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Show HLljLLxBy Steve K. Walz WEE SNEAK PREVIEW Meredith Baxter-Birney is returning return-ing to TV In "Family Ties," an offbeat CBS pilot. No, it's not an extension or sequel of the old ABC "Family" series. In fact, Miss Baxter-Birney's role is quite a departure from the one she had on "Family." In this project, she'll portray a hip married woman who gets caught up in the events that shaped the 1960s. Miss Baxter-Birney's son will be played by Michael J. Fox, who was featured in last year's CBS "Palmerstown USA" series. Gary Goldberg, Gold-berg, who served as the producer of the failed "Last Resort" series for CBS will be in charge of "Family Ties." BRITISH FAVES According to the latest ratings from England, "Hart to Hart," "Dallas" and "The Dukes of Hazzard" are the three most-watched American shows on British TV. QUANTUM LEAP Yet another c6mlc strip character charac-ter is making a jump to the small screen. Jim Davis' famous feline, "Garfield," whicti is seen in more than 900 newspapers via United Feature Syndicate, will star in an upcoming animated CBS prime-time special, "Here Comes Garfield." The special is a United Media Productions presentation in association with Lee Men-delson Men-delson and Bill Melendez. Jay Poynor of United Media Productions Is the show's executive producer. RUMOR MILL There's talk that Heather Locklear who is seen as John Forsythe's daughter-in-law on ABC's "Dynasty" may be axed. Insiders say her character, charac-ter, Sammy Jo Carrington, hasn't drawn the viewer interest inter-est that producers thought she would. BEHIND THE SCENES "The stories have to be more dramatic tor next year and that doesn't necessarily mean sex. The characters have to be involved in situations situa-tions that are more life and death," says John Pleshette, who stars as Richard Avery on CBS's "Knots Landing." Pleshette, who also contributes to the adult drama as a writer, recently wrote a moving episode that's tentatively tenta-tively set for airing this week. "I wrote my own nervous breakdown. Now how many actors get to do that?" asks Pleshette. When the show goes on hiatus in the late spring, Pleshette will be working on a proposed pilot, "The 17," a serial set during the late 1920s and early 1930s, about chorus girls who live in an all-women's hotel. 1MJ Computog I |