TELEVISIONTalk-Show Shuffle: KNBC-TV Channel 4 said Wednesday...

TELEVISION

Talk-Show Shuffle: KNBC-TV Channel 4 said Wednesday that it is pulling its talk shows “Sally Jessy Raphael” and “Phil Donahue.” The shows are expected to be replaced in June with a new Rosie O’Donnell talk show, tentatively titled “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” and “Maureen O’Boyle.” Both shows will be produced by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Raphael’s show has come under fire in a recent campaign against “sleaze” on talk shows.

Kagan Show on Hiatus: Buena Vista Television has put KCAL Channel 9’s “The Marilyn Kagan Show” on a production hiatus while it continues to seek national syndication for the program, starring licensed therapist and former radio talk-show host Kagan. “Our plan has always been to take the show nationally, as the level of quality production is too expensive to sustain on a local level,” said KCAL President and General Manager David Woodcock, who indicated that the program would resume production only if a national distribution deal is secured. However, Woodcock cited the current controversy over talk shows and their topics, noting “there are now few opportunities, even for quality programs that are different, like Marilyn’s.” KCAL, meanwhile, will continue airing repeats of Kagan’s show until further notice; a total of 50 episodes had been shot. Kagan left her radio show at KFI-AM (640) in November to devote more time to her talk show; she could not be reached Wednesday to ascertain if she’s interested in returning to KFI on a regular basis.

Shandling’s ‘Sanders’ Break: Garry Shandling will take a break from HBO’s critically praised “Larry Sanders Show” to concentrate on an as-yet-untitled comedy for Columbia Pictures in which he is starring as well as writing the film’s script, a spokeswoman for the show said Wednesday. But Shandling and all his “Larry Sanders” co-stars are set to resume production of the series in the fall, with new episodes slated to begin airing in January of 1997. HBO plans to air reruns of “The Larry Sanders Show” through 1996.

POP/ROCK

‘Exhale’ in No. 1 Spot: The “Waiting to Exhale” soundtrack was the nation’s best-selling album during the first week of the new year, with about 232,000 copies zipping off the shelves in the seven-day period that ended Sunday, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday. Mariah Carey’s “Daydream” fell to No. 2 after a three-week run at the top, selling about 209,000 copies last week. Rounding out the Top 5: Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” (about 172,000 copies sold), Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Cracked Rear View” (138,000) and Garth Brooks’ “Fresh Horses” (111,000).

PERFORMING ARTS

Cerritos Is Top Grosser: For the third straight year, the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts has again been named California’s highest-grossing venue with less than 3,000 seats by Performance magazine, an industry trade publication. The Cerritos Center--with a reported gross of more than $4.7 million--this year ranked No. 3 in the nation (up from No. 7 last year) behind only Connecticut’s Bushnell Memorial Hall and New York’s Westbury Music Fair. Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre ranks ninth on the list with a gross of nearly $1.1 million. The Cerritos Center was also the top-ranking California venue on a similar ranking in Amusement Business, a trade magazine, for venues with less than 5,000 seats. In that survey, the Cerritos Center was No. 8 in the nation, the only California venue to place in the top 10.

QUICK TAKES

The staff of “A Current Affair” was told Wednesday that the show will be canceled in September. Executives at the program said that ratings have improved in the past season under new producers, but the show has been hurt by increased talk-show competition and problems with station clearances. Twentieth Century Fox confirmed the cancellation. Sources said Fox plans to develop another show for syndication, possibly with the present “Current Affair” producers. . . . Cable’s Weather Channel scored the highest ratings in its 13-year history on Sunday morning as an estimated 1.8 million viewing households tuned in between 9 a.m. and 9:11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time to catch news of the East Coast storms. From 6-9 a.m. EST, the Weather Channel out-delivered all TV networks except NBC, averaging almost 1 million households for the three-hour period. For the total day Sunday, the Weather Channel averaged a record 953,000 households. The previous ratings record for TWC was achieved during another winter storm event--the blizzard of ‘93--when an average of 685,000 households turned in. . . . “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today at 11:30 a.m. ceremonies. His star will be located at 7018 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Johnny Grant Building and immediately adjacent to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. . . . The Rolling Stones have canceled their plans to tour South America and Asia this year. Local promoters apparently had trouble pulling together the South American dates, and the band was counting on revenue from concerts there to offset the enormous costs of touring Asia.