blue glow
SALON'S TV PICKS FOR
THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 1998
BY JOYCE MILLMAN

S E R I E S

NBC apparently thinks we have very short memories, because the network is rerunning the season premieres of Friends (8 p.m.), NewsRadio (8:30 p.m.) and Frasier (9 p.m.), which all first aired less than a month ago. Tonight's cable rerun of NYPD Blue (9 p.m., FX) is Part 1 of the Emmy-winning "Lost Israel" episode from last season, about a father suspected in the molestation and murder of his son. ER (10 p.m., NBC) reruns the live episode from a season ago. But it's not live anymore. 48 Hours (10 p.m., CBS) has a timely report on hate crimes.

S P E C I A L S

The new TV movie Chameleons (8 p.m., UPN) is a sci-fi thriller about a cyborg killing machine (Bobbie Phillips from "Murder One") who discovers maternal feelings when she saves a child's life. Africans in America (check local times, PBS) concludes with an examination of simmering tensions over slavery from 1831 to the Civil War. Todd Eldredge, Katarina Witt, Rudy Galindo and Ekaterina Gordeeva are among the field in the U.S. Pro Figure Skating Classic (9 p.m., ABC).

T A L K

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Lucinda Williams
David Letterman (CBS) Danny Glover, Cal Ripken Jr., R.E.M.
Jay Leno (NBC) George Clooney, Sarah McLachlan (rerun)
Charlie Rose (PBS) Frank Rich, Holly Hunter
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Salma Hayek, Richard Branson (rerun)

E T C.

If your normally robust husband was pale, sweating, lacking energy and complaining that he couldn't breathe, would you, A) Call an ambulance or B) Jump his bones? If you chose the second answer, you win a copy of the "Diane Russell Guide to Medical Emergencies," named for the NYPD Blue character who somehow failed to grasp that something was terribly wrong with hubby Bobby Simone, even though everybody watching Tuesday's season opener was unloosening shirt collars and opening windows in sympathy with Jimmy Smits' ultra-realistic portrayal of a man on the verge of a heart attack, a panic attack, an asthma attack or something ... Kristen Johnston of 3rd Rock from the Sun has been signed to co-star in Mike Myers' next Bond spoof, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Johnston will play the villainess, an ex-KGB agent named Ivana Humpalot ... Scrambling to fill schedule holes left by the NBA lockout, Fox Sports will televise five games from November's exhibition series between American and Japanese baseball all-stars.
SALON | Oct. 22, 1998

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Blue Glow for < href="http://www.salonmagazine.com/ent/glow/1998/10/21glow.html">Wednesday, Oct. 21, 1998