A few unrelated vidbits from television land . . .
CANDIDATES ON TV: President George Bush hasn't yet agreed to take calls on the "Today" show, as have both Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, but he's getting into the television game more strongly.He'll be interviewed live on CNN on Monday afternoon from 1-1:30 p.m. (MDT) and this coming Friday he and Mrs. Bush will be interviewed by Barbara Walters on "20/20." The administration is reportedly mulling offers from "60 Minutes," "Donahue" and "Geraldo."
"CBS This Morning," meanwhile, will devote both of its hours Monday (6-8 a.m., Ch. 5) to an appearance by Clinton. (The program has also offered both Bush and Perot the same deal, but neither has accepted yet.)UNOFFICIAL POLL: If the overnight Nielsen ratings are any indication, Perot really is way ahead of Clinton.
According to NBC, the first hour of Perot's appearance Thursday on "Today" earned a 5.9 rating and 25 share, 44 percent higher than the 4.1/18 that Bill Clinton's appearance pulled in on Tuesday.NEWSCAST DEBUT: Remember, today's the day that KSL replaces Saturday morning cartoons with local news.
The schedule is this: An hour of live news at 7 a.m., a repeat of that hour at 8 a.m., followed by two hours of coverage of the State Democratic Convention at 9 a.m.ANOTHER DEPARTURE: KUTV sportscaster Andre Aldridge is headed for the bright lights of Hollywood. Well, the bright lights of Burbank.
He's leaving Ch. 2 at the end of the month for KNBC in Los Angeles, where he'll do sports reporting one day a week and produce the 11 p.m. sportscast.
No word on a replacement at KUTV yet.TALK SHOW SHIFTS: Beginning Monday, "Sally Jesse Raphael" and "Maury Povich" will switch time slots on KUTV. "Sally" moves to 3 p.m., while "Maury" goes to 11 a.m.
And these are not changes Ch. 2 wanted to make.
Metromedia, which syndicates the very successful "Donahue" as well as "Sally," told KUTV that if it wanted to keep "Donahue" it had to move "Sally" to the afternoon time slot. (And you thought syndicators were a nice bunch of people.)
KUTV also pretty much had to pick up a third Metromedia talkie, "Jerry Springer," which the station is burying at 2 a.m.FADING FAST: It's beginning to look like Bill Cosby pulled the plug on his sitcom just in time.
In last week's ratings, "The Cosby Show" finished third in its time slot behind not only Fox's "The Simpsons" but CBS' "Top Cops."
"Cosby" losing to "Top Cops?" That's unheard of.