NAME’S THE SAME

Seems like TV isn’t just running out of fresh material--it’s also running low on titles.

The just-announced list of pilots looked especially heavy with feature-film connections--until Outtakes did some checking with spokesfolks:

“Making the Grade� (NBC): Paramount’s pilot about high school students who would rather be elsewhere has no relation to a 1984 MGM/UA teen flick with Judd Nelson. It’s based instead on a failed 1982 Paramount pilot about high schoolers. An NBC spokeswoman said the net had never heard of the movie--but will find a new name anyway.

“Starting Over� (CBS): The Warner Bros. hour drama will get a new handle because of the “obvious� conflict with the 1979 Burt Reynolds/Candice Bergen/Jill Clayburgh sad-singles film, said a CBS spokesman. (The pilot stars Stefanie Powers as a “PR lady� working out of London and may be renamed “Maggie.�)

“Blood Brothers� (CBS): This half-hour comedy about the reunion of two boyhood friends (Charles Rocket and Joe Regalbuto) has just been retitled “My Blood Brother� because of WB’s 1979 “Bloodbrothers,� with Richard Gere and Tony Lo Bianco as Italian bros at odds.

“Mixed Company� (CBS): Lorimar’s half-hour comedy about men and women firefighters in NYC has nothing to do with a 1974 UA release (with Joe Bologna and Barbara Harris) about a basketball coach who adopts children of different races. But following Outtakes’ inquiries, a rep said the name will be changed or the rights sought.

Ah, but four other pilots do derive from features: “Popeye Doyle� (NBC, with Ed O’Neill in Gene Hackman’s “French Connection� role); “Starman� (ABC, Robert Hays replacing Jeff Bridges); “Gung Ho� (ABC, Gedde Watanabe segueing from the feature), and “The Man Who Fell to Earth� (ABC, with Lewis Smith of “North and South� in place of David Bowie).