Remote patrol

"Nightline" (12:05 a.m., Channel 9) returns to one of anchor Ted Koppel's pet topics: the American criminal justice system and its increasing impatience with those who pass through its portals. This week, Koppel looks at hot-button issues involving kids and crime. Tonight's program looks at judges and lawyers desperately seeking the golden mean between punishment and rehabilitation. This program is based on Proposition 21, which is being voted on next week in California. If passed, it would allow local district attorneys to prosecute juveniles as adults without asking a court's permission. Koppel's approach isn't judgmental, but there's little doubt that he disapproves of the thoughtless manner in which many kids are being shepherded through the system. And he shows the perils of assuming that kids who commit grown-up crimes think and act the same as grown-up criminals. @ART:Photo (color, uncaptioned)

REMOTE PATROL

Like Jesus and Joan of Arc before him, John Brown benefited greatly from the presence of a news media. Had Brown and his murderous raiders been wiped out at the siege of Harpers Ferry, he might have died anonymously. Instead, the weeks between his capture and execution allowed Brown to give dozens of interviews, write hundreds of letters and seal his legend throughout the North. That's just one of the revelations from tonight's new edition of "The American Experience" (8, Channel 19), which depicts Brown as a lifelong failure redeemed by martyrdom. His crusade would later be remembered as part of the abolition movement, but Brown was not like most abolitionists. He lacked wealth and privilege. He mixed socially with blacks. And he saw violence as the only way to curb the evils of slavery. @ART:Photo (uncaptioned) >>>

Sinclair group at the top of 'The Rock'

KQRC-FM (98.9), Kansas City's home for headbangers, completed its rise to the top of the radio rock pile when it took top honors in the fall Arbitron ratings, released last week. "The Rock," which has steadily built a loyal following the past two years, was the most-listened-to station in the fall book (Sept. 23-Dec. 15). KQRC averaged a 7.1 share of all listeners (ages 12 and up) from 6 a.m. to midnight, swapping places with "The Mix," KMXV-FM (93.3), which had won the summer book. KQRC's rising tide again lifted the boat of morning team Johnny Dare and Murphy Wells. They were the top-rated morning team from 6 to 10 a.m.; WDAF's David Lawrence was No. 1 from 5 to 9 a.m. Kelly Urich on KMXV remained tops in afternoons. Meanwhile "The Rock," owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group of Baltimore, is awaiting sale to Entercom Communications Corp. of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., owner of the largest radio group in Kansas City. (See related item below.) The top 10 Kansas City stations overall: KQRC, album rock, 7.1 share; KMXV, contemporary hits, 6.8; KPRS-FM (103.3), urban, 6.7; WDAF, country, 6.6; KFKF-FM (94.1), country, 5.4; KUDL-FM (98.1), adult contemporary, 5.1; KCFX-FM (101.1), classic rock, 5.0.; KMBZ-AM (980), news/talk/ sports, 4.7; KBEQ-FM (104.3), "young country," 4.5; KCMO-FM (94.9), oldies, 4.4. Other ratings highlights and lowlights: WHB-AM (810), which switched from farm-ag to football one week into the ratings period, was the big gainer of the fall book. The sports talker's morning, midday and afternoon shows all soared to eye-popping heights, boosting WHB into the top 10 among 25- to 54-year-old men. No longer confined to the weaker, daytime-only signal of its former dial home, KCTE-AM (1510), the station should build its anemic evening ratings this winter. It appears that the stellar summer book for "young country" KBEQ-FM (104.3) was an Arbitron aberration. After consistently pulling mid-4 share levels for more than a year, "Q-104" spiked at 6.6 last summer. But in the fall book, KBEQ fell right back to a 4.5 share. On the other hand, the downturn of KYYS-FM (99.7) after a hot summer book is likely a temporary setback. "The New KY" finished first in adults ages 25-54 last summer, but in the fall book the station tumbled to seventh in the 25-54 category, and from eighth to 13th among all listeners. Doesn't matter, because KYYS is the new home of Chiefs football. Bob Zuroweste, who manages Entercom's Kansas City stations, said he sees "a lot of growth potential ahead" for "KY." No kidding. Ho ho ho! KSRC-FM (102.1) mystified some on the local radio scene when it dumped its screechy-ballad format and played nothing but holiday music during the Christmas season. But instead of a lump of coal, "Star 102" got a nice ratings lift in overall listeners without sacrificing its top-3 position among its target audience, young females. KLZR-FM (105.9) wanted to focus more on the Topeka-Lawrence radio market. So "the Lazer" dumped its alternative music format last fall for Top 40. Unhappy Kansas City listeners then deleted 105.9 from their presets, and the station practically vanished from sight. KLZR's share plummeted from 1.4 in the summer book to 0.5 in the fall. As for that northeastern Kansas strategy, KLZR also slumped in the Topeka Arbitrons, from a 5.8 share last summer to a 3.6. The station lost nearly half its young-adult listeners, as many of them switched to rival KDVV-FM (100.3). Bill Johnson, the owner of KPHN-AM (1190) and KFEZ-AM (1340), is surely wishing that John McCain's rising presidential crusade would help the country's No. 1 McCain booster, syndicated shock jock Don Imus. KPHN carries "Imus in the Morning," which had another miserable book and didn't improve the station's dismal daylong numbers (0.7 share, 21st place). It's too soon to tell which station is preferred by Spanish-language listeners: KUPN-AM (1480) or daytime-only KCTE. While KCTE averaged a 0.6 share, compared with KUPN's 0.5, both made their format change in mid-book. KCTE had been simulcasting WHB's sports talk, which likely inflated its share, while the reverse was true for KUPN, a ratings nonentity when it was simulcasting classical KXTR-FM (96.5). Two KPRS execs honored KPRS' Myron Fears was named large/medium-market urban music director of the year at the annual Gavin seminar, held Feb. 16-20 in San Francisco. This is the second nomination and first win for Fears, who also is the assistant program director for "Hot 103 Jamz." Also honored by Gavin, a leading radio trade publication, was KPRS program and operations director Sam Weaver. He won the mentoring award for his work in nurturing up-and-coming talent. KPRS and KPRT-AM (1590) are owned by Carter Broadcast Group, the nation's oldest continuously owned and operated black radio company. Waiting for the all-clear So why is Entercom stalling on its purchase of the four Sinclair stations, KQRC, KCFX, KXTR and KCIY-FM (106.5)? Sources say the company is awaiting the results of an even bigger deal: the $16.6 billion purchase of AMFM Inc. by Clear Channel Communications. Neither Clear Channel nor AMFM owns a station in Kansas City, but Entercom was among several radio groups trying to get its hands on some of the 125 stations Clear Channel is selling off to gain federal approval of the AMFM deal. Which means Entercom was probably using KCMO-AM (710), KCMO-FM and KCFX as barter with Clear Channel. Those are the stations Entercom said last year it would divest in order to get the government's OK on the Sinclair deal. But an industry newsletter, Inside Radio, reported this week that Clear Channel will instead sell most of its stations to CBS/Infinity, which owns four stations in Kansas City (KMXV, KBEQ, KFKF and KSRC). That would put Entercom back at square one, looking for another buyer for "The Fox" and the KCMOs. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit TV Barn Web at www.tvbarn.com @ART:Graphic (uncaptioned color illustration)

Remote patrol weekend

"Freedom Song," making its debut at 6 p.m. Sunday on TNT, tells the story of perhaps the least-understood flank in the civil rights movement, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC. Though it would later become identified with black separatism espoused by its leader, the late Kwame Ture (aka Stokely Carmichael), SNCC's early years were marked by aggressive organizing by its hardcore band of volunteers. They even waded into rural areas, like the Mississippi town depicted in "Freedom Song," where the Klan and local authorities worked hand in glove to create virtual apartheid states. "Freedom Song" opens inside a jail cell late one night in 1961. A black teen-ager is singing the opening bars of a movement hymn. Soon other young men join in, and it looks like one of those standard-issue, "Eyes on the Prize" uplifting scenes - until we realize they are waking up all the white citizens around town who have their windows open that hot summer night. As the whites curse the blacks from their porches, the young men congratulate themselves for striking this small, nonviolent blow. Danny Glover and Vicellous Reon Shannon ("The Hurricane") star in "Freedom Song," which a gives a good idea of just how terrifying it must have been to organize in the Deep South in the early 1960s. @ART CAPTION:Vicellous Reon Shannon (left), Loretta Devine and Danny Glover in a tense scene from "Freedom Song," airing Sunday. @ART:Photo @ART CREDIT:TNT >>>

Remote patrol

Tonight's "Mystery!" (8, Channel 19) retreads the familiar whodunit formula in which a big-city crime interrupts the pleasures of small-town life, and a sleuth finds herself at odds with the official crime-solvers. The twist to tonight's tale, "Trial by Fire," is that the sleuth is the town prosecutor, and the fellow she's sleeping with happens to be the police chief. Juliet Stevenson ("Truly, Madly, Deeply") stars. Also tonight, Alf Landon's and Nancy Kassebaum Baker's political careers are told from a Kansas perspective on "Sunflower Journeys," at 7 on Topeka's KTWU (Channel 11). @ART CAPTION:Juliet Stevenson as litigator Helen West @ART:Photo

Remote patrol

Looking not just to win the February ratings "sweep" but to conquer it like a feudal titan, ABC has scheduled more extra episodes of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," beginning tonight (7, Channel 9), when it takes on the first hour of the Grammys on CBS. Say what you will about "Millionaire" questions being too easy (though after seeing some of the brighter contestants taken down well short of the big money, I'm inclined to think it's more the luck of the draw). If watching people win lots of cash was the only criterion, "Greed" would be the top-rated show and "Winning Lines" might still be with us. The one thing "Millionaire" can be faulted for - other than demolishing some of its worthier opposition on other networks - is that it can't seem to buy a contestant who's not a white male. Even Regis Philbin complained about it during a recent show, and the executive producer of "Millionaire" has vowed to fly around the country this summer recruiting women and minority contestants if need be. Hey, now there's a show idea: "Who Wants to Be On 'Millionaire'?"

'Multimillionaire' aside, game show craze buzzes on

The first of the big-money game shows has bitten the dust, and Fox won't be marrying off any more multimillionaires - if it ever did. But never fear: There are plenty more game shows on the way to take their place. Since the new year, four game shows have come on the air to join ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," resulting in hours of final answers, double-or-nothing questions and manufactured excitement every week. And each network has more game shows waiting in the wings, ready to bring in on a moment's notice. Not much is known about most of them, but we can report that the replacement CBS is readying for "Winning Lines," the mind-boggling number game that was taken off the air last week, has a name that will ring a bell to many older viewers. It's "The $64,000 Question." That's right. CBS is bringing back the one that started it all. "The $64,000 Question" not only launched the 1950's quiz-show craze, but it also pioneered the high-stakes suspense and over-the-top set design for which "Millionaire" is now celebrated. The concept is still being worked out, but don't be surprised if this CBS classic returns with a slightly modified title. Sources say "The $1,064,000 Question" is a leading candidate. Fox, meanwhile, is busy sweeping away the rubble from "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?" now better known as "When Ratings Hits Go Bad." "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?" aired the day after Valentine's Day and drew 22 million viewers in its final hour, making it one of the week's top five shows. At the end, a self-described real-estate mogul named Rick Rockwell chose his bride from among 50 hopefuls and married her right on the spot. And then the former girlfriends of Rockwell started coming out of the woodwork. One told a San Diego radio station that Rockwell (aka Richard Balkey) professed his love to her just days before the taping of "Multimillionaire" and said he could easily get out of his impending marriage contract. Fox claimed it had done an extensive background check of Rockwell, but, by the end of last week, it seemed possible that the onetime stand-up comic had pulled his biggest practical joke ever. When an Internet site, thesmokinggun.com, published a restraining order that a former fiancee of Rockwell's had won against him nine years ago, Fox finally found its threshold of embarrassment. The network yanked a rerun of "Multimillionaire" and said it would not produce the specials again. But the new genre will live on. Universal Television is selling a game show, "Wed at First Sight," with the same premise (albeit without multimillionaires and with the woman, not the man, doing the picking). Look for it in syndication this fall. Cheap filler None of the other Johnny-come-latelys has even approached the ratings stratosphere of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." The Regis Philbin Traveling Show has rated at or near the top of the Nielsens since starting its three-nights-a-week routine in January. NBC's "Twenty One" also appears to be a bona-fide hit on Wednesdays - at least when ABC doesn't schedule an hour of "Millionaire" against it. Even "Winning Lines" did about as well in the ratings as the show it replaced, "Early Edition," on Saturdays. But these shows don't need stellar ratings to be considered successful. They just need to be reasonably well-watched. For as TV executives are discovering, even mediocre game shows are cheap schedule filler and a quick fix for the age-old problem of reruns. "Each of the networks has two, three, four game shows in development," said Scott Stone, whose Stone Stanley Entertainment produced "Winning Lines" as well as "Shop Til You Drop" for Pax TV. "I think they really like the fact that their bench is deeper. They can bring these shows out and give their more expensive shows a rest." But with jackpots of $1 million to $2 million, are these hey-big-spender game shows really cheaper to make than comedies and dramas? In the case of "Millionaire," it's a moot point, since ABC is charging $500,000 or more for a 30-second commercial on the show. The others, predictably, have begun to cut corners. The producers of Fox's "Greed" and NBC's "Twenty One" were ordered by their networks to cut back the amount of money in their jackpots. "Twenty-One's" Maury Povich was giving away an average of $1 million a week before the prize money was slimmed down. Interestingly, the show that brought big cash payouts to TV, the original "$64,000 Question," cost a mere $11,000 per week to make. As author Jeff Kisseloff detailed in his book The Box: An Oral History of Television, the show's producers would drag out each question over an entire program, then pressure contestants between broadcasts to take their winnings and leave. More to come CBS president Leslie Moonves told reporters in January that game shows couldn't go away too soon for his tastes. But in addition to reviving "Question," CBS is actually leading the charge into the next frontier of voyeuristic contests. This summer it will show an American version of "Big Brother," a Dutch show in which 10 hopefuls share a house for 100 days, watched by more than 20 cameras and overheard by some 60 microphones. They will vote regularly to kick out housemates until their number is reduced to a single winner. (One critic has already tagged it "MTV's 'Real World' meets 'Lord of the Flies.' ") As if that's not enough, "Big Brother" will likely be paired with "Survivor." That show has the same concept, but on a desert island, and for a million bucks. It ought to be called, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire This Badly?" Meanwhile on cable, Game Show Network, which is having its best season ever (and was recently added to the Time Warner Cable lineup), not only shows reruns of old game shows but produces some of its own. How long will this game-show craze last, and how lurid will it get? No final answers here, but I will venture this: Before it's over, we'll see a revival of "Queen for a Day." Somehow, the idea of three luckless ladies telling their most pathetic sob stories for cash prizes - with the winner decided by an applause-o-meter - seems as ripe for recycling today as "The $64,000 Question." To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com

Take note

KCWJ turns 1 KCWJ-AM (1030) is celebrating its first year as a contemporary Christian music station with a "family carnival" and evening concert from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday at Evangel Temple, 1414 103rd St. in Kansas City. Tickets cost $10.30, with proceeds going to the Kim Killion Fund. Call (816) 942-7772.

Remote patrol

Tonight's "Will & Grace" (8 p.m., Channel 41) is ripped from the headlines - of our StarGazing section, that is. One morning last summer outside the "Today" show studios in New York weatherman Al Roker was working the crowd when he spotted a young man whose sign professed love for someone named Jill. But when Roker asked about Jill, the young man turned and gave the guy next to him, named Rich, a nice long smooch on national television. Roker instantly remarked, "See, they wouldn't allow that on 'Will & Grace.' " Maybe - or maybe not. You'll have to tune in tonight to see if Big Al eats his words (and yes, he makes a cameo appearance). @ART CAPTION:Will (Eric McCormack) and Jack (Sean Hayes) confront Al Roker on tonight's "Will & Grace" on NBC. @ART:Photo >>>

They laugh and they cry as Letterman returns

The gap-toothed grin is back. Tonight marks the return of David Letterman to CBS' "Late Show," five weeks after he had emergency surgery on a blocked artery in his heart. More than 10 million viewers - or about three times the usual "Late Show" audience - are expected to watch the broadcast, which was taped Friday and airs locally at 10:35 p.m. on KCTV, Channel 5. The show began with an emotional entrance by Letterman, 52, who told jokes and recounted details about his operation. Much of the program was unplanned and unscripted. No top 10 list was read, and instead of the usual comedy bit from his desk, Letterman simply spoke at length about his ordeal. In a moment that touched many of those who saw it, Letterman fought back tears as he thanked the medical staff that performed the quintuple bypass. More than one veteran of the "Late Show" staff commented that it was among the finest hours they'd seen their boss deliver. Regis Philbin, with whom Letterman discussed his heart exam on the show before his surgery, was his first guest on the broadcast. Actor Robin Williams, who clowned around in hospital scrubs, and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who is also a longtime friend of Letterman's rival, "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno, also appeared. The musical act was the Foo Fighters, a favorite of Letterman's. Executive producer Rob Burnett said that he had tried to fly Letterman's mother, Dorothy, to New York to appear on the broadcast but that bad weather in Indianapolis scotched that plan. She may be brought out later in the week. "It was a challenging task," Burnett said. "There were a lot of things Dave wanted to get accomplished. He wanted to talk about what had happened to him and do it in a funny way, but at the same time a very real way. And I think he did that very well." Afterward, some audience members commented to the press (who are not allowed at tapings) that Letterman looked thin. However, this is not an uncommon response for people seeing the 6-foot-4-inch star in person for the first time. Burnett said Letterman looked healthy and was feeling no ill effects either after the taping or the following day. Last week Letterman was jogging three miles a day and "feeling great," Burnett said. He has, however, been told to switch his coffee to decaf. Burnett said Letterman would tape a show Wednesday and probably another Friday for broadcast the same days. "Late Show" will use guest hosts on Tuesday (Bill Cosby) and Thursday (Kathie Lee Gifford). The plan is for Letterman to do three shows next week. When or whether he will return to a five-night-a-week schedule are still open questions. For his NBC program, Letterman taped shows four days a week, with repeat broadcasts airing Monday nights. That practice now is carried on by his successor, Conan O'Brien. To reach Aaron Barnhart, call (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Robin Williams clowned around in hospital scrubs on the "Late Show," David Letterman's first broadcast since bypass surgery. It airs tonight at 10:35 on KCTV, Channel 5. @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:BARBARA NITKE/The Associated Press

Remote patrol

In 1963 the CBS historical series "The Great Adventure" made an all-star production out of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. In recent years TV Land has made that episode, called "Go Down, Moses," a Black History Month staple. It airs at 7 tonight. Ruby Dee (who plays Tubman) and her husband, Ossie Davis, star in "Go Down, Moses," as does blues legend Ethel Waters. Almost as noteworthy was "The Great Adventure" series itself. It was a high-polish effort, produced by John Houseman in conjunction with the National Education Association. The theme song was written by Richard Rodgers, one of only three times he ever wrote for TV. The series lasted just two years on CBS, however, joining "Omnibus" and "Profiles in Courage" on the scrap heap of television history.

Remote patrol weekend

It's only a half-hour long, which is almost as much time as you need to pronounce the title, but this weekend's Cartoon Network special, "Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak" (6 p.m. Sunday), is a must-see, an unstoppably silly mishmash parody of the old TV variety shows in which no convention is safe - especially not those marquee-length titles. One of the characters salvaged from the old "Space Ghost" series in the 1960s, Brak has been transformed into an Adam Sandleresque spaz that makes you laugh almost despite yourself. In this show he performs goofy duets with singer Monica, film hunk Freddie Prinze Jr. and the Chieftains. Some of the segments have a "Muppet Show" ambiance, but the show's highlight - Brak's off-the-wall ode to his "magic toenail," done against the backdrop of Stonehenge - is, I can safely say, without precedent. Other animated retreads include Zorak, the evil mantis/bandleader of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (10 p.m. Fridays, Cartoon Network), and emcee Wally Gator. @ART CAPTION:Brak gets a lip smack from Monica @ART:Photo

Local notes

Health care coalition A new group known as the Community Coalition for Improved Patient Care has scheduled a rally and news conference for noon today at the corner of Meyer Boulevard and Prospect Avenue, near Research Medical Center. The coalition said it was composed of representatives of the religious community, labor unions, elected officials and other community groups. Participants in the rally will announce the formation of the coalition. Also to be discussed are issues involving the health care system and an effort to unionize nurses at Health Midwest hospitals, including Research. - Julius A. Karash/The Star Cerner appointment Cerner Corp., a North Kansas City-based medical software company, has announced the appointment of Douglas M. Krebs as president of its Cerner International division. "Cerner has an immense opportunity to revolutionize the practice and delivery of health care throughout the world through our leadership in clinical systems and patient safety," Krebs said in a statement. "We continue to increase our market share in Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East through HNA Millennium implementations and strong client support teams." Cerner's HNA Millennium software is used by more than 1,000 hospitals and health systems around the world for tasks such as coordinating patient care and providing electronic medical records. Krebs joined Cerner in 1994 as regional vice president for the southeastern United States. He previously worked at IBM in sales and executive marketing. Cerner International formerly was led by Francois Sauer, who left Cerner last year. - Julius A. Karash/The Star Patched together KMBC-TV and Time Warner Cable have extended their shaky relationship through at least the end of the February ratings period. Hearst-Argyle Television, which owns KMBC, gave the cable operator permission to continue carrying Channel 9's signal even though the two sides have still not signed a new agreement. The old one expired last month. Hearst-Argyle is asking for higher fees for Lifetime, a cable channel it partly owns, as well as for Time Warner Cable to carry a spinoff channel, Lifetime Movie Network. A reprieve granted last month was set to expire this week; now KMBC will be carried at least through March 2. - Aaron Barnhart/The Star

Remote patrol

Do we need to see yet another grisly documentary about the brutality that conquering armies are capable of meting out to the conquered? In the case of "Cry Freetown," airing at 9 tonight on CNN's "NewsStand," the answer is yes. In the tiny West African nation of Sierra Leone, Sorious Samura watched last year as rebel forces stormed the capital city of Freetown and killed or mutilated thousands of citizens. Samura, a native of Sierra Leone, went out and began filming the carnage. What's interesting is that as graphic as the images are, I felt myself riveted even more by the thought that Samura was out there with his camera, putting himself directly in harm's way. The preferred torture of the rebels is hacking off the limbs of their countrymen; what's the life of a journalist next to that? Samura explains why he did it: "This was about a nation in dire need a nation being left to die by the Western world, the so-called developed world. No one came to our aid."

Late Peter Tripp will be best remembered for marathon broadcast

Peter Tripp, a disc jockey who rode the Top 40 wave from Kansas City to New York in the 1950s before crashing on the shoals of the 1960 payola scandal, died Jan. 31 in Northridge, Calif., at the age of 73. Tripp, a native of Port Chester, N.Y., arrived at the old KUDL-AM in 1953. The next year he was hired by Todd Storz at WHB to be host of the station's first countdown show. Storz developed the widely copied rock 'n' roll format known as Top 40, according to Dick Fatherley, a Kansas City, Kan., announcer and radio historian who worked for Storz-owned stations in the 1960s. Top 40 was Tripp's ticket to the big time. He joined New York's WMGM in late 1955 as host of the station's countdown show, "Your Hits of the Week." The station hired him to counter the threat of another fast-rising DJ, Alan Freed, on rival WINS. Tripp's popularity peaked in January 1959 when he stayed on the air without sleep for more than 200 hours, broadcasting from a booth in Times Square. The stunt, supervised by a team of doctors, made national news and raised money for the March of Dimes. According to Peter Tripp Jr., the medical records taken at his father's marathon "became required reading in the behavioral sciences at colleges and universities from coast to coast." (One of the doctors by Tripp's side noted, "There has been a progressive disturbance in his thinking and feeling He is vacillating between belligerence and submissiveness.") But glory turned to shame in May 1960, when Tripp, Freed and six others were indicted by a federal grand jury for accepting bribes from record companies and distributors in exchange for radio airplay. Freed may have been the best-known victim of the payola scandal, but it ruined Tripp's career as well. He lost his $900-a-week job at WMGM and eventually ran up a $50,000 legal bill. A three-judge panel found Tripp guilty in 1961 of accepting $36,050 in bribes. He was fined $500 and given a suspended six-month jail sentence. At the time, Tripp called himself "the fall guy for what hundreds have done and are still doing" and professed his innocence until his death. Fatherley, who interviewed Tripp last year for a book he is writing on the Storz company's invention of Top 40 radio, said Tripp told him flatly, "I never took a dime from anybody." Tripp stayed in the radio business until 1967 before moving to Los Angeles to sell physical fitness equipment. He later became a motivational speaker and retired to Palm Springs, Calif. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Tripp @ART:Photo

Take note

KKFI celebrates Black History Month KKFI-FM (90.1) will celebrate Black History Month with special daylong programming Saturday. Beginning with the overnight show "Free Style Fridays" at 3 a.m. and continuing through "Gospel Train" Sunday morning, a total of 15 KKFI programs are showcasing African-American heritage and culture. At 4:30 p.m., a panel of local leaders will discuss "The State of Black America." The one-hour program is moderated by Trudie Hall and M.C. Richardson. Also planned for Saturday are special editions of "WomanSong" at 11 a.m. and "Healthy Matters" at 5:30 p.m. At 6, Richardson and the Rev. John Akin discuss Africa's relationship with the United States and take phone calls.

Guest-host concept will ease Letterman's work load

Five weeks to the day after his quintuple-bypass surgery, David Letterman will resume his "Late Show" hosting chores on a limited basis. This Friday Letterman will slide behind his desk on the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City to tape a show that will air Monday on CBS (10:35 weeknights, Channel 5). His guest will be Regis Philbin, who was a guest on the show taped the day before Letterman's heart exam and subsequent operation. "Late Show With David Letterman" executive producer Rob Burnett told reporters Monday that Letterman-hosted shows will air Monday and Wednesday next week. Two other nights will be filled by guest hosts, and the plan for Friday's broadcast is unclear, as is Letterman's future schedule. "A lot will be determined after Dave does the first show," Burnett said. Almost lost in the news that Letterman is back was the fact that, for the first time since Jay Leno took over "The Tonight Show," one of the two top late-night entertainment programs will be using guest hosts. Bill Cosby will be guest host on "Late Show" Tuesday night. Cosby served as guest host for Johnny Carson on numerous occasions. Philbin will be guest host on Thursday. Those programs, Burnett said, will be modeled on Carson's guest-hosted shows. (Carson is unlikely to be asked to be a guest host, according to Burnett, because "we've always assumed that he was above all this.") Although Letterman, in Burnett's words, "medically couldn't be better," the "Late Show" staff will lean on guest hosts until Letterman is at full strength. For the rest of this week, "Late Show Backstage" will continue. It features some of Letterman's favorite guests interviewing other guests about their prior appearances on the show. Tom Snyder, the former host of "The Tomorrow Show" on NBC and the "Late Late Show" on CBS, will interview comedians Norm Macdonald and Don Rickles tonight. On Thursday Snyder interviews comic Mike Myers. On Friday, bandleader Paul Shaffer interviews actor Robin Williams and animal expert Jack Hanna. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com

Remote patrol

"American Justice" (9 tonight, A&E) becomes the latest TV outlet to step into the longest-running homicide cause celebre in modern times. Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted in the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia cop and has been raising Cain ever since. He's collected an impressive batch of celebrity and legal allies, many of them drawn to Jamal by his journalistic background and the handful of unanswered questions about the case that will probably never be answered. No doubt, too, that Jamal's unstoppable resolve and his talent for marketing himself (including a book, Live From Death Row) were persuasive to some of those rallying by his side. Yet for all that, Jamal is still on death row and no retrial is pending. Mike Farrell, Alec Baldwin and the widow and partner of the slain policeman are interviewed. @ART CAPTION:Mumia Abu-Jamal @ART:Photo (color)

Remote patrol

You may have heard that tonight's "Frontline" is on homophobia. But that is a sharp and simplistic term that covers too much territory. Moreover, it doesn't do justice to this program, the fairest attempt I've seen to explain Americans' complex views toward masculinity, homosexuality and the growing visibility of gays and lesbians in society. It airs at 9 tonight on Channel 19. The hour concentrates on the remarkable story of Billy Jack Gaither, an Alabama man murdered one year ago by two men who claimed he had come on to them. The killers picked the wrong man; Gaither was respected, even beloved in his small town, whose inhabitants knew he was openly gay. Little details mean a lot in telling Gaither's story, and "Frontline" finds the people who can relate them, including his brother Ricky and the owner of the local tavern, as well as Charles Butler, one of the men convicted for Billy Jack's death. The program interviews scholars who have done intriguing work into the relationship between masculinity and feelings toward gays. It also touches on whether the Bible condemns homosexuality or as some contend is an ancient Roman tradition of using sex for power. But it cuts off too soon, and I wished "Frontline" had lobbied PBS for an extra half-hour. @ART CAPTION:Charles Butler in handcuffs after his arrest for the murder of Billy Jack Gaither @ART:Photo

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A two-hour "Biography" special, "Forever Ella" (7 p.m., A&E), is the first of two tributes this week to the versatile and timeless Ella Fitzgerald, the "First Lady of Song." (At 8:30 p.m. Wednesday KCPT adds an "American Masters" retrospective.) There's some decent footage from the late jazz singer's career, which spanned six decades, and the program does a good job explaining how Fitzgerald's ability to "scat" allowed her to graduate from ditties to some of the most challenging voice work imaginable. She had an enormous range - 3 1/2 octaves - and what one of her contemporaries, the colorful Anita O'Day, calls "air pressure." Other contributors include Al Jarreau, Rosemary Clooney and critic Margo Jefferson. The look and feel of tonight's show is unlike most installments of "Biography." Most noticeable is the copious on-screen presence of the narrator, Nancy Wilson. She's still lovely to look at, but there's an old rule that announcers are better heard than seen and the many distracting cutaways to Wilson bear this out. @ART:Photo (uncaptioned)