Marcy Carsey

Roseanne Barr, whose first feature film, "She-Devil," opened Friday, appeared this week to be attempting another coup to have an executive producer of her top-rated ABC show removed, sources familiar with the situation said. The internal fracas over the show's creative direction comes exactly one year after a feud between Barr and "Roseanne" creator-executive producer Matt Williams resulted in his departure. Williams left the show in January, after the Christmas and New Year's production break.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, and the committee that will create the first TV-ratings system will meet today in Los Angeles with the group that will be most directly affected by ratings: the producers of individual TV series. Marcy Carsey, one of the executive producers of "Roseanne" and "Grace Under Fire," and Steven Bochco, co-creator of "NYPD Blue" and "Murder One," are among those who will attend the meeting.

Carsey-Warner Starts Film Arm: The producers of such hit television shows as "The Cosby Show," "Roseanne" and "Grace Under Fire" formed Carsey-Werner Moving Pictures, signing film maker Polly Platt to an exclusive production deal. Platt has long been associated with director James L. Brooks, serving as executive vice president of his Gracie Films. Carsey-Werner is led by Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner.

Victoria Principal, Penny Marshall, Donna Mills and producer Marcy Carsey are among the top female executives, producers, writers and actors who will speak during "Women in Entertainment: Setting Standards and Achieving Goals," a six-session UCLA Extension course coordinated by CBS-TV executive Lucy Johnson and Beverly Hills-based publicist Barbara Meltzer.

John Jay Carsey, 80, a comedy writer and producer who worked on "The Tonight Show" and "The Steve Allen Show," died April 5 in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. Born in New York City, Carsey served in the Navy in the North Atlantic during World War II. After the war, he made his initial foray into television working as a unit manager on "The Steve Allen Show."

"The Scholar," a six-episode unscripted series pitting 10 of the nation's best high school students against one another for a full four-year scholarship to a top-rated university, will premiere June 6 on ABC. The students "have to demonstrate excellence" in academics, leadership, creativity and community service "while facing sudden-death oral exams defending themselves to an Ivy League scholarship committee," according to a statement from ABC.

ABC announced two new shows Sunday for its spring replacement schedule. "STAT," by producer Danny Arnold of "Barney Miller," will feature an ensemble comedy cast in an urban hospital emergency room. "The Principal," starring Randy Quaid as a schoolteacher who reluctantly becomes principal, also features comedian Jonathan Winters as Quaid's father. "Principal" is from independent producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, whose Carsey/Werner Co.

Oxygen Media Inc., an Internet and cable-television company that caters to women, said it had received $100 million in new funding from Vulcan Ventures Inc., the investment company run by billionaire Paul Allen, Microsoft Corp.'s co-founder. The money will let New York-based Oxygen develop new Internet and cable-programming services and increase its cable subscribers, a spokeswoman said.