What Would Beavis & Butt-head Say?

Encouraged by response to a music video that opened its season premiere, ABC’s “The Drew Carey Show” offers up an even more elaborate dance number before Wednesday’s episode. The heavily choreographed sequence took two days to film at a cost that ran into six figures, according to executive producer Bruce Helford. There’s even been discussion of doing videos during subsequent ratings sweeps periods, although the only certainty at this point is that the show will plan something special to open each season. “I think we have to be pretty careful not to overdo the thing,” Helford noted. The video uses the ‘70s song “What Is Hip?” and features several blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos. “Drew Carey” has been one of ABC’s few bright spots in this season’s ratings, so it wasn’t surprising when ABC announced Friday that starting Dec. 4 it would move the show up from 9:30 to 9 p.m. That is a mooring reserved for a night’s most popular comedy, hoping viewers will tune in the programs that precede and follow it . As part of the shift, ABC plans to move “Ellen” to the later 9:30 p.m. time period, which would be a less controversial spot if the lead character actually does “come out” as a lesbian. “Grace Under Fire,” which has seen its ratings drop significantly this season, will move from 9 to 8 p.m. opposite CBS’ “The Nanny.” “Townies” will continue to hold the 8:30 p.m. time slot.

Now Comes the Celluloid Legacy

Slain rap star Tupac Shakur, whose posthumous “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory” sits atop the national album sales chart, soon will be showing up in movie theaters too. “Gridlock’d,” an urban comedy starring Shakur and Tim Roth as performance artists trying to kick heroin, is scheduled for a Feb. 5 release, and Gramercy Pictures is already stoking the publicity machine. The studio, which says it has not moved up the film’s original release date, this week will begin showing press screenings of the film, which was completed less than three months before Shakur was gunned down by unknown assailants Sept. 7 while riding in a car in Las Vegas. As many as three original Shakur songs are expected to be included in the film and on the soundtrack, which is scheduled to be released before the end of the year by Death Row Records. However, that may be affected by the ongoing legal problems of label owner Marion “Suge” Knight.

Free at Last! Well, Not Quite Free

With Tuesday’s release of “Emancipation,” a three-disc collection of new material, the stakes are unusually high for the Artist Known as a Glyph Symbol. A three-CD collection, priced at $25, is a risky prospect for anyone, let alone a performer whose last album, “Chaos & Disorder,” has sold only 100,000 copies since its release last July. That may explain why he is opening himself up in ways he’s refused in the past. Not only is he granting interviews (including an upcoming appearance on Oprah Winfrey), he even opened his secluded Paisley Park studios to the press for an impromptu concert last Tuesday, followed by a surprise press conference. “I think when you hear the new music, you’ll hear more clarity and much more joy,” he said. He also admitted that marriage and impending fatherhood has changed him--a subject that is noted on many of the romantic songs found on “Emancipation”: “I go to sleep at night and songs come to my mind, fully formed, lyrics and everything. I’m really focused.” He’d better hope his sales department is, too.

It Sure Beats Sitting in a New York Studio

Fine Line Features--the beleaguered artsy sister to New Line Cinema--is poised to capitalize on what many predict will be its first box-office success of the year with the acclaimed Australian-made “Shine,” opening in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto on Friday. But it may have come rather late in the game since the future of the division, formerly owned by Turner Broadcasting System, is uncertain after Turner’s sale to Time Warner. The eight other films released by Fine Line this year have been disappointments, so a lot is riding on the Australian-made movie, which chronicles the tortured life of eccentric pianist David Helfgott. Part of the marketing campaign is based on the word-of-mouth generated at film festivals and at small, elite screenings and private dinners--some sponsored by local symphony organizations or arts associations--held around the country. Made on a shoestring budget of about $6 million, “Shine’s” advertising and promotion budget may swell to about the same figure by the time the film goes into the final phase of its wider release in late January. “This one is our most heavily marketed film,” said Fine Line President Ruth Vitale, who battled Miramax Chairman Harvey Weinstein for the film’s distribution rights at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Fine Line got the North American rights, while Miramax won overseas distribution. Vitale said Weinstein recently offered his company’s marketing services to Fine Line. Her response? “A big fat no. I didn’t think we really needed his help.”