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1: .Playwright DAVID MAMET. His plays include "American Buffalo," "Speed-the-Plow," "Glengarry Glen Ross (for which he won a Pulitzer), and "Oleanna." His movies include, "Homicide," "House of Games," and "Things Change." Mamet is best known for his style of writing. New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich described Mamet's writing in "Glengarry Glen Ross" as, "burying layers of meaning into simple precisely distilled idiomatic language." MAMET has written several books of essays; he's just published his first novel, "The Village." (Little Brown and Company).

V critic DAVID BIANCULLI reviews reruns of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," which air on the cable channel, E! Entertainment Television. The comedy show was canceled in 1969.

Former president of Harvard DEREK BOK. In his new book, "The Cost of Talent: How Executives and Professionals Are Paid and How It Affects America" (Free Press), BOK argues that the rich shouldn't be so much richer. He says that huge salary gaps result in social and economic losses, "jeopardiz democracy by weakening faith in the economic system". Bok was the president of Harvard University from 1971 to 1991. He has written five other books

2: HARVEY KRAVITZ and JACK TREATMAN are coffee experts. KRAVITZ is a coffee consultant. TREATMAN is the co-proprietor of Old City Coffee in Philadelphia. They talk about coffee beans, coffee history and the coffee culture.

2: Novelist IAN FRAZIER is the author of "Family" (Farrar, Straus, Giroux), a book which traces his ancestors back to the 1600's. His inspiration for the book came from old letters he found after the death of his parents in 1987 and 1988. Their death gave him the desire to find "a meaning that would defeat death" in the letters. FRAZIER is also the author of "Dating Your Mom," "Nobody Better, Better Than Nobody," and "Great Plains." He is a regular contributor to the "New Yorker."

Journalist and professor RANDALL BALMER. He hosted the PBS series, "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America," which aired in May. There's also a companion book to it, the same title (published by Oxford University Press in 1989). BALMER is Associate Professor of Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University.

JOHNNY OTIS is a pioneer of rhythm and blues music. He has been a R&B musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his 1945 big band hit "Harlem Nocturne," and his 1958 his record "Willie and Hand Jive," which was in the top ten on R&B charts. Otis is back on the road and in the recording studio now. In January he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in February, he was inducted into the Rhythm &Blues Hall of Fame. His latest CD, "The Black Territory Bands," was nominated for a Grammy in the Big Band category for 1994. Capitol records reissued OTIS's sessions from the 1950's. OTIS has also just written his memoirs, "Upside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue." (University Press of New England) (REBROADCAST from 11/21/89).

Jazz critic KEVIN WHITEHEAD reviews a new reissue "The Lester Young Trio," (on Verve).

ommentator MAUREEN CORRIGAN reviews two new collections of essays. "Criminal Convictions" by Nicholas Freeling (David R. Godine) and "Skin: Talking about Sex, Class and Literature" by Dorothy Allison (Firebrand Books).

1: Actor CHARLTON HESTON. A consistent lead in the biblical epics of the 1950's and 1960's, HESTON had starring roles in " The Greatest Story Ever Told" and "The Ten Commandments"; HESTON also covered the Roman era in epics like "Ben Hur", "Julius Cesar", and "Antony & Cleopatra." Medieval Spain was not beyond his ken: HESTON had the lead as well in "El Cid." (REBROADCAST FROM 11/30/90). Film Director, MARTIN SCORCESE. He directed "The Last Temptation of Christ" in 1988. In June of 1993, as part of a retrospective of his work by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Department of Cinema Studies at NYU presented "An Evening With Martin Scorcese": a wide ranging question and answer session taped live before an audience at New York University. Scorcese explores some of the special difficulties involved in shooting a biblical epic in the desert with very little money. (REBROADCAST FROM 6/11/93). Composer ELMER BERNSTEIN. He's composed the scores for almost 80 films, including "The Man With the Golden Arm," "The Magnificent Seven," and "The Ten Commandments". Lately he's done the scores for "The Field" and "The Grifters." (REBROADCAST FROM 1/10/91) INT. 2: Actor KIRK DOUGLAS. The star of "Lust for Life," "Paths of Glory," "Champion" and Stanley Kubrick's epic, "Spartacus," the story of a slave uprising during the Roman Empire. (REBROADCAST FROM 8/22/88). Actor TONY CURTIS. In 1960 he starred in the film, "Spartacus" about a leader of slaves revolting against Republican Rome. A restored version of the film has been released that includes previously cut scenes, including one where Laurence Olivier --as a general-- tries to seduce his slave, played by CURTIS. (REBROADCAST FROM 4-19-91).