TELEVISIONThe Harding Watch: Figure skater Tonya Harding,...

TELEVISION

The Harding Watch: Figure skater Tonya Harding, who has avoided talking to TV reporters, once even filming them with her own video camera while wearing a “No Comment” T-shirt, turns up on two different interview shows tonight. Although CBS began running promo ads Tuesday night saying Connie Chung had landed the “first” interview with the embattled Harding, it appeared the first in-depth Q&A; would actually go to correspondent Joel Loy of “Inside Edition,” which airs a two-part interview with Harding from her hometown of Portland, Ore., tonight and Friday (7 p.m. on KCAL-TV Channel 9). At 10 p.m., Harding will be on a special edition of “Eye to Eye With Connie Chung” to “tell her side of the story” about the scandal surrounding the attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan. On Wednesday, Chung’s executive producer, Andrew Heyward, discounted “Inside Edition,” saying: “The network newsmagazines as a group are superior journalistically to the so-called tabloid programs. . . . Connie Chung will do a stronger, more insightful interview.”

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Harding, Part II: Meanwhile, cable’s Comedy Central plans to air “Spunk: The Tonya Harding Story,” a special “Bad Girls” edition of its “Short Attention Span Theater,” at 8 and 11 p.m. on Feb. 22. “At a full five minutes, we think the movie gives the story all the attention it deserves,” said Comedy Central’s Ken Olshansky, who is in charge of the production. Look-alike skaters who want to try out for the roles of Harding or Kerrigan can do so Monday morning at New York’s Rivergate Ice Rink.

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22 Stations Bar Vicki: Following on the heels of ABC’s reported hesitancy to air an upcoming “Roseanne” episode in which Rosie kisses another woman, Tuesday’s edition of Vicki Lawrence’s syndicated talk show “Vicki!” was pulled by 22 stations that objected to the host showing off her “boobs.” The body parts involved, however, weren’t real but were in the form of a plastic Halloween prop, which Lawrence wore in a comedic segment. Said Lawrence: “I’m a comedian, and this was a joke. There’s a dreadful double-standard at work here. . . . You can wave around John Bobbitt’s penis on the news. When the subject is serious, it’s OK. But when you treat these things comedically, you’re in trouble.” KCAL-TV Channel 9, where “Vicki!” airs locally, showed the program in its entirety.

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Cable Additions: America’s Talking, the first all-talk cable network, has moved its launch date up to July 4. The NBC-owned channel will premiere with 14 hours of live talk programming daily. Meanwhile, the channel is still searching nationwide for an unknown talk-show host; those interested in the job can call (800) 988-TALK for details. . . . Turner Classic Movies, a new cable channel offering commercial-free presentations of classic movies, will launch April 14 at 4 p.m. with what it’s billing as the first “uninterrupted, commercial-free presentation” of the 1939 epic “Gone With the Wind.”

MOVIES

Bugs Bunny Creator Returns: Chuck Jones, the animator who created such famed cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, is returning to Warner Bros., the studio he helped make famous. Jones, 81, a three-time Academy Award winner, will create new animated works starring his classic characters and may also create new characters for future films. “Chuck Jones is a vital part of Warner Bros.’ history, as essential as Bogart, Cagney, Bette Davis and ‘Casablanca,’ ” said Warner Chairman Robert A. Daly, in announcing Jones’ return.

POP/ROCK

Country Newcomer Tops Sales: Following in the footsteps of country singer Garth Brooks, Nashville newcomer John Michael Montgomery’s “Kickin’ It Up” sold an impressive 109,000 copies last week to lasso the No. 1 position on the nation’s pop album chart. Montgomery, whose album and current single “I Swear” also dominate the country charts, sold 12,000 units more last week than his closest competitor, pop diva Mariah Carey. Other surprises: Alternative-rock group Counting Crows’ album “August and Everything After” leaps to No. 10, selling 70,000 units last week, while Tori Amos’ new “Under the Pink” enters at No. 12, selling about 65,000 units.

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No Disguise Needed: Eric Clapton may be recognizable to most pop fans, but not to everyone. The Rev. Dennis Ackroyd of the tiny parish church of Ewhurst, England, recently noticed a guitar inside the home of one of his parishioners and asked the house’s owner if he would play in the church. When the man agreed, Ackroyd told him: “Good! I’ll give you a couple of months to practice.” An embarrassed Ackroyd realized later that the man was rock star Clapton, who thrilled the congregation when he turned up at the church to play such hymns as “Amazing Grace.”

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Streisand Ads Disputed: Barbra Streisand’s camp is warning that ads in several United Kingdom newspapers offering tickets for purported Streisand concerts there in November are bogus--no such dates have been set, the singer’s spokesman says. The ads requested written ticket applications, accompanied by a check. An announcement of real Streisand concert dates is expected soon.