DATE: Thursday, September 4, 1997           TAG: 9709040078

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Larry Bonko 

                                            LENGTH:  143 lines

FRESH FACES FOR FALL JERI RYAN "STAR TREK" CHARACTER IS ONE ON MANY CHANGES IN STORE

ARE YOU still waiting for Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid to snap out of her coma on NBC's ``Law & Order''?

Give it up.

Kincaid's sleep is likely to be forever, because the actress who played the assistant DA in the silk blouses and tailored suits, Jill Hennessy, left the series to work in films. She's been replaced by Carey Lowell in what was a major casting move last season.

The ratings for ``Law & Order'' - the season premiere is Sept. 24 - have never been better.

Here we go again.

With the networks rolling out new fall shows this month, producers of established TV series are adding and subtracting cast members, tinkering with story lines and, in the case of ``The Naked Truth'' on NBC, finding new jobs for the characters.

``Star Trek: Voyager,'' which launched its fourth season on UPN Wednesday, brings on Jeri Ryan as a regular cast member. She arrived in clunky armor, announcing, ``I speak for the Borg.''

She's a human who was ``assimilated'' by the nasty Borg when she was a child - converted to a Borg drone. As ``Voyager'' begins the new season, its crew is in an uneasy alliance with the Borg to defeat an enemy known as Species 8472.

At last count, Species 8472 had wiped out 4,621,000 of the Borg. Plus eight planets.

As Ryan joins the cast (her name is Seven of Nine), Jennifer Lien departs. In episode No. 2, Lien as Kes disappears in a cloud of de-stabilized molecules.

Pity. Kes gave the series heart.

Here are some other developments to look for in the 1997-98 season:

``Melrose Place'' - When ``Savannah'' was canceled, producer Aaron Spelling quickly signed Jamie Luner - she played wicked Peyton Richards on ``Savannah'' - as a ``Melrose Place'' regular.

Linden Ashby, last seen in ``Spy Game'' and the soap opera ``Loving,'' is also new to ``MP'' on Fox. He plays a doctor with a connection to the late, lamented Kimberly. Also among the departed: Sydney, Jake and Alison.

When she met with the TV press, Luner gave this sketch of her character (Lexi Sterling): ``She comes from a well-to-do family, put her husband through medical school, finds out that he cheated on her and ends up divorced.'' ``MP'' premieres Monday.

``Beverly Hills 90210'' - To quote series star and producer Jason Priestley, ``All of us in the cast will move into the arena of life now that we've graduated from college. There are no plans to continue our education.'' Moving with them into that arena we call life will be two new faces - Hilary Swank and Vincent Young.

The Fox series premiere is set in Hawaii because that is where former virgin Donna (Tori Spelling) is on location as a fashion coordinator. In Hawaii, Noah Hunter (Young) connects with Donna and her friends who are vacationing on the islands.

He has eyes for Valerie. What man doesn't?

``I spice things up,'' said Young.

Swank's character (Carly Molloy) is a single mother, which is something new for ``90210.'' The plan is for her to hitch up with Ian Ziering's Steve character now that his girlfriend, Clare, has left for Paris.

Speaking of rocky relationships, what's next for Brandon (Priestly) and Kelly (Jennie Garth)?

``There is something pretty big that happens to them in our two-hour season premiere, but I don't want to give away what it is,'' said Priestley. That airs Wednesday. They've already filmed seven episodes.

``ER'' - Maria Bello, who appeared in the NBC series briefly last season, signs on as a regular in the role of pediatrician Anna DelAmico. ``She's in Chicago to specialize in emergency room medicine. She's a strong woman with a clear vision of how she wants to practice medicine,'' Bello said.

Alex Kingston plays an English trauma surgeon (Elizabeth Corday) training in Chicago. She comes up against the intractable Dr. Benton.

``We felt that we've gone as far as we could go in the interplay between Benton and Carter, so we decided to break away from that and bring in another interesting character who is a surgeon,'' said executive producer John Wells.

``ER'' opens the season Sept. 25 with a live episode.

``Millennium'' - If producer Chris Carter didn't have a two-year deal to do this series for Fox, it probably would be history today.

Ratings last year were so-so.

Instead of canceling the show, Fox asked Carter to change it. Gone for at least 10 shows is Megan Gallagher, who played the wife of Lance Henriksen's character. ``Things happen to us that don't happen to other people,'' she said to her husband in an episode last season.

They'll be separated, perhaps divorced, this year. Now that happens to other people. No word from Carter if Henriksen's wardrobe will continue to be homeless chic. It would be nice if he'd lighten up a little.

New shows start Sept. 19.

``The Naked Truth'' - NBC, which is determined to make Tea Leoni as big a TV star as Lucille Ball, gives this sitcom a makeover - its third if you count the year it ran on ABC. Leoni as Nora goes back to being a reporter for a supermarket tabloid. George Wendt, who played her boss last year, is gone. ``The show's vulgar energy has been restored,'' says Entertainment Weekly. How nice. The season premiere is Sept. 22.

Also on NBC, Ron Eldard and Justine Bateman left ``Men Behaving Badly'' (premiere is Sept. 28) to be replaced on the sitcom by Ken Marino and Jenica Bergere. In the ABC drama, ``The Practice,'' Lara Flynn Boyle is back on the network where she starred in ``Twin Peaks,'' joining the cast as a district attorney.

D.A. Helen Gamble will clash with Bobby Donnell, played by Dylan McDermott. But the clashing won't last long. ``We're developing Lara's character as a love interest for Bobby,'' said producer David E. Kelley. ``The Practice'' starts its season Sept. 20.

Hollywood is a mecca for starving actors looking for that big break. So how lucky is Jane Sibbett, who has two jobs?

She plays the lesbian who is Ross's former wife on ``Friends.'' And she's a new character on ``Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher'' on Warner Brothers.

``I'm totally blessed,'' said Sibbett, who'll be Freno's boss when the out-of-work actor (played by Mitch Mullany) teaches a class of high school misfits this season. Another double-dipper: Estelle Harris, who plays George Costanza's mother on ``Seinfeld,'' joins the ``Freno'' cast as the school secretary starting this Sunday.

Sibbett tells a story of which show business legends are made. She swears that when ``Friends'' was first being cast, she auditioned and bagged the role of one of the female leads - that it would have been Jane Sibbett instead of Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow or Jennifer Aniston.

When Sibbett came down with a serious case of pregnancy, she passed on the role of a lifetime, to say nothing of a part that would have made her very rich.

She has no regrets.

``I did not slip into oblivion. I am still working at my craft,'' Sibbett said.

Also as the new season arrives, John Schneider becomes a regular cast member Sept. 27 on CBS' ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,'' Bill Cosby on his CBS sitcom premiere (Sept. 14) will find himself surrounded by kids as he was on his NBC series. The heavenly hosts on ``Touched by an Angel'' will grow by one on CBS come Sept. 21.

Burt Reynolds, John Ritter, Cary Reiner and Sally Field will add their voices to the animated ``King of the Hill.'' Helen Hunt is among the guest voices you'll hear on the ninth season of ``The Simpsons.'' Both shows premiere on Fox Sept. 21.

Roseanne pops up on ``3rd Rock From the Sun'' in the Sept. 24 premiere on NBC, playing John Lithgow's alien wife. Sounds like a match made in the cosmos. Look for Roseanne's role here to be a recurring one. ILLUSTRATION: Color UPN Photos

Jeri Ryan...

Ken Marino...

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