MOVIES’Philadelphia’ Edges ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’: It was neck-and-neck...

MOVIES

‘Philadelphia’ Edges ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’: It was neck-and-neck at the nation’s box office during the weekend: TriStar’s “Philadelphia” was barely beating 20th Century Fox’s “Mrs. Doubtfire” for the No. 1 spot. Both movies took in about $9.1 million, with “Philadelphia” ahead by only a few thousand dollars, according to early industry estimates. “Philadelphia,” featuring Tom Hanks in his Golden Globe-winning performance, was first for the second weekend in a row. No. 3 was Paramount’s “Intersection,” with $8.2 million its opening weekend despite negative reviews. Next, Warner Bros.’ “Grumpy Old Men” with $6.1 million, followed by Disney’s “Iron Will” with $4.1 million. Universal’s “Schindler’s List” was seventh with $3.4 million on just 343 screens. Industry sources said box-office business was better than expected considering the shaky ground in Los Angeles and the winter storm in the East.

TELEVISION

No. 1 Newscasts: KCAL Channel 9 was a big winner at the Radio & Television News Assn. of Southern California’s 44th annual Golden Mike awards honoring excellence in TV and radio news on Saturday at the Universal City Hilton. The station took the award for best 60-minute newscast between 4 p.m. and midnight for its “Prime 9 News at 10 p.m.,” anchored by Jerry Dunphy and Tawny Little. KABC Channel 7 was named best news broadcast in the 30-minute category between 4 p.m. and midnight, as well as best daytime newscast. As for radio, KNX (1070-AM) won for best news broadcast over 15 minutes, and KFI (640-AM) won for best news broadcast under 15 minutes.

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Dole on ‘SNL’?: Sen. Bob Dole would love to do “Saturday Night Live.” As long as he wouldn’t have to do Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights too. The Senate minority leader said he can’t spare the four days needed to rehearse the NBC show. Dole said he has told “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels that he would be willing to make a cameo appearance, but Michaels is angling to get Dole as a guest host. In either case, Dole said he’d have to know what kind of skits were planned before he accepted.

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NBC Attacks Violence: Viewers will get to talk back to NBC News this week during its weeklong examination of violence in American society. The theme, “America the Violent: Fed Up and Fighting Back,” will involve all news programs, including “News at Sunrise” through “Today,” “Nightly News,” “Dateline NBC” and “Now With Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric,” and will feature anti-violence themes on prime-time programs such as “Empty Nest” and “Law & Order.” Each weekday’s coverage is organized around a daily issue. Today’s is “Should we legalize drugs?” Other issues involve juvenile crime, media violence, guns and parole. Viewers can join in the debate via a 900 telephone number, a “fax hot line” and an Internet computer billboard.

QUAKE NOTES

Notes From TV-Land: The CBS series “Second Chances” isn’t taking any chances. The show, which features Connie Sellecca, shut down production Friday because of extensive earthquake damage to its Valencia production facility. The show’s producers are shopping around for a new venue. Episodes that have already been filmed are scheduled for Thursday and Feb. 3. A spokeswoman said she hopes it will be back on the air by summer. . . . Tom and Roseanne Arnold have donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help earthquake victims. . . . Spanish-language TV station KVEA Channel 52 helped serve more than 1,000 hot meals to earthquake victims in the Pico-Union area last week.

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Which Shake, L.A?: “Which Way, L.A.?” KCRW’s (89.9 FM) radio show that was born after the L.A. riots, is now confronting the earthquake. This week the show will address earthquake-related topics such as today’s “Two Earthquakes: Past and Present,” which will compare last week’s quake experience to the 1971 Sylmar quake and “Alternative Transportation” on Tuesday, which looks at how to get around without the usual freeway routes. On Wednesday, the show offers a report card on the delivery of housing, food and water to quake victims and on Thursday, how small businesses are handling the quake. The show airs at 1 p.m. and again at 7 p.m.

MUSIC

Classical Music Honors: Baritone Thomas Hampson was named male singer of the year and 12-year-old violinist Sarah Chang newcomer of the year in the second annual Classical Music Awards in London. The New York Philharmonic was named best orchestra; the Kronos Quartet of San Francisco was named best chamber orchestra.