ALL TIMES ARE EST UNLESS NOTED CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS. - - - - - - - - - - - - RECENTLY IN BLUE GLOW "West Wing": "Melrose Place" meets Pennsylvania Avenue (03/04/98) TCI rebate: Don't spend it all at once (03/03/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - ENTERTAINMENT THIS WEEK illtown Nick Gomez's mesmerizing crime story may be the best movie you won't get to see this year - - - - - - - - - - - - ENTERTAINMENT LAST WEEK Live Flesh Is Almodóvar all grown up or just worn out? Nil by Mouth Gary Oldman's working class antiheroes find life nasty, brutish and short - - - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE ARCHIVES MOVIES TELEVISION INTERVIEWS FEATURES

blue glow SALON'S TV PICKS FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1998 BY JOYCE MILLMAN S P E C I A L S Gregory Hines and Vanessa L. Williams host the 29th Annual NAACP Image Awards (8 p.m., Fox), honoring African-American entertainment and media achievements over the past year. Performers and presenters include Pam Grier, Erykha Badu, Andre Braugher, Wyclef Jean, the Neville Brothers and Babyface. If you can't get enough of Adam Sandler, currently starring in "The Wedding Singer," the No. 2 box office film in the country, you're in luck. An earlier selection from his distinguished oeuvre, the 1995 comedy Billy Madison (9 p.m., ABC), airs tonight. S E R I E S Seinfeld (9 p.m., NBC) repeats the episode where Marcia Cross of "Melrose Place" plays a dermatologist who rubs Jerry the wrong way. Also, Kramer buys a meat slicer. On ER (10 p.m., NBC), Ross treats a boy who's being poisoned by a family member. Ultrasound (10 p.m., MTV) reruns Kurt Loder's interview with Madonna during the making of her new "Ray of Light" album. T A L K Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) welcomes Bob Newhart; Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz and Siskel and Ebert appear on David Letterman (CBS); Jay Leno (NBC) features Minnie Driver and Kiefer Sutherland; Charlie Rose (PBS) has a scheduled segment on the 75th anniversary of Time magazine; Dennis Miller, Hunter Thompson and Eric Idle are panelists on Politically Incorrect (ABC); Scott Wolf guests on Conan O'Brien (NBC). E T C. In what is either the ultimate salute to Seinfeld or the ultimate waving of the white flag, Nick at Nite's TV Land channel will go dark during NBC's hour-long "Seinfeld" finale on May 14. Viewers will see the closed office door of TV Land with a sign on it explaining that the network will return after "Seinfeld" concludes. "As 'Seinfeld' is one of the greatest shows ever to air on television, TV Land is honored to preempt an hour of programming for this historic and monumental occasion," says TV Land's (excitable) general manager, Larry W. Jones. ABC, CBS and Fox are not likely to follow TV Land's example. But don't expect to see any real counter-programming, either. SALON | March 5, 1998 Blue Glow for < href="/ent/glow/1998/03/04glow.html">Wednesday March 4, 1998

ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC WHITE