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Gimmicks

NBC tried its first "seamless" night a few seasons ago when a hurricane struck its Miami-based Saturday lineup (The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Nurses), and now a blackout hits some of the New Yorkers on its Thursday schedule. The power outage begins when Jamie (Helen Hunt) wires an illegal cable hook-up on Mad About You (NBC, Nov. 3, 8-8:30 p.m.). Then on Friends (NBC, Nov. 3, 8:30-9 p.m.), Chandler (Matthew Perry) gets stranded in a dark ATM vestibule with lingerie model Jill Goodacre. Finally, on Madman of the People (NBC, Nov. 3, 9:30-10 p.m.), Jack (Dabney Coleman) and Dylan (John Ales) are mistakenly arrested for looting. News reports by Today weatherman Al Roker weave the stories together. Even though Al turned in a memorable cameo on Seinfeld last season, Jerry sat out this stunt.

Guest Stars

A trio of familiar female faces turns up in familial roles. On the Boys Are Back (CBS, Nov. 2, 8-8:30 p.m.), Happy Days' Marion "Mrs. C" Ross plays Grandma Helen, who battles Grandma Jackie (Suzanne Pleshette) for the affection of little Sarah (Kelsey Mulrooney) when the tyke is allowed to invite only one of them to grandparents' day at her school. Mission: Impossible's Barbara "Cinnamon Carter" Bain portrays Bess Armstong's strong-arming mom, Vivian, on My So-Called Life (ABC, Nov. 3, 8-9 p.m.). And All in the Family's Jean "Dingbat" Stapleton makes a special appearance as Brett Butler's eccentic aunt Vivian on Grace Under Fire (ABC, Nov. 8, 9:30-10 p.m.). Meanwhile, a familiar female voice can be heard on the Simpsons (Fox, Nov. 6, 8-8:30 p.m.) as Sophie's Choice's Meryl "Sophie" Streep pipes in as Jessica, a wild preacher's daughter who mesmerizes Bart. Better make room for that Emmy, Meryl.

Choice Reruns

Will we ever be able to watch Taxi the same way again, knowing that Marilu Henner confessed in her recent autobiography, By All Means Keep On Moving, that she slept with two of her costars (Tony Danza and Judd Hirsch) and lusted after a third (Danny DeVito)? We'll find out when Nick at Nite runs a Taxi-athon of all 114 episodes (Nov. 6, 8:30 p.m.-5 a.m.; Nov. 7-10,8 p.m.-5:30 a.m.; Nov. 11, 8 p.m.-6 a.m.) and adds the sardonic 1978-83 sitcom to its weeknight lineup from 10 to 11 p.m. starting Nov. 14. I can't speak for Marilu, but my favorite characters on the show were Christopher Lloyd's trippy ex-hippie "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski and Andy Kaufman's babbling immigrant mechanic Latka Gravas (I never cared for Carol Kane as Latka's wife, Simka). And as for Jeff Conaway, maybe playing hard-luck actor Bobby Wheeler was merely foreshadowing.