The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 119

TALK SHOW HIGHLIGHTS SUNDAY Courageous Leachman, Korman try sneaky comedy in 'Nutt House' 1:00 a.m. (D Sunday Morning Hurricane Hugo's damage In South Carolina; photographer Kevin Fleming northern California earthquake and its TV coverage; profile of author Marl Sandoz. 8:00 a.m. Sunday Today Paul Harvey profile; latter-day Chicago gangsters; salmon fishing in upstate New York. :00 p.m.

() 60 Minutes Texas woman jailed for 9 years may be innocent; U.S. intelligence operative Felix Rodriguez; lobbyist for children Marian Wright Edelman.Q MONDAY 5:30 a.m. This Morning's Business The National, a new sports daily. 7:00 a.m. Good Morning America Author Everett Alvarez Jr.

Nancy Reagan discusses the attempt on her husband's life; Calvin and Alice Trillin; Imaging agent drugs; Florida's Nature Conservancy fights to save endangered plants and land areas; Attorney General Richard Thorn-burgh; possibility of an earthquake in Memphis. 7:00 a.m. This Morning Fashion designers Romeo Gigli and Christian Lacroix; magazine readers' choice awards; Martin Landau; drummer Mick Fleetwood. 7:00 a.m. Today Rock Brynner discusses his father, Yul; David Lean.Q 9:00 a.m.

Donahue Tony Randall. 3 00 p.m. 1 Sally Jessy Raphael A nurse Is convicted of multiple deaths. (13) The Tonight Show Guest host: Jay Leno. Guests: RueMcClan-ahan, humorist Roy Blount Alexaundria Simmons country slngerClint Black.

10:30 p.m. 0 Arsenio Hall Mark Harmon; Michelle Lee; musical group Giant. 1 :00 a.m. Later With Bob Costas Writerdirector Harvey Fiersteln. TUESDAY 5:30 a.m.

This Morning's Business Corporations produce theater for a day to promote products. 7:00 a.m. CD Good Morning America Michael Murphy Nancy Reagan discusses the Reagan administration; the shuttle mission; growing number of children in psychiatric hospitals; selecting a safe-deposit box. rj 7:00 a.m. This Morning Jeff Bridges; avoiding test anxiety; author Rick Telander Hundred Yard 7:00 a.m.

Today Cartoonist Mike Peters; Ethiopian famine; Cleo Lalne; Mexican cooking; behind the scenes of "Memphis Bel le" and "The Bear." 3:00 p.m. Sally Jessy Raphael Women supporting their husband's former wives. 10:30 p.m. The Tonight Show Guest host: Jay Leno. Guests: Dennis Weaver, sportscaster Fred Roggin, singer Regina Belle, Ellen DeGeneres, comedy duo the Funny Boys.

1 :00 a.m. Later With Bob Costas Columnist Carl Bernstein. By DIANE HATTHMAN IW Lot AhmIm Tlnm LOS ANGELES, CALIF. "I have to box his ear," Cloris Leachman said. "First, I twist his ear, then I step on his toe, and I thought it would be funny if his head hit my chest, because I have a big chest, and then I box his ear." Leachman, one of the stars of the new NBC series, "The Nutt House" (Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.) about the off-kilter denizens of a crumbling Manhattan hotel was recapping the scene she had just finished filming before a lunch break at her trailer at Walt Disney Studio.

Although "The Nutt House" is a half-hour, one-camera show like the so-called "dramedies" of the past two seasons Wonder Years," "Hooperman," "The Days and Nights of Molly there the resemblance ends. Like most vignettes from "The Nutt House," Leachman's scene less resembles a poignant moment in dramedy than a close encounter with Larry, Moe and Curly. "It tickles you; it just tickles you," Leachman said. "This kind of humor is the kind that sneaks up behind ybu and kicks you behind the knees." Created by Mel Brooks and Alan Spencer for Disney's Touchstone Television, "The Nutt House" stars Leachman and Harvey Korman both veterans of Brooks' feature films as the buxom and starchy German housekeeper, Ms. Frick, and the ultra-suave hotel manager, Reginald J.

Tarkington, on whom Ms. Frick maintains a not-so-secret crush Other series regulars include Brian McNamara as the owner's ne'er do well grandson, Charles Nutt III; Molly Hagan as Sally the secretary; Gregory Itzin as desk clerk, Dennis; and Mark Blankenfield as the hopelessly myopic elevator operator, Freddy. "It's like a throwback to an older style of comedy," said Spencer. "I'm not saying there aren't some things about it that are contemporary, but its sole purpose is to make you laugh. "When you switch around your TV dial and watch what's purportedly called a comedy, it doesn't make you laugh.

It may make you smile a little bit, kind of chuckle; maybe it lulls you to sleep, if you need that; but it doesn't just reach out and grab you and assault you and say, Hey, we're really trying to do something funny Korman agrees: "We're trying to blend slapstick with people who really care about each other. It's a fragile, fragile kind of comedy we're doing, I don't think anybody else is doing it at the moment, so I think we're kind of courageous." Even the birth of "The Nutt House" has a goofy quality to it. Disney still had the expensive New York hotel set used in the 1988 feature film "Big Business," starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, and decided not to let it go to waste. So they invited Brooks to fashion a comedy series around it. Brooks called on Spencer, creator of ABC's off-the-wall detective series "Sledge Hammer!" to become his production partner.

In his high school yearbook, Spencer wrote that his goal in life was to work with Brooks someday. Brooks was a co-creator of the series that inspired "Sledge Ham- WEDNESDAY Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman in NBC's comedy "Nutt House." mer!" and "Get Smart" (1965-70). Spencer said that as a teen-ager in 1974 he actually snuck onto the set of Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" and tactfully asked him in the middle of shooting: "Are you busy?" Brooks brushed Spencer off then, but later offered the young writer some valuable tips on getting into the comedy writing business. Spencer wrote jokes for another Brooks series, "When Things Were Rotten," while in high school, but this is their first collaboration. Despite the difference in age, Spencer has found that his comic sensibility fits well with those of Brooks and comedy veterans Leachman and Korman.

"I loved 'Your Show of Shows'; I've always been a student of the older style, the classic comedy. I reminisce about the good old days, even though I wasn't there," he said. Leachman, whose last comedy role was as house-mother on NBC's long-running comedy about an Eastern girls' school, "Facts of Life," said that "The Nutt House" comedy is easier than traditional situation comedy. "Situation comedy is harder because there are written jokes. What they call 'sitcoms' really aren't, they're jokes, and they can really be pretty bad," she said.

"I would never put down the sitcom, because it's been very good to me, but this is more like a feature film." Korman, best known for his sketch comedy on "The Carol Burnett Show," tried two traditional sitcoms afterward: ABC's "The Harvey Korman Show" and CBS's "Leo and Liz in Beverly Hills." Neither lasted long. "I did a significant failure for ABC, I did a failure for CBS, so I'm in the last store in town," he said cheerfully. This Morning's Business The military Is having trouble recruiting. 7:00 a.m. Good Morning America Author E.D.

Hlrsch First Dictionary of Cultural World Series highlights; retirement stress; Nancv Reagan discusses family; James Woods new-age composer Ray Lynch, rj 7:00 a.m. This Morning Publisher Grace Mirabella; Scott Bakula new cars Infiniti and Lexus. 7:00 a.m. Today Behind the scenes of "Memphis Carlos Fuentes Muerte de Artemio businessman H. Ross Perot; actor Dwight Schultz.q 3:00 p.m.

Sally Jessy Raphael The death penalty. 10:30 p.m. Tho Tonight Show Guest host: Jay Leno. Guests: Valerie Berti-nelli, actor Don Yesso, cartoonist Cathy Guisewite, comedian Jeff Cesario. LaterWIth Bob Costas Dennis Farina.

THURSDAY 5:30 a.m. This Morning's Business The government auctions confiscated property. 7:00 a.m. CD Good Morning America Author Nicholas Gage; chef Michael McCorty; Nancy Reagan discusses her critics, Raisa Gorbachev and how history might view the Reagans; Brian Dennehy World Series highlights; cranberry harvesting; prepaying for funerals. This Morning First Lody Barbara Bush; Mark Harmon; Donna Mills Lady Today LizaMinnelll.Q 3:00 p.m.

Sally Jessy Raphael A West Point gynecologist is accused of sexual misconduct. 7:00 p.m. CD 48 Hours With increased public awareness of the dangers of fire, the role of the firefighter has changed, rj 10:30 p.m. Arsenio Hall Musical group Heavy D. Boyz.

1 00 a.m. Later With Bob Costas Actress Andrea Martin. UEAnmiARTEDC HEADQUARTERS FRIDAY Choose From 2000 COSTUMES FOR RENT NO ONE COVERS SPORTS LIKE THE REGISTER Also Many OtS MMNEt Costumes IHtAfRICAi For Sale. MAKE-UP 5:30 a.m. This Morning's Business Romance in the workplace.

7:00 a.m. Good Morning America Glenn Close author Lawrence Grobel Lane Smith and Carl Bernstein Final upper-body strength tips; picking a pumpkin, This Morning James Michener Days in Mich-ele Lee Women, Married fashion designer Geoffrey Beene. Today Jack Lemmon.q Sally Jessy Raphael Paul Anka. 7:30 p.m. Wall Street Week "1990 Model Year Auto Stocks" David Healev of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc.

rj 9:00 p.m. 2020 Most livable areas as purported by "Places Rated Almanac." 10:30 p.m. The Tonight Show Guest host: Jay Leno. Guests: KadeemHar- dison, Olivia Newton-John. Arsenio Hall Donno Mills; Jackee.

ViTtmiTiMiiiiiimiTfy 8 To subscribe, MASKS WIGS HATS CALL 284-8311 1 45 5th W.D.M. 274-3661 Halloween Hours: Oct. 14-31 Monday-Friday Open Till 8:30 PM, Saturday PM, Sunday 1 Li 6-TV Des Moines Sunday Register October 22, 1989.