TNT

The production staff that will telecast tomorrow night's NBA draft from Washington's MCI Center for TNT has been preparing for four months and we are assured that they have a game plan for how to cover the two-round extravaganza.But producer Jeff Behnke isn't expecting the script to last for very long."About three minutes into the telecast, we'll have the ceremonial burning of the format," Behnke said yesterday. "Maybe it will make it to 7: 52.""If it lasts that long," chimed in host Ernie Johnson.

The Rev. Joseph Verrett, as portrayed by Andre Braugher in the TNT movie "Passing Glory," airing at 8 p.m. tomorrow, is a fiery, radical young Josephite priest who wages the good fight for civil rights.The real Verrett just has to chuckle."I'd like to believe I was that heroic and epochal a figure," says Verrett, who in retirement is associate pastor at St. Francis Xavier parish in East Baltimore and works in the Josephite Fathers missions office. "But I wasn't.""Passing Glory" is the story of a ground-breaking basketball game between two Catholic schools in the segregated New Orleans of 1965: all-black St. Augustine and all-white Jesuit high schools.

By its very nature, downhill skiing is perfect "must see TV" as competitors, one by one, take their turns hurtling themselves down a mountain at high speeds with no padding, and seemingly little common sense.And while last night's men's competition wasn't exactly pulse-pounding, it did provide the first real moments of spontaneous television drama during these Winter Olympics.CBS officials, who had seen the downhill postponed three times already, must have been biting their nails down to the nubs, as the race -- the first competition to be carried live -- was delayed, first by wind, then by spectacular crashes of Austrian Hermann Maier and by Luca Cattaneo of Italy, forcing them to go to taped men's figure skating coverage sooner than they had likely planned.

The last paragraph of Gregory Kane's column was incomplete in some editions yesterday. It should have read:Another young man said that cable channels -- particularly Ted Turner's TNT -- are begging for scripts with black dramatic themes. That's not surprising. Cable holds the answer to the media's pathetic portrayal of fathers in general and black fathers in particular.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 6/21/98

If there's anyone who knows what a good Olympic television anchor is supposed to be, it's Jim McKay, whose warmth, sincerity and intelligence guided American audiences through two decades of coverage.And from his living room, both in his winter home in Florida and in his usual residence in Maryland, McKay says CBS' prime-time anchor, Jim Nantz, who has drawn some criticism for being a bit aloof, is doing just fine."He's one of the most sincere guys I've ever met in my life. He's really hit his stride, and he's hit it well," said McKay.

Conference semifinals(Best of seven; line in parentheses)Eastern ConferenceChicago vs. Charlotte(Series tied 1-1)Game 1--Chicago 83, Charlotte 70Yesterday--Charlotte 78, Chicago 76Tomorrow--At Charlotte, 8 p.m. (TNT)Sunday--At Charlotte, 5: 30 (NBC)May 13 --At Chicago, 8 p.m.* (TNT)May 15 --At Charlotte, TBA* (TNT)May 17 -- At Chicago, TBA* (NBC)Indiana vs. New York(Indiana leads series 1-0)Game 1--Indiana 93, New York 83Today--At Indiana (-8), 8 p.m. (TNT)Saturday--at New York, 1 p.m. (NBC)

Johnathon Schaech has it all: A starring role in TNT's new film "Houdini," a beautiful actress girlfriend, and all the buzz in Hollywood as the next "it" actor.But what the Maryland native wants may be more difficult than any of the death-defying stunts he recently performed as the famed magician: for the Orioles to regain some of their lost powerhouse players."We lost Palmeiro," groaned the 29-year-old actor during a telephone interview from the New York set of his new independent film, "Who's On First."

More than most, Turner executive producer Mike Pearl should have a pretty good feel for what goes into a successful Winter Olympics telecast, as he was a producer for ABC in 1984 and 1988, and the coordinating producer of CBS's efforts in 1992 and 1994.For TNT's presentation, Pearl has a lot less air time to work with than he did with the network, a significant number of restrictions over what he can show and when he can show it and a whopping 14-hour time difference between Nagano and the eastern United States.

Besides 45 minutes worth of an episode of "ER," what exactly does $10 million get you these days on television?That's what officials at Turner Sports, who forked over that amount to CBS for a piece of the Winter Olympic Games, will find out starting tomorrow, when TNT commences at least 50 hours of coverage from Nagano, Japan.In television parlance, $10 million really isn't all that much, particularly weighed against the $375 million CBS paid for all the rights to the Games. Because of that, and CBS' desire to keep and air all the good stuff, TNT's offerings will be relatively limited.

With the Olympic flame about to be extinguished in Nagano, Japan, it's time for "Media Watch" to hand out its medals for coverage in and around the Games.Will the winners please step to the podium?GoldJim Lampley: The TNT anchor had more Olympic experience than anyone else and it showed, as he skillfully moved the action along at a dreadful time of day no less.Jim Huber: Turned in one brilliant essay after another for TNT. The best at his craft in the business.TNT's overall coverage: Executive producer Mike Pearl and his crew put together a beautiful package with what was essentially table scraps just about every day.Verne Lundquist: Equipped himself wonderfully as CBS' lead voice on figure skating, the highest profile event of the Games.

King's response 8:30 p.m. [TNT] Now that the Orlando Magic has humbled LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, what will King James' response be in Game 2? Apparently 49 points weren't enough in Game 1.

1 More Madness (Part 1): The early NCAA game (7 p.m, chs. 13, 9) is Xavier-Pittsburgh. Xavier is the best school with the nickname Musketeers. 2 More Madness (Part 2): The late game (same channels) is Villanova-Duke. 'Nova means "it doesn't go" in Spanish - bad for selling a car but no issue for the Wildcats. 3 Check with Cuz: During the Suns-Trail Blazers game (10:30 p.m., TNT), TNT could interview Portland's Brandon Roy about his cousin Patrick losing the NHL wins record. 4 Not in the Army: So you're not playing in the tournament today (3 p.m., Golf Channel)

TNT is using its hit The Closer to serve as lead-in tonight to the premiere of Trust Me, a new series starring Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh. Trust me, there is almost nothing in this drama that works. The series is set in an ad agency with McCormack and Cavanaugh playing two best friends since childhood who now work together thinking up ads for products like cell phones. In the opening scenes, the two are shown mid-day stretched out at a pool, recovering from hangovers. They lie shamelessly about how hard they are working when the boss calls.

1 In the basement: North Carolina tries to get out of last place in the Atlantic Coast Conference while facing Virginia (9 p.m., ESPN). 2 Mounting challenge: Long Island travels to Emmitsburg to face Mount St. Mary's (7 p.m., MASN). LIU is the Blackbirds, but only one black bird matters around here. 3 And no crab dribble: You see that wild, over-the-head shot LeBron James made Tuesday night? Let's see him do it again (Cavaliers at Bulls, 8 p.m., TNT). 4 Smooth shooter: See the new, improved free-throw stylings of Shaquille O'Neal (Suns at Nuggets, 10:30 p.m., TNT)

1 NBA, Part 1: Some Christmas Magic. Playing against some Christmas Hornets (noon, ESPN). 2 NBA, Part 2: In the Spurs-Suns game (2:30 p.m., chs. 2, 7), Steve Nash might sit out to rest for Boxing Day tomorrow (being that he's Canadian). 3 NBA, Part 3: This is the marquee matchup, Celtics-Lakers (5 p.m., chs. 2, 7), so why did the NBA schedule it during dinner time? 4 NBA, Part 4 : Just in case you didn't eat yet, here's the Christmas turkey: Wizards at Cavaliers (8 p.m., TNT)

Corporations have all the power, all the money, Nathan Ford (Timothy Hutton) tells a weeping mother at the end of the pilot for a series premiering Sunday night on TNT. "We provide [pause] leverage." So begins Leverage, a Mission Impossible-type series of a band of merry pranksters - hackers, grifters, escape artists and thieves - assembled to right the wrongs of society with high-tech tools. There is nothing new or exciting about the team, which is mainly done as caricature. There's the immature computer hacker who drinks orange soda, the femme fatale who seduces men into deals they shouldn't make, and an escape artist who is blond and lithe and seems to have studied every one of Uma Thurman's moves.

Lakers@Suns 10:30 p.m. [TNT] It's always nice when old pals (right) Shaq and Kobe get together. Maybe they'll discuss, oh, say, O'Neal's offseason efforts to expand his abilities in freestyle rapping.

1 Come to Papa: You have the NFL Network (left)? Then you have a game tonight - Broncos at Browns at 8:15. And, remember, Bob Papa has replaced Bryant Gumbel on play-by-play. 2 Hungry team: When the Terps play at Virginia Tech tonight (7:30, ESPN), they should know they're being scouted by the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Yum, what could be more incentive than that? 3 Hoop it up: The first game of TNT's NBA doubleheader features Philadelphia at Orlando (8 p.m.). Which reminds us of that old song by Pilot - "oh, oh, oh, it's Magic!"

One of the sadder aspects of this job is having to review the work of once-great writer-producers who are over the hill and merely recycling their old and tired tricks. That's the case with Steven Bochco's new series, Raising the Bar, premiering tonight on TNT. The man who helped change the face of network drama from soft-focus escapist fare to the hard-edged grit of Hill Street Blues in 1984 debuts a big-city legal drama that follows the same conventions of such series as his NYPD Blue and Brooklyn South.

BASEBALL Rangers@Orioles 7 P.M. [CH. 13, MASN]: It's probably the best pitching matchup of the weekend with the Rangers sending Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.59 ERA) to the mound against Daniel Cabrera (7-7, 4.97). Cabrera has struggled recently, but you still have to hope he'll figure it out someday. Why not tonight? GOLF PGA Championship 11 a.m. [TNT], 2 p.m. [CHS. 13, 9]: Hey, golf might be an Olympic sport in the near future. Did you even realize a major was going on? Without Tiger Woods, you have J.B. Holmes to root for.