Daily News from New York, New York • 97

Mo glitz, no glitter here The women in 'HeartBeat' just keep on working Arsenio's Arsenal Let the new late-night talk show war begin. Arsenlo Hall, who appeared for 13 weeks last year as the host of Fox Broadcasting's late 'The Late Show," resurfaces tonight with a show debuting at 12:30 a.m. on Ch. 9. The hour-long syndicated program will be seen on more than 135 stations nationwide, representing more than -r 1 90 of the U.S.

viewing households. Tonight's guests are Brooke Shields, singer Luther Vamfross and Leslie Nielsen Other guests sched I- uled for this week include actor Robert Downey, Vic toria Principal, Qulncy Jones, Ted Danson, Kar- eem Abdul-Jabbar, Jackie Collins, whoopl Goldberg and Emma Samms. Hall's pal, Eddie Murphy, is expected to appear later in the season. Meanwhile, Pat Sajak. the latest comer to try to top ple kingpin Johnny Carson, has lined up a starry list of EVEN IF I DO GET a little weary with ailments, as medical shows go, ABC's "HeartBeat" is a pretty good series, if somewhat unrealistic.

Back tonight for a special preview at 10 before it moves into its regular 10 o'clock Thursday time slot, it's fast-paced, with enough plots weaving in and out to prevent yawning, plus a staff whose work seems unending. The ensemble cast, headed by Kate Mulgrew as Dr. Joanne Hal-loran, is weU-integrated by this time, smoothly interacting, with no visible kinks to iron out Good thing, too, because Dr. Halloran and her staff, under serious financial pressure, are also facing a malpractice lawsuit In the episode "Paradise Lost," an old friend of Halloran's is pregnant and loses her expected baby. The frantic woman and her husband are suing the medical group, which, as you may recall when the series started last season, was founded by women who guests for his opening week on CBS, beginning next Monday at 11:30 p.m.

in direct competition with Car U.x son's "Tonight" show on NBC. Among Sajak's opening- night guests will be Chevy Chase, Michael Gross (of NBC's "Family Joan Van Ark (of CBS' "Knots and country music stars The Judds. Guests ft for the remainder of the week include John Forsythe Rod Stelger, Charlie Sheen, Ann Julian, Donna Mills Sugar Ray Leonard, James Olmos and former I ill i vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. A Car 1 1 tut tat im'inurn tmmmm son spokesman said his show will feature the usual mix of guests during the week. Comedian Jay Leno will fill GETTING MEDICAL: Gail Strickland Kate Mulgrew and Laura Johnson in as usual on Monday night, followed by "The Best of Carson" on Tuesday.

it George Maksian felt opportunities were limited for them in large hospitals. There's Laura Johnson as the brilliant Dr. Eve Calvert, an upbeat, confi Say, Jack, Any Room for Me? White CBS has been promoting "The Pat Sajak Show" to the hilt, many of its affiliate stations are snubbing the he wasn't negligent It's Rosetti, however, who puts the pressure on Halloran to intercede with her old friend and ask her to call the suit off. When she does, the woman, who helped Halloran during a bad time when they both lived in the same building on Harper is adamant. "My baby is gone," the yells.

"I will never go bm to Harper St." the way their relationship once was. But her own past wasn't that pristine pure, it develops, and Halloran is forced to play a trump curd she hoped she wouldn't have to. KAY GARDELLA new show in favor of their sure ratings winners. When the 90-minute program debuts next Monday, about half of the affiliates will delay its broadcast and air it af ter their current 11:30 p.m. offerings.

For instance, WUSA of Washington, D.C., will air Sajak after "Divorce dent surgeon; Lynn Whitfield as the compassionate Dr. Cory Banks, who's attending to Ruthie, a young girl without means who has a problem pregnancy; nurse-practitioner Marilyn McGrath, TVs first gay woman in a series, played with a certain masculinity by Gail Strickland, and Julie Ronnie as nurse Alice Swanson. Fortunately it's not an Court" and "Music Video Connection each Friday evening meaning the former TV weather WITH "St. Elsewhere," but not in the same man and Wheel of Fortune host goes on at midnight or league, different cases are perking away as well as the main theme of the hour. For in 12:30 a.m., depending on the day.

In New York, though, Sajak will hit the air promptly at 11:30. But it will be at the expense of Ch. 2 news, which now runs from, p.m. Speaking of talk shows, reports come that Joan Rivers' return to TV is taking shape. Paramount TV has sold the New York-based, hourJongtalk show, which begins this fall, to 33 markets around the country, including WCBS-TV here.

However, no time slot has been announced. stance, a smartly dressed woman learns she's pregnant and, as easily as falling oil a log, demand an abortion be scheduled immediately. When Halloran learns she's a call girl, she's livid. After discovering she has had three abortions in 18 months, the two lock horns. Tonight's busy script, which also features a new cast member, Carmen Argcmlano as Nathan Schiff, was written by Joe Viola and Allison Hork.

The series is an Aaron Spelling production, the man once noted for glitzy TV like the Esther and-Richard Shapiro-created series "Dynasty," designed to appeal to the greed in viewers. There's no glitz and glitter here. Only daily problems to be solved by the bright, fast talking obstetrician in charge of the L.A medical clinic, Dr. Halloran. Alan Mirabella exclusive women's club.

The romance between Halloran and Dr. Leo Ro-setti (Ben Masters) is still going hot and heavy that is, when he's not demanding a raise at cutback time. They can be in each other's arms one minute and arguing over business the next They're also very sloppy eaters as they share the same bowl of what look like noodles while flopped on their bed. The point being, of course, they work so hard they're too exhausted to stand on ceremony. Dr.

Paul Jared (Darrell Larson), an intense, dedicated doctor, is uptight about the malpractice suit The woman was his patient And he's certain Just Another Today NBC's 'Today" show can start off the new year in style. It wpn the ratings race once again, for the 21st week in a row, and it also won the just-concluded fourth quarter, marking its 12th consecutive quarterly victory. For the year, the "Today" show averaged a 4.4 rating and a U' Cr 21 share, representing a 2 gain over the previous year. A rating point represents 1 of the nation's 90.4 million TV households. The share is the percentage of IJKWuED((H))LrI sets tuned in.

ABC's "Good Morning America" posted a Hi 'ERE WAS Fred Silverman, legendary TV executive of the "70s, sitting 3.9 rating and a 19 share, down 9 from a year ago. And! "CBS This Morning" averaged a 2,2 rating and an 11 Share, down 4 from the year before, when Mar-lette Hartley and Holland Smith were aboard as hosts of "The Morning Program." G.M. Soap Suds llene Kristen, who plays meddlesome Delia on ABC's "Ryan's Hope" (sadly, leaving the schedule after next Friday), will sing an original pop composition she wrote called "Can You Handle It. on Friday's episode. The song will accompany a fantasy sequence in which in his West L.A.

office, shaking his head in dismay as he reflected on the dominant TV trend of the late '80s trash TV. "These trash television shows are popping up on every station, and there are three or four more ready to go," said Silverman, looking disgusted. 'This kind of tabloid garbage is even starting to creep into more traditional shows like '2020' and 'West The irony is that these comments were from the one-time president of NBC, the only man to have been programing head for all three major networks, the man who spent a good part ting on anything (remember Silverman described today's broadcasting situation as "dangerous" and called on broadcasters and producers to begin "exercising some restraint" "The last thing in the world we need right now is for the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to get back into the program content business, and that is exactly what is going to happen, as sure as I'm sitting here. The people out there can only take so many What most of the press seems to forget is that the television audience is not a single audience. There is another, sizable constituency out there.

"Call it what you -want, the Moral Majority or whatever, but they represent tha majority of the population. Thejr. MeJd an enormous amount of clout, and they've had It with trash television." Silverman now heads his own production company. It produces two Top 20 weekly and "In the Heat of the Night" It also produces the Perry Mason TV movies. Two series are scheduled for 1989 starts-'The Father Dowling Mysteries" and the half-hour sitcom, "One of the Boys." Silverman said he'd never go back to programing.

"Irogram-ing is not about taste," he said. "It's about knowing how to schedule shows. You start with a show that has some merit and program it with other shows with merit Then maybe you have a hit Although I look at 'A Different World! and damned I know what its pvtl" Orange Cwanly fWgifcter Delia dreams of opening a night club. Knsten regularly performs her rock music act in New York nightspots and her theatrical credits include both "Grease" and "May- It's not official, but fans of CBS' "Guiding Light" can look for the return of popular Michael Zaslow in the role of the supposedly dead Roger Thorpe in time for the important February sweeps period. GL fans know that Thorpe was one of the all-time best soap bad guys, from 1971-80.

Slimy? He wrote the book. Zaslow, who recently has" been a writer on NBC V'Another of his prograrruBg career being also appeared on ABC's-One Lfe tolwe''198Cfc83) as David. ---An Carter, castigated as a lasieiess who; had no shame in put.