Hollywood Digest

'HUNTER' RETURNS TO PRIMETIME

Production is under way in San Diego on a two-hour movie that will reunite the stars of "Hunter," the crime drama that ran on NBC from 1984-91.

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer are reprising their roles as Los Angeles police detectives Rick Hunter and Dee Dee McCall in "Hunter: Return to Justice."

That's just the working title, according to the network, so by the time the movie shows up on the air, it may have another name.

Fans of the original show may recall that McCall left the police department to get married. In the TV movie she has a fiancée, a candidate for mayor of San Diego, who becomes involved in a home robbery killing.

CBS PLAYING 'DOCTOR'

Paul Sorvino ("That Championship Season," "Law & Order") and Danny Nucci ("Titanic") will join Olympia Dukakis ("Moonstruck," "Steel Magnolias") in the cast of "Family Doctor" -- a CBS TV movie about a mob boss who puts a young man through medical school in Italy.

The bargain goes bad for the young man when he finds himself conflicted between operating his own legitimate practice while also practicing underground for the mob.

REPURPOSING 'MONK'

"Monk," the offbeat series about an obsessive-compulsive crime investigator, has been performing so well for the USA Network that ABC has worked out a deal with USA to rerun four episodes of the show, one per week starting, Aug. 13.

The show stars Tony Shalhoub ("Men in Black," "The Man Who Wasn't There") in the title role.

SOMETHING FRESH FOR THE WB

The WB Network is moving forward with plans for a comedy pilot based on the real-life experiences of actor Anthony Anderson ("Exit Wounds," "Me, Myself and Irene").

Anderson will star in "All About the Andersons" as an unemployed actor who moves back in with his parents, bringing his 8-year-old son with him.

AFTER THE 'CONSPIRACY'

Director Frank Pierson ("Truman," "Citizen Cohn") is working on a follow-up to 2001's powerful drama "Conspiracy," which was nominated for 10 Emmys -- including one for outstanding miniseries or movie and one for Pierson's directing.

"Conspiracy," an account of Nazi Germany's premeditated plan to exterminate Jews, won two Emmys -- outstanding actor in a miniseries or movie (Kenneth Branagh) and outstanding writing for a miniseries or movie (Loring Mandel).

The new project, "Complicity," is an examination of America's decision to deny entry to refugees from Hitler's Germany. Like "Conspiracy," it is being produced for HBO.

ED ASNER'S NEXT

Edward Asner will play Jason Alexander's father in the upcoming TV movie "The Man Who Saved Christmas," based on the story of A.C. Gilbert -- the inventor of the Erector Set -- who persuaded Washington not to cancel Christmas holiday celebrations during World War I.

Asner has been nominated 15 times for an Emmy and has won seven times -- including three for his performance as Lou Grant on the CBS comedy "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and two as the same character on his CBS drama "Lou Grant."

Plans call for "The Man Who Saved Christmas" to air during the upcoming Christmas holiday season.

STILLER'S NEXT

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ben Stiller is in talks to star in an untitled romantic comedy about an anal-retentive risk-averse man who analyzes risk for a living -- and whose life is thrown into turmoil when he gets involved in a risky romance. John Hamburg ("Meet the Parents," "Zoolander") will direct the picture from his own screenplay.