Yancy Butler

There's one in every John Woo production, a sequence of such intoxicating, delirious violence, with bullets and bodies dancing around in feverish combination, that you almost cannot comprehend, let alone believe, what you are seeing. When it comes to putting large-scale, explosive action on film, Woo is the new gold standard.

In David Andrews' last television series, "The Antagonists," he played a defense attorney. When he was cast, the producers were unaware that Andrews is a former lawyer. He was practicing law in San Diego when, at the age of 25, he experienced what he said was a "midlife crisis." He quit, divorced his wife, sold his car and decided to become an actor.

Appearing in practically every scene of the new TNT series "Witchblade," Yancy Butler admits she's "pretty beat. We have never probably worked less than a 14-hour day. We have definitely gone up to 18 hours. And by the time I go home and memorize the next day's lines, it's 19 hours. But I have been motivationally jazzed." TNT aired a two-hour pilot for "Witchblade," based on the best-selling Top Cow comic book, last summer, which became the No.

More cops are coming. Tonight brings the bullets-in-your-face debut of CBS' "Brooklyn South" from Steven Bochco, who just about owns this franchise. Also arriving is ABC's artless "Timecop," a movie spinoff whose pursuit of offenders back through the ages begins with a Jack the Ripper from the future (don't ask) and bumbling British bobbies in Victorian London.

Patrick Stewart's life changed inextricably after two decades of distinguished work as a stage actor when he landed the part of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He went from reciting "Henry IV" to chasing Klingons in a spacesuit during the show's run from 1987 to 1994. The fiercely intelligent and immensely charming British actor, 54, stars in Orion Pictures' "Jeffrey," due out Friday.

OK, you probably think ballroom dancing is something your parents did--make that your grandparents. The old-fashioned, hokey stuff like the fox trot that went out with rock 'n' roll and that no one under 50 would be caught dead doing, right? Think again. Consider the United States Ballroom Championships held here not long ago in the Grand Ballroom of the Fontainebleau Hilton.

No one can complain that there's nothing on television this summer. The era of summer repeats seems a thing of the past. Over the next two months, viewers can choose from no fewer than 30 new daytime and nighttime series, numerous made-for-TV movies, musical and variety specials and documentaries. Several popular summer series are returning, including HBO's "Dream On" and "The Larry Sanders Show" and PBS' "Alive TV" and "Evening at Pops."

The 1997-98 TV season has been off and running since late August, with the curtain already rising on one-third of the 36 new series to be unveiled by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and WB. But Monday is when the race begins officially: That's when everyone has new programming to offer--and when the ratings start counting. It shapes up as a season showcasing single gals, divorced guys, lots of cops, odd couplings, a few fantasies and clusters of comedies.

Readers are advised to call ahead to verify dates and events, which are subject to change. For a list of selected venues, see Page S16. And for these same events organized by subject, check the list on Page S17. Sunday, May 30 L.A. Fiesta Broadway takes over 36 blocks of downtown for a sort of belated Cinco de Mayo celebration (the festival was postponed because of the impending verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights case).