ALL TIMES ARE EDT. CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS. - - - - - - - - - - - - RECENTLY IN BLUE GLOW Blessings for "Nothing Sacred" (10/13/97) Prince: 2 Funky for CBS (10/14/97) - - - - - - - - - - - - ENTERTAINMENT THIS WEEK Gang Related Seven Years in Tibet Washington Square LAST WEEK Janeane Garofalo U-Turn The Locusts

blue glow SALON'S TV PICKS FOR WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15, 1997 BY JOYCE MILLMAN S E R I E S Remember Bobbi Flekman, the music-industry publicist Fran Drescher played (with perfectly pitched pseudo-enthusiasm) in the movie "This is Spinal Tap"? Drescher reprises the role in tonight's episode of The Nanny (8 p.m., CBS). The plot: Bobbi is Fran's cousin, who makes a play for Maxwell while setting up a Brian Setzer Orchestra video shoot at the Maxwell mansion. Think Samantha vs. Serena on "Bewitched" ... Murphy learns her surgical options as the breast cancer plot continues on Murphy Brown (8:30 p.m., CBS). Ellen (9:30 p.m., ABC) gives a party for her gay friends. Kiss more girls, Ellen! Make ABC sweat! After watching Dennis Potter's hallucinatory British musical-drama miniseries "The Singing Detective," Steven Bochco went out and created "Cop Rock." Tonight, David E. Kelley and the producers of Chicago Hope (10 p.m., CBS) do their version of Potter with a singing, dancing and lip synching episode that takes place inside the head of Aaron Shutt (Adam Arkin) as he undergoes surgery for a brain aneurysm. Yes, Mandy Patinkin shows up. S P O R T S Baseball Playoffs: Indians at Orioles, Game 6, ALCS (4 p.m., Fox); Marlins at Braves, Game 7, NLCS, if necessary (8 p.m., NBC). T A L K Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) welcomes Keanu Reeves; Nathan Lane, Charlize Theron and Carly Simon guest on David Letterman (CBS); Jay Leno (NBC) features Timothy Hutton, Paul Sorvino and Aerosmith; Tom Snyder (CBS) talks with Joan Collins; scheduled guests on Charlie Rose (PBS) include director Jean Jacques Annaud ("Seven Years in Tibet") and author Jeff Shesol on the LBJ tapes; Lauren Hutton and Billy Connolly are panelists on Politically Incorrect (ABC); Jill Hennessy and Penn and Teller appear on Conan O'Brien (NBC). E T C. Variety reports that New Line Cinema is in early talks with pay cable outlets to develop a late-night adult series based on the movie Boogie Nights, the critically acclaimed comedy-drama about the porno-film industry in the '70s. The movie, which hasn't even opened in theaters yet, stars Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore and, in a career-resurrecting role as a porn filmmaker, Burt Reynolds. Which leads to all kinds of possibilities for a TV spinoff. Imagine this: "Boogie Nights on Showtime," with Reynolds doing a Hugh Hefner turn as the host of a retro "Playboy After Dark" variety show. Or Reynolds as the Rod Serling of dirty cable, introducing weekly adult dramas in the manner of "Red Shoe Diaries." This could be good. SALON | Oct. 15, 1997

Blue Glow for < href="/ent/glow/1997/10/14glow.html">Tuesday, Oct. 14

ILLUSTRATION BY KATHERINE STREETER

---