Tuning In to Tube-Related Web Sites

Can’t get enough of the tube? Now you can get even more--on your computer. The trickle of TV-related Web sites has turned into a torrent, with the networks finally going whole hog to keep their viewers loyal, with cable channels providing program details the listings guides don’t have room for, with fans elaborately celebrating their faves and with oddball pages devoted to all kinds of off-the-wall tube targets.

I’ve gotten hooked on exploring these Web sites. It’s so easy to lose yourself in cyberspace. Here are some of the discoveries I’ve made:

* Character crossovers: https://www.nbc.com--NBC Interactive is ratcheting up the cross-currents between the TV tube and the PC screen. It’s got six online shows that let you interact with characters from series like “Homicide” and “The Pretender.”

The “Homicide” pages actually contain a second set of Baltimore detective characters you don’t see on TV. In an arc titled “Second Shift,” they investigate their own cases and lead their own lives, with either real-time audio dialogue (links help you download the sound utility if you don’t have it) or script pages printed on the screen. “Homicide” TV actor Reed Diamond is part of this week’s online “episode.”

The “Pretender” pages are even more active, actually making you an operative of the Centre that’s trying to recapture its escaped prodigy, Jarod. You follow clues that just happen to lead you to search Jarod’s abandoned Oldsmobile Intrigue--clever use of a sponsor’s product--as you try to alert dastardly Miss Parker to Jarod’s next destination city. (If you guess wrong, her ice-cold voice scolds you.) NBC even intends to introduce a new character for the TV series’ second season to online audiences first. You’ll need Netscape Navigator 3.0 or above to play, but again, the NBC screens link you to the download site.

In both of these sites, the writing and visuals carry over their particular TV hour’s grit (“Homicide”) or elegance (“The Pretender”) and wit (both). And the pages are constructed so they don’t take forever to appear on your screen.

* Vintage playground: https://www.nick-at-nite.com--The Nick at Nite “classic TV” channel was a latecomer online, not getting its Web site up till three weeks ago. The wait was worth it, though--it’s a colorful bounty of episode guides, star bios, behind-the-scenes trivia, sounds and pictures, and even those Retromercials they show on TV Land (73 of ‘em, for products like Bosco, the ’68 Mustang, Ginsu Knives and Sergio Valente designer jeans).

In fact, the TV Land site may be the most fun for those of us deprived of the channel, letting us see what we’re missing (“Sonny & Cher” with ‘70s guests Jimmy Durante, Kate Smith and Olympic swimmer-poster dude Mark Spitz!).

The screens are very active--signs spin and TV screens change channels--but they can take forever for your computer to draw. And if you’re into downloading, you’ll be online awhile.

* All things TV: https://www.ultimatetv.com--Start here. This is just what it says: the ultimate guide to tube land. This index contains 8,838 links for 1,180 shows--new, old and international--including 1,366 Web pages. It’s also got program listings for all time zones; links to sites maintained by networks, cable channels, local stations and production studios; Nielsen ratings; job info for industry types, and much more.

The facts you can find here are endless. You’ll learn that 14.1 million people actually watched the July 24 episode of “Men Behaving Badly.” (Explanation: It aired in NBC’s Thursday lineup.) The show list pairs MTV’s new “Daria” next to the ‘60s soap “Dark Shadows.” Ultimate TV’s series pages offer links to episode guides, frequently asked questions, newsgroups and mailing lists in addition to Web sites.

* TV theme songs: https://www.students.uiuc.edu/ ~prost/index.html--Other sites are completely devoted to series theme music. This one calls itself TV Theme Song Central, offering such obscurities as the opening to the original “Valerie” series that Valerie Harper was booted from back in the ‘80s. Or try https://wso.williams.edu/ ~mgarland/sounds/ for the likes of the Chilly Willy cartoon and “Cosmos.”