CASTING AROUND

Richard Crenna portrays an ambitious deputy police chief in a pilot TV movie that revives Joseph Wambaugh’s ‘70s “Police Story” series. “Police Story ‘86” is now shooting around town. Crenna then reprises his role as Col. Trautman in “Rambo III,” expected to start filming next month either in Bangkok or Arizona. . . . John Badham directs “Stake Out,” a comedy cop thriller that begins shooting in January in Vancouver. Two male leads in their mid 30s and a young female lead have yet to be cast. . . . Lindsay Crouse returns as Lesbian officer McBride in a “Hill Street Blues” episode written by her playwright husband David Mamet. . . . Bill Maher plays a Timothy Leary-type cop to Tommy Hinkley’s G. Gordon Liddy counterpart in the Showtime series “Hard Knocks,” just filming for a January debut. . . . John Travolta and Robert Hegyes try to prove they passed Composition 101 in their “Welcome Back Kotter” days. They’re co-writing a romantic comedy feature that both actors will produce, starring Travolta. . . . Engelbert Humperdinck does a cameo as himself in the HBO miniseries “Glory Years,” now afilming in Las Vegas about three non-swingers who come to town for their 20th high school reunion. . . . . The Monkees and Dolly Parton perform for hostesses Bea Arthur and Betty White in the ABC special, “Disney World’s 15th Anniversary,” now taping in Orlando, Fla. . . . In an episode of ABC’s “Sidekicks,” pop singer El DeBarge has to interrupt a song to help Gil Gerard, who’s getting whupped. . . . Heavyweight champ Mike Tyson gets involved in helping Alex Karras and Emmanuel Lewis with a charity auction in a “Webster” episode. . . . Sally Kellerman is a recovered alcoholic who rescues her daughter from her ex-husband in the feature “Three for the Road,” now shooting on the road in Nebraska.