News & Notes

OVER AND DUNN
Nora Dunn's return to the cast of Saturday Night Live after her public stand against Andrew Dice Clay (she refused to appear on the show that featured the foul-mouthed comedian as host) turned out to be brief. After the May 19 season finale, a spokesman for Dunn confirmed that she won't return to the series next fall. There's no word yet on whether SNL will replace her. Two other series are also undergoing personnel changes: Charlie Rose, the anchorman of CBS News' Nightwatch since 1984, is leaving the network to become the host of Personalities, a new syndicated profile series, and Maury Povich has said he will leave Fox's A Current Affair when his contract is up next spring.

ALL-NATURAL
Cougars, crocodiles, killer whales, and serpents — hardly your average network TV stars — will leap, crawl, splash, and slither into the spotlight next fall when the first of ABC's World of Discovery specials appears in prime-time. ABC has ordered 18 hours of science and nature documentaries from producer Dennis Kane, who created PBS' popular National Geographic Specials, and will broadcast five hour-long films in the 1990-91 season. Among other Discovery specials in production are programs about the Trans-Siberian Express, Indian monsoons, and Brazil's Rio Negro.

CHANNELING YOUR INTERESTS
The entrepreneurs behind five new specialty channels will try to attract the interest of cable system operators in the coming year, but space on the TV dial is so tight that each service may initially be available to just 10 percent of cable viewers:
In Court, scheduled to begin in September, will offer round-the-clock coverage of trials across the country. A second courtroom channel, to be produced by American Lawyer magazine, is also planned.
The Cowboy Television Network, due in November, will draw from TV's large library of defunct Western series, and offer some new programming as well. Willie Nelson, one of the channel's backers, will serve as host of The Songwriter, a daily music show. The Sci-Fi Channel, beaming down Dec. 31, plans a mix of old and new shows, including more than 1,000 episodes of the original Dark Shadows and a weekly drama created by Isaac Asimov.
*Celticvision, intended to serve the interests of Irish-Americans, should make its debut around next St. Patrick's Day.

HOTEL HELL
Viewers will get two chances to relive the rise and fall of Leona Helmsley next season: Both ABC and CBS are preparing TV movies about the imperious mistress of the Helmsley hotel chain. CBS' The Queen of Mean appears to have taken the early lead in the race to be first on the air — Suzanne Pleshette already has signed to star. There's no casting yet for ABC's Leona, but producer Jack Grossbart specializes in fresh-from-the-tabloids docudramas; he brought the Robert Chambers-Jennifer Levin case to TV last year in The Preppie Murder.

VINTAGE VILLAINS
The box-office verdict is still out on Dick Tracy, but several TV producers undoubtedly are hoping for a hit: Three TV movies about Depression-era cops and colorful bad guys are in the works. Fox will depict two of history's meanest teens in Bonnie and Clyde: The Early Years, ABC's Dillinger has been shooting in Milwaukee this month with Mark Harmon, and NBC will unveil a whole rogues' gallery in the miniseries FBI: The Outlaw Years, including Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly, and Pretty Boy Floyd.