INTO THE NIGHT

Time was when an actor would sooner cop to a murder rap than to a daytime- television credit. But nowadays, producers recognize the drawing power of the soap set. This season, almost one third of new prime-time shows feature a former daytime star-ER's Sherry Stringfield (Guiding Light), McKenna's Eric Close (Santa Barbara), and Madman of the People's Cynthia Gibb (Search for Tomorrow), to name a few. NBC's Earth 2 (debuting Nov. 6) will boast no fewer than three soap alumni: Rebecca Gayheart (Loving), Debrah Farentino (from the defunct Capitol), and Antonio Sabato Jr. (General Hospital). Sabato downplays his jump: ''All I was doing after I left (GH) was looking for a good role.'' And the extra pay didn't hurt, either.