Tribute

LOS ANGELES -- In editing a two-hour tribute to his father, Michael Landon Jr. discovered no revelations about the kind of life the elder Landon lived.He heard a few new stories about his father, but mostly what he learned confirmed what he already knew -- Michael Landon cherished family values and possessed a keen sense of humor."He loved to laugh, he loved to make other people laugh," said Mr. Landon, who along with his older sister, Leslie, and Melissa Gilbert-Brinkman host NBC's "Michael Landon: Memories with Laughter and Love," at 8 p.m. tonight (Channel 2)

In her first performance in three months, figure skater Ekaterina Gordeeva glided across the Hartford (Conn.) Civic Center ice Tuesday night with a fluidity and grace that undoubtedly helped her win two Olympic gold medals and four world championships.But for all its skill and passion, Gordeeva's routine was clearly missing something, namely Sergei Grinkov, her husband and pairs partner, who died of a heart attack during a practice session in November in Lake Placid, N.Y.Gordeeva's triumphant return to the ice for the first time since her husband's death is the emotional force behind tonight's two-hour CBS tribute, "Sergei Grinkov: Celebration of a Life," (Channel 13, 9 p.m.)

Slide on that jumpsuit and lace up those blue suede shoes. Tonight's the night of the big pay-per-view Elvis tribute.* "Summertime Switch" (8-10 p.m., Channel 13) -- Jason Weaver and Rider Strong star as kids with similar names who mistakenly get sent to the wrong summer camps: one posh, the other brutal. In this original ABC family telemovie, friends are made, lessons learned, and viewers in search of intelligent family TV are advised to switch rather than "Switch." ABC.* "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (8-9 p.m., Channel 11)

"All this is in Baltimore," the recorded voice of the late Eubie Blake proclaims in Olney Theatre Center's Eubie! Excerpted from a vintage interview with the Baltimore-born ragtime composer and performer, the line is one of the production's many pieces of historical documentation - including projected photos and sheet music, as well as a lobby exhibit featuring the figure of Blake, seated at a piano, from Baltimore's National Great Blacks in Wax Museum....

The two ministers and longtime friends often conversed in an exaggerated Pennsylvania Dutch accent. The Revs. Arthur L. Mentzer and Carol Henry Youse easily understood their catch phrases in the heavy German dialogue.Details from Mr. Youse's last conversation with "Arsur", his "friend from up the road" in Taneytown, elicited hearty laughs from the congregation at Trinity Lutheran Church yesterday. Hundreds had come to pay a final tribute to their 54-year-old pastor who had served them for 10 years.

UNITED NATIONS - A year after the suicide bombing of the United Nations' Baghdad headquarters killed 22 people in Iraq, U.N. staffers around the world paid tribute yesterday to their fallen colleagues. They also complained that the United Nations had yet to adequately protect its workers in dangerous areas. In solemn ceremonies in New York, Geneva, Baghdad, and Amman, Jordan, U.N. staffers and relatives of the 22 victims lighted candles and shared a moment of silence. "We are no strangers to violence and intimidation," Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the audience in Geneva.

The Baltimore International Film Festival will continue this week with seven films showing at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive. Advance tickets are available at the BMA box office at (410) 235-0100. Call (410) 889-1993 for film information.Tonight's features are "Full House," a French psychodrama about the strains of media stardom, at 7:30, and "Fiorile," a sensuous Italian drama about the clash between love andmoney, at 9:15."The Story of a Cheat," a 1936 French film by Sacha Guitry, will be shown at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, followed by "Out of Sight," a documentary about a blind woman who insisted on her humanity, at 9:15 p.m.Sunday night's feature is "The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg," at 7, a documentary about the Beat poet that includes interviews with Norman Mailer, Joan Baez and Ken Kesey and Mr. Ginsberg's appearance on William F. Buckley Jr.'s "Firing Line."

Were the '70s really a huge waste of time best left forgotten? Don't jump to any conclusions before watching VH1 tonight."The Nanny" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- In a repeat from two years back, the Woman With the Most Irritating Voice in the World runs into Corbin Bernsen, once the World's Sleaziest Lawyer. Only this time he's not Arnie Becker, but rather hot-dog hawker mistaken for a stockbroker. CBS."Dr. Laura Schlessinger on Character, Courage and Conscience" (8 p.m.-9: 30 p.m., MPT, Channels 22 and 67)

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 80 on Jan. 15. Although the challenge of defeating discrimination and bigotry - and not just racial - remains formidable, the slain civil rights leader would have been astounded at the changes in the world, especially what's taking shape in Washington. So this year's observance of King's birthday cannot help but seem more important, and the State of Maryland's 23rd Annual Tribute Concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra cannot help but seem even more of a celebratory occasion.

Warren Zevon is dying, and he wants to make a record." It was a jolting and macabre message to be sure, and that only propelled it faster through the wiring of famous friends, managers, agents and labels that links rock musicians to one another. The ones who know Zevon best probably allowed themselves a sad smile. This was exactly the sort of thing you would expect from the singer-songwriter, whose grim and funny music always seemed like a margarita stand in a mausoleum - sure, the songs all seemed to say, have some fun, just don't forget where this big party is going to end. So when the call went out, many answered: Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Tom Petty, Emmylou Harris, Ry Cooder and many others, some contributing from afar, others coming to see the stricken Zevon, who had gone public with the diagnosis of his terminal cancer.