On the Air: March 12, 1999

ONE MAN'S TRASH Talk queen Oprah Winfrey recently made headlines declaring TV too trashy, even threatening to leave it behind when her contract expires in 2002.

But in the meantime, she's not against borrowing from those criticized for dragging the medium down. Fox's World's Most Shocking Medical Videos (which included a man who lost his nose to frostbite and another with two faces) apparently made quite an impression on Ms. Winfrey. Soon after the special's Feb. 18 airing, Oprah producers called the creators, LMNO Productions, looking to get in touch with the guests featured in the grisly footage. Long story short: Oprah's Medical Miracles aired last week, just in time for the end of sweeps.

While LMNO is pleased that one of their shows inspired Winfrey, they wish the critics would take notice. ''When we do this, it's negative, but if Oprah does it, it's fine,'' grumbles LMNO CEO Eric Schotz, who is eager to draw a distinction between himself and the Jerry Springers of the world. ''Just because it's shocking, doesn't mean it's bad.''

'TOONING IN Despite its '98 Nielsen disaster Stressed Eric, NBC hasn't shied away from getting into the animation biz. The Peacock just picked up Sammy, a cartoon based on David Spade's life, as well as Carsey-Werner's God, the Devil and Bob, about a modern-day Job. James Garner has signed on to be the voice of God. French Stewart will play Bob, and, in a bit of inspired casting, Robert Downey Jr. will voice the devil. In more cartoon news, Fox hopes to turn Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse shorts from Saturday Night Live into a series.

AND SO ON Steve Bornstein, who as CEO of ESPN built the sports channel into the most profitable cable net, will try to work his magic as president of ABC Inc. Disney tapped him to replace Bob Iger, who was bumped up to president of Disney's international operations as well as chairman of ABC Group.