Bigger Is Better

THE BOOK-OF-THE-WEEK CLUB
Television execs like their stories well sold as much as well told, which explains why so many upcoming miniseries are based on top-of-the-chart books. CBS reportedly offered Marlon Brando $4 million to star in its version of Mario Puzo's The Last Don, which the network denies. ''Brando called us,'' says Joan Harrison, VP of miniseries at CBS. (The role went to Danny Aiello.) Fox, meanwhile, is also wading into the high-stakes pool, with a $6 million version of Dean Koontz's Intensity. ''This was [one of] his biggest-selling books, and it has a young protagonist,'' says Trevor Walton, senior VP of movie acquisitions at Fox, who hopes the gory thriller will appeal to Fox's young male audience. ABC has scheduled an adaptation of Robert Ludlum's best-seller The Apocalypse Watch to air next year. ''You can't snap your fingers and conjure up an event,'' says Lieberman. ''You have to use name brands wherever you can.''

REMADE FOR TV
One surefire way to capture that big-screen feel on the tube is to remake a feature. CBS has reworked Truman Capote's landmark true-crime story, In Cold Blood, and both CBS and ABC have new versions of the adventure classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea scheduled. Meanwhile, ABC's crown jewel for May is a new take on Stephen King's The Shining, with Rebecca DeMornay in Shelley Duvall's role and Wings' Steven Weber stepping into Jack Nicholson's blood-filled shoes. ''This is Stephen King's adaptation of his novel,'' says Lieberman, ''as opposed to a different filmmaker's interpretation.'' (After all, what does Stanley Kubrick know about filmmaking?)

Of course, the networks aren't completely abandoning their small-screen stars. A number of TV movies will continue to bank on the telegenic twentysomethings of Aaron Spelling's shows. NBC will have a full Monday-night slate of movies starring Beverly Hills, 90210's Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Tori Spelling, and even ex-90210 bad girl Shannen Doherty. (The network learned a valuable scheduling lesson in 1994 when Tori Spelling's A Friend to Die For did a 24 share opposite Monday Night Football — actually drawing male viewers away from the NFL.) ABC also took the Spelling test and will air a string of what Lieberman calls ''high-concept date movies'' starring, among others, Jennie Garth, plus Melrose Place's Lisa Rinna and Rob Estes. And CBS will appeal to its post-boomer audience by pairing Spelling kids with more established stars — such as in Blessed Assurance, which will match Melrose's Grant Show with Cicely Tyson.

But for the most part, at sweeps time (in May, February, and November), look for the networks to push their flashy ''event'' projects. That is, unless the numbers change. ''The networks have faith until something bad happens,'' says Halmi. ''If Odyssey doesn't do as well as Gulliver, then they're going to say, 'Oh, maybe this isn't the way to go.''' Which would certainly be good news for Sure, I Killed My Husband ... But He Was Boinking the Babysitter.