M O V I E S

When the kill-crazy-kids thriller Kalifornia (8 p.m., Fox) came out in 1993, the reviews may have been mixed but there was no disputing who the stars of the film were: Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis. In ads for Fox's broadcast TV premiere of the movie, though, it's the second male lead -- somebody named David Duchovny -- who seems to be getting all the promo time (rumor has it he's on some little Fox sci-fi show). But seriously, Duchovny plays a yuppie writer with an intellectual interest in serial killers who gives homicidal maniac Pitt and his slack-jawed baby-doll girlfriend Lewis a cross-country lift. And here's a bonus for hard-boiled TV drama fans: Duchovny's arty photographer girlfriend is played by Michelle Forbes, the flinty coroner from "Homicide."

S P E C I A L S

Mandy Patinkin has the title role in the new made-for-cable movie The Hunchback (11 p.m., TNT), which is a whole lot grimmer than the Disney version of Victor Hugo's classic. Salma Hayek plays Esmeralda, Richard Harris is Frollo and don't expect Mandy to burst into song.

S P O R T S

NBA basketball(8 p.m., TNT): Sonics at Bulls.

S E R I E S

A&E Biography (8 p.m., A&E) continues its Hollywood legends week with a new bio of Henry Fonda. On Xena: Warrior Princess (syndicated), the evil Callisto, who was last seen being sucked to her death in a pit of quicksand, haunts our heroine's dreams from the underworld. Actually, the hapless Hudson Leick's performance as Callisto has been one of the guilty pleasures of this TV season; the snarling, whip-cracking, big-haired blond with the blindingly white teeth seems to have refined her craft by studying the early films of Ann-Margret. And the midseason tryout legal drama The Practice (10 p.m., ABC) begins a, shall we say, familiar story line in which the parents of a woman who was murdered by her boyfriend seek justice with a wrongful death suit.

T A L K

Mark Hamill visits Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) and then skywalks over to Conan O'Brien (NBC); Larry King (CNN) extends a gracious welcome to his nemesis, Howard Stern; David Letterman (CBS) has Martin Short and the Japanese drumming troupe Kodo; Johnny Cash guests on Jay Leno (NBC); journalist E.J. Dionne and humorist Christopher Buckley are panelists on Politically Incorrect (ABC); Buckley pulls a double-header and talks with Tom Snyder (CBS).
March 18, 1997

All times are EST. Check local listings.