CBS' New `Palace Guard' Is Action-Packed And Fun-Filled

One new series and one returning series make their debuts tomorrow night - CBS' "Palace Guard" premieres at 9 o'clock on KIRO-TV, while NBC brings back "Matlock" with a two-hour movie at 8 on KING-TV.

"Palace Guard" is the latest creation from the never-ceasing word processor of Stephen J. Cannell. Like most of this prolific writer's action/adventure series, such as "Wiseguy," "Palace Guard" sneaks up on you until you realize you're more entertained than you thought you might be.

It's a ridiculous premise: D.W. Moffett plays a slick cat burglar who, upon being released from prison, is hired to head security operations for a string of international luxury resorts. But even as your mind is telling you this is nuts, the casting has been so adroit it's hard to resist "Palace Guard."

Moffett's boss is played by Marcy Walker, cast as a former "B" movie queen, now doing public relations for the same chain of resorts. While the duo's comic bickering is perilously near that of "Moonlighting" and CBS' other new series, "P.S.: I Luv U," Moffett and Walker create their own engaging chemistry. Tony Lo Bianco as the hotel magnate is also a plus.

The pilot plot has to do with the death of an aging movie queen at a resort in Acapulco and makes no sense. Never mind - the script is cluttered with weird, entertaining characters, adding up to a painless waste of two hours. Next Friday the show moves to its regular 10 p.m. time slot on KIRO-TV.

NBC is bringing back "Matlock" to fill the void left because, once again, NBC has failed to create a magazine show - this time two of them: "Expose" with Tom Brokaw and "Real Life with Jane Pauley." NBC says it will combine the two into a new show come next spring. Don't hold your breath.

Reviving tired old "Matlock" is hardly a case of inspired programming. The only thing more tired than this one-hour "Matlock" padded to take two hours is NBC's Sunday night movie, " I Still Dream of Jeannie," at 9 p.m. on KING-TV. Small wonder NBC's audience is drifting away.

Comedy competition: Two better-than-average comedy specials will be airing Saturday night on cable - Showtime repeats Elayne Boosler's knockout hour, "Live Nude Girls," at 10, while HBO counters with a new "Comedy Hour" episode starring Kevin Meaney at 10:30.

While Boosler's hour of stand-up is conventional in format, it also shows this top-flight comic at the peak of her form. There's something exhilarating about watching a comic so in command as Boosler, whether she's talking about dating or baseball - and her finale, as she sings "The Star-Spangled Banner," is comedy genius. Boosler's special will be repeated Wednesday and Oct. 31.

Meaney, who gets great comedy mileage out of his family, especially his mother's complaint, "You're like a crazy person! What's wrong with you!," is wackier than Boosler, combining terrific stand-up segments with some musical segments, like a wildly bizarre river-boat opener, that would be at home on a variety show. In his own way, Meaney is every bit as fine as Boosler. Meaney's show will be repeated Tuesday and Oct. 24, 27 and Nov. 5.

Benefit: If the recent confirmation hearings accomplished nothing else - and it's difficult to see what else they did - it is causing PBS to air both parts of "A Murder of Quality" on "Masterpiece Theatre" at 9 p.m. Sunday on KCTS-TV. The first hour was preempted last Sunday night. Now the drama will be aired as in Britain, as a two-hour movie, as the producers intended it to be.

Video notes: Fans of British comic actress Penelope Keith will enjoy "No Job for a Lady," a new half-hour comedy series premiering at 7:30 tonight on KCTS-TV, about a woman who is a new M.P. (Member of Parliament). While Keith is as amusing and endearing as ever, your enjoyment will be increased if you have a passing familiarity with British politics. . . . The third episode of "Devices and Desires," on PBS' "Mystery!," airs at 9 tonight on KCTS-TV. If you missed the first two episodes, be advised that KTPS-TV begins airing the production at 8 p.m. tomorrow. . . . CBS switches "Brooklyn Bridge" and "Princesses" tomorrow night on KIRO-TV, the former moving to 8 p.m., the latter to 8:30 . . . If you're a true believer in UFOs and Little Green Men from other planets, then "Sightings: The UFO Report," at 9 p.m. tomorrow on KCPQ-TV, is right up your alley. Others are advised to skip it. . . . KOMO-TV's "Town Meeting" looks at the subject of sexual harassment at 6 p.m. Sunday, also the focus of Fox's "Herman's Head" at 9:30 p.m. Sunday on KCPQ-TV. . . . Several cable systems in the area will show, on a pay-per-view basis, "Guitar Legends," a three-hour concert that includes appearances by Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and many other stars, from Seville, Spain, Saturday at 6 and 9 p.m.