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A GUIDE TO NOTABLE PROGRAMS BY BRUCE FRETTS. Sci-Fi NYPD Blue meets Alien Nation in Space Precinct (syndicated; check local listings), a new show about a Manhattan cop (Knots Landing's Ted Shackelford) who gets reassigned to another solar system in the 21st century. Between Shackelford, TekWar's Greg Evigan (My Two Dads), and Babylon 5's Bruce Boxleitner (Scarecrow and Mrs. King), outer-space syndie shows seem to be magnets for out-of-work '80s TV actors. Precinct presents yet another vision of the future as a dystopia straight out of Blade Runner with lots of grotesque creatures straight out of Star Wars. But the chintzy special effects in the pilot, directed by John Glen (the James Bond vet, not the astronaut), make Sigmund and the Sea Monsters look like Terminator 2. Paranormal For people who take The X-Files a little too seriously, the ufo cover-up? live from area 51-a TNT Larry King Special (TNT, Oct. 1, 8-10 p.m.) features the Suspendered One conducting interviews with Carl Sagan, Barry Goldwater, William Shatner, and other ''experts,'' from a Nevada desert locale rumored to be the U.S. government's secret center for alien research. If you still can't get enough of this stuff, executive producer Henry ''the Fonz'' Winkler has revived the 1992-93 Fox ''reality'' show sightings (syndicated; check local listings). In addition to UFOs, Sightings deals with ESP (extrasensory perception), NDEs (near-death experiences), and OBEs (out-of-body experiences). It all sounds like BS to me.
Westerns Last season's minisequel Return to Lonesome Dove had a small-star cast (Jon Voight replaced Tommy Lee Jones), and the shrinkage continues on Lonesome Dove: The Series (syndicated; check local listings). Even Rick Schroder couldn't be roped into returning; he's been replaced by White Fang 2's Scott Bairstow. Dove's producers hope to compensate with an array of recognizable guest stars. The pilot alone includes I Spy's Robert Culp as an unscrupulous businessman, Melvin and Howard's Paul LeMat as a proto-hippie newspaperman, Dances With Wolves' Graham Greene as a Native American educator, and Colt 45's Billy Dee Williams as a marksman. Best of all is Dennis Weaver, who portrays Buffalo Bill as a scraggly drunkard. Kind of a Wild Bill Hiccup.
Movies A few weeks ago, Dennis Franz starred in a drab NBC thriller, Moment of Truth: Caught in the Crossfire. Now it's his NYPD Blue lover Sharon Lawrence's turn. Unfortunately, she has a throwaway role as Markie Post's supportive sis in Someone She Knows (NBC, Oct. 3, 9-11 p.m.). After years of labor on silly series like The Fall Guy, Night Court, and Hearts Afire, Post clearly relishes the opportunity to scream and weep as a truck-stop waitress whose daughter is / murdered. Still, Someone is a curiously dull endeavor, all the more disappointing since it's produced and directed by I'll Fly Away alums. And will someone please stop Gerald McRaney before he plays another made-for-TV bad guy?
