TELEVISIONO.J. Simpson Film Gets Date: Fox has...

TELEVISION

O.J. Simpson Film Gets Date: Fox has set Jan. 31 as the premiere date for its TV movie “The O.J. Simpson Story.” The movie’s air date has been delayed since September, but Fox said it can show the movie because the jury in the Simpson murder case is fully sequestered. The two-hour television movie stars Bobby Hosea, a former UCLA football player-turned-actor, in the title role; Jessica Tuck of “One Life to Live” as Nicole Brown Simpson, and Bruce Weitz of “Hill Street Blues” as Simpson’s attorney, Robert L. Shapiro.

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‘Voyager’ Blasts Off: Who’d have thought the day would come when CBS beat ABC and NBC and yet still ranked as only the third most-watched network? It happened in Los Angeles and many other cities Monday night, as the UPN network soared to first place from 8-10 p.m. with the premiere of “Star Trek: Voyager” and Fox placed second with a two-hour episode of “Melrose Place.” National ratings for “Voyager” won’t be available until next week, but they are not expected to be as strong because UPN is not yet available throughout the country.

MOVIES

Approved: Reversing a decision by his Los Angeles office, Motion Picture Assn. of America President Jack Valenti has approved a controversial ad for the movie “S.F.W.” that shows actor Stephen Dorff giving the finger--but with the digit carefully obscured by the title. The artwork was the creation of Robbie Conal, who is best known for his biting political posters. “S.F.W.” posters, with the words “Expletive Deleted,” have been plastered around Los Angeles. MPAA Senior Vice President Bethlyn Hand had rejected the artwork, but when Gramercy Pictures appealed, Valenti issued a reversal, noting that it was too difficult to tell what was depicted under the title. Failure to obtain MPAA approval could have meant the picture losing its R rating. Producer Dale Pollock hailed the ruling, noting that “Jack Valenti has been in several confrontations with (Gramercy President Russell Schwartz) and is starting to get smart about it.” The film, which opens in selected cities Friday, is about three young people held hostage in a convenience store for 36 days by an unnamed terrorist group. After breaking out, one woman becomes a hit on the talk-show circuit while the man can’t deal with it and runs away, with the media in a frenzy to find him.

MORE TELEVISION

PBS Support: Nearly half of all Americans think federal funding for public television should be increased this year, and an additional 35% think it should be maintained at its current level, according to a survey released Tuesday. Commissioned by the Public Broadcasting Service in the wake of Republican congressional threats to “zero out” government funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the survey found that only 13% of those questioned would support the reduction or elimination of federal funds for PBS. Support for federal funding of public television was found to be at 80% among Republicans, 90% among Democrats and 86% among independent voters.

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Kinnear Says ‘Later’: Greg Kinnear, who since last February has hosted and executive produced both NBC’s “Later With Greg Kinnear” and “Talk Soup” on cable’s E! Entertainment Television, has ended his three-year run on “Talk Soup.” Kinnear said the decision was made in order to devote more time to “Later” and to work on “other ventures,” which may include the remake of “Sabrina,” for which Kinnear has been in discussions to play the William Holden role. Meanwhile, E! on Tuesday named actor-comedian John Henson, who has been the fill-in host for Kinnear for the first three weeks of 1995, as the permanent “Talk Soup” host, in a long-term deal.

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Treatment of Animals Praised: The feature film “Black Beauty,” episodes of CBS’ “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and Fox’s “The Simpsons,” and the newsmagazines “20/20,” “A Current Affair,” “CNN Presents” and “The Crusaders” are among 21 winners of the Ninth Annual Genesis Awards, given to programs that spotlight animal issues with “courage, creativity and integrity.” The awards, which will be given out March 12 in ceremonies at the Beverly Hilton, are presented annually by the Ark Trust, a national, nonprofit animal protection organization. Among additional winners of the national awards are KCAL-TV Channel 9 reporter Dennis Farrier and Los Angeles performance artist Rachel Rosenthal, recipient of the 1994 Dolly Green Special Achievement Award for artistic achievement.

QUICK TAKES

Starting tonight actress Lynn Redgrave will cap all Wednesday night performances of her “Shakespeare for My Father,” which has been extended at Beverly Hills Canon Theatre through Feb. 26, with post-performance “talk-back” discussions. . . . Touchstone Pictures is holding an open casting call from 10 a.m. to noon today for twin 2-month-old boys and twin 2-month-old girls to appear with Steve Martin in “Father of the Bride II.” The call takes place at Debbie Reynolds Studios, Studio C, 6415 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.