy Taraborrelli alleges the tabloid printed bogus excerpts from the purported biography in three November issues, along with the photo of a fabricated book cover titled “Julia: The Secret Loves of a Pretty Woman,” with an author’s credit naming Taraborrelli. Taraborrelli maintains that “no such biography exists.”

STAGE

Sondheim/Lapine Musical Broadway Bound: “Passion,” the next Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical, will open at Broadway’s Plymouth Theatre April 28, following a month of previews. Based on Igino Tarchetti’s 1869 novel “Fosca,” it’s the story of a woman’s unrequited love for a handsome young Army captain. La Jolla Playhouse had been scheduled to premiere the production earlier this year, but the show wasn’t ready in time for La Jolla’s schedule, and instead went through a workshop at Lincoln Center. The novel was previously the source for a 1982 film, “Passione d’Amore,” directed and co-written by Ettore Scola.

QUICK TAKES

Radio “shock jock” Howard Stern will be at West Hollywood’s Book Soup on Thursday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. to sign copies of his best-selling book “Private Parts”. . . . CBS has confirmed that it will debut a one-hour drama, starring George C. Scott as a cop, in early March. His crime-solving partner on “Traps” will be Dan Cortez. . . . Foreclosure proceedings began Wednesday on the Beverly Hills home of Jane Seymour, star of CBS’ “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” and her ex-husband, David Flynn. According to court papers, the couple owes more than $3 million on the property. . . . Actor-comedian Pauly Shore will record his new live comedy album, “Pauly in the Belly,” at the Comedy Store tonight and Saturday. Limited $5 tickets are available. . . . Comedian Dennis Miller gets another shot at TV talk-show hosting tonight when he fills in for Larry King on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” His lead guest will be Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole. . . . Keanu Reeves, Dave Coulier, Jason Hervey, Chad Lowe, Alan Thicke and producer David E. Kelley are among the celebrities who will take the ice in a charity exhibition hockey game being televised at 8 this morning and 10:30 p.m. Saturday on cable’s Prime Ticket Network.