TELEVISION - July 24, 1993

Critics’ Choices: NBC dominated the ninth annual Television Critics Assn. Awards, with its shows and personalities winning in five of the eight categories in ceremonies Friday night. The third-place network’s canceled “I’ll Fly Away” was selected as the top drama, “Seinfeld” won in the comedy category and “Mike Tyson: Fallen Champ” was honored as the special of the year. Bob Costas was victorious in the sports category, which included both sportscasters and events, while Bob Hope, who has been associated with the network for 55 years, received the career achievement award. The other winners were HBO’s “Barbarians at the Gate” as program of the year; Linda Ellerbee of Nickelodeon in children’s programming, and PBS’ “Frontline” series in the news and information category. The ceremonies, taped in Universal City, will be broadcast at 4 p.m. Sunday on cable’s E! Entertainment Television network.

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They’ll Be There: Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson will join the rest of their famous family in developing an annual musical event that will premiere on NBC next season. The two-hour program, titled “The Jackson Family Honors,” will feature performances by the family as well as other entertainers. Scheduled to participate are Jackson siblings Jackie, Janet, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael, Randy, Rebbie and Tito, and parents Katherine and Joseph Jackson. Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to two individuals for their charitable efforts and dedication to others. The special will be taped in December in Atlantic City, N.J.

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In Favor of Love: The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board has dismissed an appeal from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees over the hiring of non-union personnel on the CBS sitcom “Love & War.” The NLRB ruled in favor of Love and War Productions Inc., according to Shukovsky English Entertainment executive vice president John Drinkwater. The decision holds that the production company’s actions were fully justified and lawful in its response to IATSE’s threatened strike during the filming of the first episode of “Love & War” in April, 1992. The NLRB also concluded that the company didn’t discriminate against IATSE members when it hired the regular season production crew last August, noting that several IATSE members hired for the pilot were rehired for the regular production season.

COMEDY

Laughter Is the Best . . . : The Melrose Improv will help flood victims, while making a stab at gaining entry into “The Guinness World Book of Records,” when it holds what is being billed as “the first ever stand-up comedy laugh-a-thon” next month. The 30-hour charity event begins at noon on Aug. 13 and will feature more than 150 soon-to-be-announced comics. . . . . The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard will present seven live one-hour benefit shows in conjunction with the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.’s 1993 Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. Portions of the shows, hosted by comedian Norm Crosby, will be telecast on the 21 1/2-hour telethon. . . . Comedian George Lopez has been added to the lineup of tonight’s “Una Noche del Teatro,” South Coast Repertory Theater’s annual fund-raiser for its Latino outreach programs.

POP/ROCK

All You Need Is Cash: The manuscripts of the lyrics for Beatles hits “I Am the Walrus” and “Fool on the Hill” are to be auctioned next week at a rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia sale at Sotheby’s in London. An archive of 5,000 never-published photographs of the Beatles, with negatives and copyright, will also be featured at the auction on Thursday. Photographer Terry Spencer is selling the images, which he shot on commission for Life magazine. Sotheby’s said it expected to get $75,000 for the incomplete manuscript of “I Am the Walrus,” written in black ink on white paper, and up to $30,000 for Paul McCartney’s lyrics to “Fool on the Hill.” Also on the block is an unpublished letter from George Harrison to a school friend telling how Ringo Starr came to join the group.

PEOPLE WATCH

He’s Dismissed: Globe magazine editor-at-large Charles Montgomery was dismissed Friday from a suit filed against the tabloid by actress Joan Collins, who sued the Globe over a 1991 story and photographs with the headlines: “He Tarzan . . . Me Joan,” and “ ‘Dynasty’ Star, 58, Bares All for New Toyboy, 32.” “There is no evidence of any involvement or activity by the defendant that would assert any liability,” Superior Court Judge Bruce Geernaert said of Montgomery’s dismissal. Collins’ libel suit against the supermarket weekly goes to trial next month.

QUICK TAKES

Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus becomes the 295th star to be inducted into the Movieland Wax Museum today at 1 p.m. . . .Hollywood-based Film Information Council has voted “Jurassic Park” its FIC Excellence in Film Marketing Award for the month of June, 1993. Meanwhile, the film passed the $300-million mark in international box office this week (including $259 million in U.S. receipts). . . . New York choreographer Kathyrn Posin will teach full time in the dance department at CalArts for a year, beginning in September. . . . Kevin Dobson will star opposite Dale Kristien in “The Sound of Music” at Pasadena Civic Auditorium Dec. 15-19. . . . Blues singer Lou Rawls is giving something back to the run-down Chicago neighborhood where he grew up: a new $9-million theater and cultural center. It will be built on the site of the Regal Theatre where Rawls first heard his idols, Duke Ellington and Billy Eckstine.