Daily News from New York, New York • 295

vii una uy in aso, riuiuny iuij ciiucu cn DAILY NEWC its six-year run on ABC. Ricardo Montalban was the island's owner, who made his guests' wishes come true. Herve ViHechaize played his sidekick, Tattoo. BBdltiD OTl Me ff Miri By ROBERT DOMINGUEZ Because the bulk of pro-graming has traditionally been either imported from other countries or taped out of the networks' home bases in Miami, Spanish TV has often missed the boat when it comes to tapping into the vastly diverse New York Hispanic community. The only program currently produced locally is "Noticiero 47," a daily newscast taped in Teterboro, N.J.

The latest tangible change for local Hispanic viewers, though, will come next week with the debut of "Gallito Ramirez," a soap opera starring Colombian pop singer Carlos Vives. The program, which airs Monday to Friday at 11 p.m., will join two other Colombian-oriented shows currently on Ch. 47's lineup: The variety "Aqui Colombia Colombia Here," airing Saturday at 11 a.m., and "Hechos en Colombia Events in Colombia," a news show, airing Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Telemundo also airs two weekend programs, "Santo Domingo Invita" and "Noti-cias RD," to attract the city's burgeoning Dominican population. But Manuel Martinez-Llor-ian, WNJU's general manager, says that while the programs are targeted to specific markets, "The idea is to get everyone to watch." The station's strategy includes bringing two of Telemundo's most popular talk shows "Sevcec," hosted by former news anchor Pedro Sevcec, and "El Ella Him and Her" to NYC in '96.

The shows will be broadcast from here at least twice a year. "Right now, it's very competitive," offers Martinez-Llorian. "Univision is No. 1, but we're going to catch them." Indeed, Telemundo needs all the viewers it can get National Nielsen numbers show competitor Univision dominating the ratings in Hispanic households with a 23 rating compared to Telemundo's 4.7. The disparity holds true in New York as well.

Abraham-Castillo also explains that the Big Apple's Puerto Rican community will continue to be well-served, which is a market segment that had been overlooked the last few years as Mexican soap operas dominated the program grid. "We've had successful programing in Puerto Rico," he says. "It is now a matter of making the transition to incorporate them into the New York market But I wouldn't call it 'Puerto Rican' programing," he warns. "It's more 'Caribbean-based' to also appeal to groups like Dominicans and Cubans." Daily News Staff Writer LIKE AVIS, Miami-based TV programer Telemundo is trying harder and New York's Hispanic viewing audfence has become the apple of its eye. According to Harry Abraham-Castillo, Telemundo's national programing director, the -company's local station, WNJUCh.

47, is making a conscious effort to gear much of its programing to specific nationalities in the tri-state area Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Colombians and Mexicans, among others. For non-Hispanic channel surfers, a brief stop at the Spanish-language channels (47 and WXTVCh. 41, where competitor Univision's programing airs) is like a glimpse into'an alternate TV universe inhabited by cheesy variety shows, melodramatic "nove-las" (soaps) and even badly dubbed American movies. Scantily clad salsa dancers. Overwrought soap opera actors.

Gory news footage of the latest drug-related massacre. It's all there. Still, for more than 7 million Hispanic TV households in America, both Univision, which is the leading provider of Spanish-language programs in the U.S., and Telemundo are lifelines to their countries oforgin. IK-irnM ninil ir l.irilil a BACK-TO-BACK HITS: Antonio Farre Gigi Graciette in "El Ola" Sliiiwiiiiis Ins 1 finds of cSos encciiiit ers: godii bad By DAVID BIANCULU Daily News TV Critic THIS SUNDAY niglyt, Showtime presents an out-of-this-world double-header. A comedy telemovie called "Amanda and the Alien," about a spacey young woman who befriends a more literally spacey extraterrestrial, begins the action at 8, followed at 10 by a new, alien-obsessed episode of "The Outer Limits." One stinks; the other doesn't.

dence before a committee, and put Clapp's Mr. Strong in his place. What makes this presentation work so well, though, is that the impatient and understandably skeptical head of the committee is played by Daniel J. Travanti, who for some reason responds to this small role with his most vigorous, witty and compelling performance in years. With glances, smirks, pauses as well as dialogue, Travanti crafts a wonderful character.

Not that writer Brad Wright, who crafted this season finale episode around the selected clips, didn't give the principal actors good dialogue to start with. Exasperated by a series of what seem to be paranoid rantings, Travanti's character sighs, "The sky is NOT falling, Mr. Strong." Clapp's Mr. Strong replies, "With all due respect, Mr. Chairman, look again." And, true to "Outer Limits" form, there's a tasty twist, tying a neat ribbon on a very acceptable first season.

"Amanda and the Alien" stars Nicole Eggert of "Baywatch," and it's her chance to prove she can really act. No persuasive proof is offered, and the film wastes so much time deciding whether it wants to steal from "Life-force," "Starman," "Species" or "Earth Girls Are Easy" that it goes nowhere fast Actually, it goes nowhere slow. "The Outer Limits," on the other hand, is a pleasant surprise: an inexpensively produced "clip show" (done en-tirely on one single conference-room set) that actually finds a clever reason, and a compelling one, to present a few highlights from previous episodes. Gordon Clapp, Medavoy on "NYPD Blue," stars in "Voice of Reason" as an alien-obsessed researcher who finally gets a meeting at the highest levels of government to warn of impending dangers from outer space. Think of David Duchovny's Mulder, armed with CD-ROM copies of his best "X-Files" cases and finally getting to lay out his evi illlilPliillliil ONE MONTH from tonight, CBS will premiere two new sit coms, "Can't Hurry Love" and "If Not for You." I mention skulking back into the comforting dark of cancellation.

This leftover first-run "Love War" stars Annie Potts and Jay Thomas, as always, but this episode is noteworthy because of who's behind the camera: Joanna Gleason, who co-stars as Nadine, directed this installment. 8:00 (A E) "Biography: Milton Her-shey." This "Biography" makes it clear how candy king Milton Hershey made his fortune and one thing that surprised me is that he didn't do it by opening a string of popular taverns. When I was a kid, all that anyone ever talked about were Hershey bars. 8:30 (CBS) "Women of the House." Delta Burke is back again, but this se- ries merely is being thrown on CBS to eat up some hours of prime time before the start of fall. Officially, this "House" is demolished.

10:00 (NBC) "Homicide: Life on the Street." This episode reunites producer Tom Fontana with guest star David Morse, both of whom worked on "St. Elsewhere." For their new collaboration, Morse is given a role as complex, and surprising, as his role of Jack "Boomer" Morrison. It's a fine show about racism, well written and very nicely performed. Midnight (HBO) "Dennis Miller Live." Fellow HBO maverick Russell Simmons is tonight's guest. The subject is power as in clout, not electricity.

a. this so that if you are as weary as I am of nothing-to-watch TV nights, it helps to serve notice that the "official" start of the 1995-96 TV season is exactly one month away and counting. I also mention it because, on a maddeningly dull Friday night such as this one, it fills up space. 8:00 p.m. (CBS) "Love War." This is one of those summertime vampire shows one that comes back from the grave with a few fresh episodes before ttsei ift a DENNIS THE MENACE: Dennis Miller.