Baiul

VCR alert: one of the greatest episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" airs tonight. This one's a keeper."Friends" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- In a repeat with more than its share of guest stars, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders plays a professional musician hired by Central Perk to replace Phoebe (obviously they're going for a different sound), while Lea Thompson pops over from "Caroline In the City." NBC." 'Les Miserables' in Concert" (8 p.m.-11: 30 p.m., MPT, Channels 22 and 67)

Do you really want to pay $29.95 for the O. J. interview? I mean, what is he going to say? I'm guessing a variation of, "I didn't do it." Far better to watch NBC tonight and hear the O. J. Simpson jurors say what they were thinking. Now, that should be interesting.* "Rock 'N' Roll Skating Championships" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- Tired of all those figure skaters gliding over the ice to the music of a bunch of dead composers? This may be your lucky night: Oksana Baiul is going to skip the ballet for once and skate to Aerosmith.

PHILADELPHIA -- In the era of "Ice Wars" and televised Sunday spectaculars, there is no rest for a skating star.Just ask France's Surya Bonaly.Last night, the sport's best triple jumper won the women's singles title -- and a check for $25,000 -- at the International Figure Skating Pro-Am Championships.And then, she started making plans for yet another skating showdown next week in Japan."Sometimes when you see the list [of competitions], you say, 'Oh, my God, no,' " she said.But in skating, a sport now ruled by agents and television networks, money most definitely talks.

NAGANO, Japan -- We're No. 2.It's not exactly the slogan you hear at the Winter Olympics. But that's what winning the silver medal is all about.You're not first. You're not third. You haven't won. But you haven't really lost, either. It is the toughest medal of all to deal with for many Olympians.And today, it's the medal that Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski would like to avoid.These two terrific, teen-aged figure skaters are out to claim the women's title at the Winter Olympics. In all likelihood, one of them is bound for the most valuable gold at the Olympics, while the other is headed for a silver.

Maybe CBS' figure skating announcers were trying to be totally objective to Tonya Harding. Or maybe they weren't.In any case, the resentment crept through in the comments from Verne Lundquist and Scott Hamilton last night.CBS' cameras outside the ice rink (Hallway Cam?) caught Harding having trouble getting her skates laced when it was her time to come out for her long program.(As Harding later told CBS' Tracy Wilson, she had broken a lace and couldn't find one that fit.)Hamilton said: "Things like this just don't happen," adding that a skater should go ahead and perform anyway at that point.

LILLEHAMMER, Norway -- These are the Winter Olympics you do not want to end. They are Games where good overshadows evil, where athletes act as heroes and where dreams really do come true.These are the Games of Dan Jansen winning one last race, Oksana Baiul smiling through the tears, Johann Olav Koss racing into history.They are about an Israeli skater named Michael Shmerkin wearing a yarmulke during the Opening Ceremonies; Bosnian bobsledders fleeing the siege of Sarajevo to make a few bumpy rides down an icy trail; an aerial daredevil from Uzbekistan named Lina Cherjazova winning her country's first gold medal as rock music echoed down a mountainside.

NEW YORK - You meet Nancy Kerrigan at a high-end AIDS charity event inside a MAC cosmetics store in downtown Manhattan, where the full-time mother and part-time celebrity is trim and prim, dressed in black. You track down Tonya Harding somewhere very different, across the country in a hotel room in Vancouver, Wash., where she is training earnestly between boxing matches. They are worlds apart, 10 years later. Harding is an athlete, alone and bruising her way through life. Kerrigan is an actress, a homemaker.

Will there ever be too many awards shows?"Blue Chips" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- Nick Nolte plays a basketball coach faced with an unfortunate choice: a clear conscience or a championship team. Among the cast are past and present basketball players and coaches, including Amfernee Hardaway, Matt Nover, Bob Cousy, Marques Johnson, Larry Bird and Bobby Knight. Fox."The Blockbuster Entertainment Awards" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WNUV, Channel 54) -- That was close; I think we went three days without an awards program of some kind.

Dumb decisionWho's dumb decision was it to insist that Baltimore City schools open on time during the height of a snowstorm and with predictions of more snow, sleet and rain?At a time when safety in the streets and safety in the schools have been prominent issues, to put students, teachers and staff at the mercy of such treacherous conditions is preposterous.North Avenue's decision may well have been driven by macho posturing to sway an illusion of commitment to Baltimore City youngsters.

EDMONTON, Alberta - The coach had found a quiet place in the Edmonton Coliseum, a cubbyhole reserved for the flower girls who retrieve bouquets tossed onto the ice. The scores for Lu Chen of China, the defending world figure-skating champion, were announced and the results were forbidding. Chen had received two perfect marks of 6 for artistry.Frank Carroll turned to Michelle Kwan, whom he coaches, and told the 15-year-old skater that the world title was still within reach Saturday night. Apart from the 6s, Chen had received four 5.8s for artistry.