TELEVISIONGlaser Comes Out: Garrett Glaser, the KNBC-TV...

TELEVISION

Glaser Comes Out: Garrett Glaser, the KNBC-TV Channel 4 entertainment reporter who had wanted to “come out” to viewers for months, finally got that opportunity on Monday, during a report on the death of AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser (no relation). “As a gay man who’s lost more than a few friends to the virus, I am grateful to Ms. Glaser for helping to heighten awareness of AIDS outside the gay and lesbian community,” Glaser said on the air. In an interview later he said it had “felt great” and expressed hope that “other gay and lesbian reporters in this market will see you can be out and still keep your job and do good stories.” Kenny Boles, acting news director at KNBC, had said last week that there was no set date for allowing Glaser to “come out” on the air, but on Tuesday he said he’d given Glaser the green light because “it was the right thing to do, very much the appropriate thing to do on this story. We’re very proud of Garrett; we think he’s a fine reporter. . . . And now it’s time to move on.”

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Schedule Changes: ABC is the latest network to weigh in with its 1995 schedule changes, beginning with a new night for “The Commish.” On Feb. 2, the police drama will move to Thursdays at 9 p.m., a network source confirmed. Replacing “The Commish” on Saturdays at 10 p.m. will be “The Marshal,” in which star Jeff Fahey will track down fugitives directly opposite Chuck Norris’ “Walker, Texas Ranger” on CBS starting Feb. 4. Meanwhile, despite critical acclaim and public pleas from its producers, “My So-Called Life,” will wrap its 19 episodes at the end of January and be replaced Thursdays at 8 p.m. by either “Matlock” or “Extreme,” a new James Brolin rescue series shot in Park City, Utah. ABC is expected to introduce either “Marshal” or “Extreme,” both male-oriented shows, directly after the Super Bowl on Jan. 29.

RADIO

New Format: Big-band station KGRB-AM (900) has switched over to a “contemporary standards format,” paired with nighttime NBC talk programming. Besides playing the music of such artists as Harry Connick Jr., Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand during the day, the station now features a live simulcast of Larry King’s CNN TV show at 6 p.m., and talk programs hosted by Jim Bohannon at 10 p.m. and Bruce Williams at 1 a.m. Big-band music is still heard from 7-10 p.m. The station, which since the changeover two weeks ago has begun calling itself AM-90 NBC, hopes to change its call letters to KNBC-AM. The station has also petitioned the FCC for a power increase.

POP/ROCK

Musical Legends: The late country star Patsy Cline, jazz and pop singer Peggy Lee, the late composer Henry Mancini, “Chicago Soul Era” pioneer Curtis Mayfield and songstress Barbra Streisand are recipients of the 1994-95 National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Lifetime Achievement Awards. Receiving a sister NARAS honor, the Trustees Award, is Atlantic Records co-founder Nesuhi Ertegun, who signed and produced such jazz greats as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. The awards, which honor lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium, will be acknowledged during Grammy Week, but will not be part of the March 1 telecast. The awards are separate from the annual Grammy Legend Awards, which both Mayfield and Streisand have previously received.

LEGAL FILE

In Brief: A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday threw out a wrongful termination claim from former “Price Is Right” model Dian Parkinson’s sexual harassment lawsuit against game show host Bob Barker. However, the crux of Parkinson’s lawsuit--alleged sex harassment and emotional distress--is still intact. . . . A New York Judge on Monday postponed Tupac Shakur’s Dec. 14 sentencing date to allow the rapper to recover from five gunshot wounds he received in a robbery last week. Shakur, who was convicted last Thursday of sexually abusing a 20-year-old woman he met in a nightclub, could get 2 1/2 to seven years in prison. . . . Talk-show host Ricki Lake, who was caught on videotape in a fur protest and then chatted with David Letterman about her adventure, pleaded innocent in New York Monday to trespassing and criminal mischief in conjunction with a Nov. 14 protest at the office of fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5; if convicted, Lake could face up to a year in jail.

QUICK TAKES

Bryant Gumbel returned to “Today” Tuesday after several days of vacation. Gumbel’s contract with NBC has expired, but he and NBC executives have agreed that he will appear on the show while contract discussions continue. . . . Sharon Percy Rockefeller Monday returned as president and chief executive officer of Washington’s PBS outlet, WETA. She had given up the jobs in May because of poor health. . . . Gloria Estefan and her manager-husband, Emilio, produced another hit Monday: a 6-lb., 14-oz. daughter, Emily Marie, born in Miami’s Mount Sinai Medical Center. The couple also has a 14-year-old son, Nayib.