Daily News from New York, New York • 76

22 1985, DAILY NEWS 77 I AVI VM :1 f.M M.l.', Nunds i Irf rMrf i flatter enndl Punky says no Viewers of NBC's 'Punky Brewster" next Sunday will see a scene they may have spotted on the news last spring. Soleil Moon Frye. who stars as the 9-year-old, is the national spokesman for the "Just Say No" club, made up of children who have refused drugs and alcohol and who campaign to get their friends to do the same. Frye went to Atlanta on behalf of the organization to lead a march and rally, which was covered by the nightly news. The producers of "Punky Brewster," Inspired by ff a mniainriail THE PROBLEMS THAT result from divorce are not new, but tonight's CBS film, "Picking Up the Pieces," starring Margot Kidder as the victim of a broken marriage, puts a new face on the old theme.

Seen from 9 to 11 p.m., it's a sensitive, splendidly acted drama that probes the legal tricks a man can use to come out the winner. Men in the audience may feel offended by this particular film, since David Ackroyd, who plays Eric Harding, the doctor-husband of Linette (Kidder), a housewife and the mother of three children, is a cad of the first magnitude. In fact, he's got a sadistic streak running through him, the very trait that ruins his 17-year marriage. We get a fix on this creep immediately. At a party in their attractive suburban home, he insults his wife in front of his guests by making fun of her cooking.

It's obvious she's beaten down and fed up. At night when they get ready for bed, he further reveals himself by asking: "Do you think Max had a good time? He can throw some gall bladders my way." But things quickly turn to the subject that's jf.Jfc3 4 RIAKINQ AOJUSTUEriTS includes a romance the children, decided to tape Frye (dressed as Punky) leading the marchers and to write an episode around the footage. George Makslan It's now '50-50' An all-news cable service, which started out as a long shot for NBC News, now has a "50-50 chance," says NBC news president Lawrence Grossman. The news chief has set December as the deadline for cable commitments and June. 1987, as a possible starting date.

If the cable industry complies wth NBC's demands the delivery of 17V4 million people at minimum charges of 12 cents (1987). 15 cents (1988) and 18 cents (1989) the hard-news service, he said, would differ from CNN, Ted Turner's all-news operation, by being fcofft advertising and fee supported. Stay tuned. KayGardella Rumor of the week As you know. "Dallas" hasn't been doing thaf great in the ratings lately, what with Patrick Duffy leaving the cast and trying to find a suitable male-hunk replacement for his popular Bobby Ewing good-guy character.

No one would confirm been weighing on Linette's mind for a long time. She wants a divorce. There's a scene. "You don't walk out on me," he declares, as he slaps her. As the children look on in disbelief, demanding to know "what's going on down there?" he becomes more KAY GAHDELLA rrf" tit fturaHfrP At' I between Margot Kidder and James Farentino.

The children feel they have been denied their home, although they all still remain in the house. As the lawyer tells Linette, he has to pay the mortgage or lose it. But she's had other grand awakenings credit cards canceled, dentist bills unpaid, bank accounts empty and other humiliations. She must subsist on a small part-time income. The children, meantime, become pawns in her husband's game.

He invites them to dinner, but refuses to show them where he lives. The restaurant is an ordinary eatery and Stacey's nose is out of joint She expected much better. But Papa, the successful doctor, tells them "there are hard times ahead." Because of the expense of a divorce, he must cut back. Friends rally 'round Helped by friends Harriet (Joyce Van Patten) and Mac (Herbert Edelman), she gets an attorney, and here the drama becomes educational as well as dramatically interesting. She quickly learns how easily women can become poor by divorce.

And her attorney is more interested in dating her than freeing her. Woven throughout the drama are her counseling experiences at school, a romance with a widower Don Hagan (James Farentino), and the adjustments Linette and her children must make as they face a new future. It's the steps she takes to get her life back on a productive track and the message delivered by the film that in the end, it's up to you to pick up the pieces and get on with life that make this a worth-watching film. Kidder is gentle, lady-like and loving as she suffers through the pitfalls of divorce and faces an uncertain future. One thing the film written by Gordon Cotler is, and that's believable.

Dorothea Petrie is the producer and Paul Wendkos the director. it, but the word spreading like wildfire in Hollywood is that Duffy is coming back. But they killed off his character in last season's final chapter, you say. Listen, stranger things have happened in videoland: Remember Fallon's return on "Dynasty" in the body of a new actress violent Finally he acquiesces. "You'll get your bloody divorce," he shouts.

The next day, when Linette returns home from her parttime job as a school counselor, she finds the house empty. He's takes all their prize possessions paintings, art objects, the funiture, rugs, even her mother's pearls all but the piano. As one child observes, "He couldn't get it through the door." How the kids take it Linette's children are not the pitch-in, gung-ho types immediately, although Eddie and Tom (Jack Higgins and C.B. Barnes), her two sons, aren't as difficult as her daughter Stacey, as played with a touch of resentment, sarcasm and cynicism by Ari Meyers. "You didn't try," she shouts at her mother, and when Linette tries to explain she and her husband "aren't good for each other," Stacey cups her ears and declares: "I can't listen to this junk." (Emma Samms)? The plan is to have Duffy return as Bobby's evil twin brother, who was thought to have died at birth.

Duffy's post-'Dallas" career, so far, hasn't skyrocketed, so maybe there's some truth to the rumor. G.M. TV Ticker NBC's "Today" will be hitting the road again. (Remember its visit to Rome and aboard an Amtrack train through the heartland of America?) The wakeup program is scheduled to visit South America, with stopovers' In Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, in February as part of the network's news division-wide focus on life in South America today and its relations with the U.S. Then in May.

the 'Today crew will be taking a cruise aboard the world's largest cruise ship, the Norway (formerly the France), sailing from Wilmington, N.C., to Miami. Ef 4 p.m. (2) "The War Between the Classes." CBS Schoolbreak special about a high school experiment in class structure. Paul Winfield and Kale Brown star. 8:00 (4) "The A-Team." A land developer invites the to keep track of their kids." Morris set out to make individual spots with Hispanic, black and white mothers, but decided the women she assembled would be more effective in a single spot.

"The first was a Puerto Rican mother who said she lived in Brooklyn, had five children, gave their ages, said she always knew where they were, and asked: 'Do you know where your children are tonight? The cameras panned next to each of the other two women, who said basically the same thing. The segment was an instant hit, and we got tons of mail." Later featured with a slide and voiceover, the spot was moved to the top of the nightly news. Eventually, celebrities (to date about 800 of them) were invited to tape the message. Last night Channel 5 held a party at Studio 54 to celebrate a gala live telecast of the spot on "The 10 O'Clock News," with as many celebs who have taped the message as the station could muster. The spectacular gathering featured the celebs chanting the phrase in chorus.

The phrase has been copied in various forms and, mutations around the country, but Channel 5i remains' the-best Originals always do. By GEORGE MAKS1AN TELEVISION HAS BEEN known to launch numerous catch phrases, many of which have come and gone faster than you can say, "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!" But one that has outlived all others is the opening for Channel 5's weeknight newscast: "It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?" The idea came about back in 1968 for use on the station's "Focus" public affairs segments. "The spots were part of our total station campaign to help minority community problems," says Charlotte Morris, Channel 5's public affairs director. "The 'Focus series involved members of the community ad-libbing a message of 60 seconds, and they drew many requests every day from viewers to do a spot" she said.

"One such request came from a woman named Mildred Coleman, who was active in the Community Council of the 80th Precinct now called the 77th in Brooklyn. "Mrs. Coleman told me that there were little children running around at night getting into mischief. She said it was the fault of their parents, and she asked to do a 'Focus sp parents wrath of the team when he makes the mistake of roughing-up B.A.'s mom (guest star Delia Reese). 8:00 (7, 8) "World Series." St.

Louis Cardinals at Kansas City Royals (Game 3). 13 8:30 (13) "Innovation." Jim Hartz, host An examination of reconstructive surgical procedures that can sometimes save fives; the use of computers to investigate patients' skulls in three dimensional images. Ef 11:30 (4) "Tonight" Liza MinneW is Johnny's guest-.