ABC Places Big Bet on Its Vegas Theme

ABC may have sought to do away with TV theme songs way back in the pre-”Friends” era, but the network appears to have wholeheartedly embraced the idea of theme nights. Earlier this month, ABC marked Valentine’s Day with “old flames week,” and on Wednesday its four sitcoms (“Grace Under Fire,” “Coach,” “The Drew Carey Show” and “Ellen”) all converge in Las Vegas, with characters crossing over between the shows. If that sounds familiar, it should: NBC has championed such stunts for years, dating back to 1991, when a hurricane tied together “The Golden Girls,” “Empty Nest” and “Nurses.” Some pundits have suggested that former NBC executives Jamie Tarses and Alan Cohen--who now run ABC’s entertainment and marketing arms, respectively--are trying to turn their new network into their old one. “If we can get their [ratings], fine,” quipped one ABC executive. Actually, all the networks have dabbled in such gimmickry, including CBS’ “Cyclone Saturday” in November, connecting its three popular dramas. ABC is hoping its latest ploy will counter themes of a different kind--those emanating from CBS’ Grammy Awards telecast.

Welcome to the Screening, Here’s Your Pillow

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman. Those mailbags are about to get a little heavier, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences prepares to send out final Oscar ballots on March 4. The 5,173 voting members will then have two weeks to return the forms. (Oscar night is March 24.) This week, meanwhile, the academy staff continues its rush to cram in two screenings per movie for members who didn’t see, say, “A Chef in Love” (the foreign-language nominee from Georgia) the first time around. The problem this year, spokeswoman Leslie Unger says, is that more features got nominated (51 compared to last year’s 42) and a lot of the movies are just plain long. “The English Patient” runs 161 minutes; “Breaking the Waves,” 156; “Independence Day,” 150. But that’s nothing: Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” suffers life’s slings and arrows over four hours. “Every time we show ‘Hamlet,’ we can’t show anything after it,” Unger laments. That translates into droves of numb derrieres in the academy’s 1,012-seat Samuel Goldwyn Theater, where the screenings take place.

Will Death Row Executive Take the Rap?

The future of Death Row Records hangs in the balance as Marion “Suge” Knight, the founder of the wildly successful Los Angeles rap company, faces a court hearing on Friday that could send him to prison for nine years. If Knight is incarcerated, state law would forbid him from running Death Row. Knight, who pleaded no contest to assaulting two aspiring rappers in 1992, has been behind bars since Oct. 22 for possible probation violations--among them, an allegation that he was involved in a Sept. 7 assault at a Las Vegas hotel. Even if the judge allows Knight to walk, Death Row still faces an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, which is attempting to build a racketeering case against the company based on its alleged links to street gangs, weapons, violent acts, drug trafficking and money laundering. Last week, nearly a dozen Los Angeles entertainment companies received federal grand jury subpoenas ordering them to turn over all documents pertaining to any financial dealings with Death Row.