Exit May sweeps; enter l.a. screenings, the annual gold chains and crantini extravaganza which has the bulk of the Canadian private broadcasting execs huddled in California the week of May 20.

Who is buying what from whom, who is partnering with whom, what new ‘strategic partnerships’ are in play, and who is prepared to pay how much for what, are top of mind.

The u.s. offerings they’ll be sampling to premier in the 1997/98 season are the usual mix of potential hits and head-shaking storylines.

This year there are, yet again, many rich and attractive 25-54s making problems for themselves, and an excess of extraterrestrials. As per Hollywood Reporter’s plot summaries: ‘Alien Bronson Pinchot is nanny to motherless children’ (Meego, Warner Bros.). ‘Hollywood apartment building inhabited by reptile, time traveler’ (World on a String, C3).

There are abundant yawner guy-centric devices. ‘Four guys are friends’ (Between Brothers, Sony), ‘Guys on softball team talk about selves, girls’ (Dogs, Disney/Avnet-Kerner), ‘Dads taking care of kids’ (Dads, Sony), and 2 Guys, a Girl & a Pizza Place from 20th Century Fox, no plotline required.

Inns are in vogue. Tim Curry stars in Over the Top as an unemployed actor working at his ex’s inn. cbs’ The Family Business has siblings running a family inn. Bob Newhart has left the inn to star in the Odd Couple-like Leo & George (Paramount).

Martha Stewart-inspired prototypes also top the list, including The Simple Life (Sony) about ‘a Martha Stewart-ish woman who tries to lead the life she sells,’ Disney’s Style and Substance starring Jean Smart as a ‘Martha Stewart-like diva,’ and Warner Bros.’ Kirstie Alley Project starring the obvious as ‘the Martha Stewart of romance.’

Other resurrected tv types starring in new series this season include Cindy Williams, Tom Selleck, Robert Guillaume, Andrew Dice Clay, and Jim Belushi.

Bets are on CanWest to pick up Steven Bochco’s newest cop series, Brooklyn South. Baton may be on the trail of Ghost of a Chance, described as Moonlighting meets Ghost, from Rysher Entertainment, exec produced by Canuck Paul Haggis. Also with Baton potential: Hiller and Diller, a comedy series from Disney and Imagine revolving around the writing team of Richard Lewis and Kevin Nealon. There may be a fight for Fargo, the drama series based on the film from itc.

Although the target market seems a little dubious, also with Canadian potential is Heaven Will Wait, a comedy from Warner Bros. which has the pull of Olympia Dukakis as the female lead in the retirement village-centered series. Richard Mulligan plays the male. If Pacific Palisades d’esn’t, blessedly, survive its mid-season run, L.A. Med from Disney (‘Melrose Place meets er’) is in the offing.

wic won’t likely feel the loss of Dark Skies with the number of Psi-fi knock-offs to choose from. Sleepwalkers (Sony, NBC Studios) has scientists entering people’s dreams, The Visitor (20th Century Fox) is simply ‘Alien on Earth,’ Almost Gone (Warner Bros.) has ‘Doctor helps ghost with unresolved issues,’ and in Hungry for Survival (Warner Bros.), ‘A new species of man is brilliant and lethal.’

There’s more, including a few that sound very Touched by an Angel (‘Two buddies; one dies and returns as an angel,’ Teen Angel, Disney), but we’re too underwhelmed to write down anymore. Time for a crantini.

abc is slated to air its lineup May 19. Fox will follow on the 20th, cbs on the 22nd. nbc was first out of the gate May 12.

-U.S. ratings darlings

Behind last month’s cbs ratings success with Alliance Communications mow The Inheritance, ratings data shows ctv and the u.s. nets consistently corralling solid numbers with mows produced by Canadian companies.

The Mandy Patinkin-starring Hunchback, produced by Alliance, hit 1.8 million viewers in Canada in last winter’s telecast. Alliance’s Family of Cops ii, airing Feb. 2, registered a 2.1 million.

Atlantis Films’ Keeping the Promise, which aired Jan. 2, recorded 1.4 million viewers here. In the u.s., it rated a 10.3 with a 16 share on cbs, placing 17th overall for mows in the week on the u.s. broadcast landscape.

Reaching way back, the Oct. 13, 1996 play of We the Jury, also produced by Atlantis, came in at 1.5 million viewers in Canada. Airing on the USA Network on Oct. 18, it took a 3 rating and a 4.5 share. The mow was sandwiched between episodes of Murder, She Wrote and Silk Stocking, which got a 1.8 and a 1.3 rating respectively.

Atlantis’ Pam Wilson, manager of operations and publicity in l.a., says the numbers illustrate that the audience tuned in especially to watch the movie, ‘so that’s great and the USA Network was delighted.’

Over the course of the summer, three Atlantis mows ­ Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, Heck’s Way Home and Harvest ­ are being slotted into ctv’s Sunday 9 p.m. slot. Night of the Twisters, the first in the series, recorded 2.1 million May 4.

At Lifetime Television, Sullivan Entertainment’s Under the Piano, premiering last month, scored a 1.9 rating, ranking above the average for the cablenet’s Wednesday night 9 p.m. feature. On May 19, Lifetime will telecast Sullivan’s Butterbox Babies, the 1995 Gemini Award winner for best tv movie.

East across the pond, Germany’s private tv network SAT.1 premiered The Lost Daughter in March. The four-hour miniseries, coproduced by Regina-based Minds Eye Pictures and Condor Films of Switzerland, gathered a 18.8% market share for part one, a 20% for part two. Cumulative viewing audience for both nights was 11.3 million.

-Dog days no more

With summer mere days away, word is that momentum is building amongst the mainstream u.s. nets to stop playing dead during patio season.

With fewer, more expensive episodes being produced and the new season launch pushed back to Sept. 22 this year, perhaps, some tv execs suggest, it’s time to stop airing endless reruns and in effect giving up four months of ad revenue to the cable networks and specialty channels.

Fox is prepared to air original episodes for as many as five new drama and reality series this year. The likes of The X-Files won’t make the cut, but fresh Pacific Palisades may show up as could a full season of Roar from Universal Television. abc may take a swing with the final six episodes of Murder One, packaged as a miniseries. cbs, believe or not, has yet to offer the Miss Teen USA pageant, and may draw on unused specials from Sea World and a newsmagazine series, Coast to Coast.

nbc, in the best position, isn’t expected to join the party. It may, however, through the summer, turn its Monday primetime lineup into a comedy block of repeats targeting the female audience with Suddenly Susan and Caroline in the City.

Closer to home, CanWest is attempting a new season launch with Jake and the Kid beginning May 24. It’s staying in its regular Saturday 7 p.m. slot.

-TVO’s View inks deals

TVOntario’s The View From Here, officially greenlit for its fourth season, has come in on four new projects to date: Confessions of A Rabid Dog, a doc chronicling the heroin addict’s existence, directed by John L’Ecuyer and produced by Julia Sereny; Erotica, ‘a detailing of the female erotic imagination, directed by Maya Gallus; Parole, the relationship between the parole officer and the ex-con by Barry Greenwald; and Tops and Bottoms, an exploration of s&m subculture by Cristine Richey.

In other tvo news, Studio 2, hosted by Steve Paikin and Paul Todd, is newly repeating at 11 p.m., Monday through Thursday, pumping up the 8 p.m. audience numbers.

-Anchors away

Maybe it’s spring fever, but other undeniable thrills this month include watching those usually stalwart news anchors poised by the banks of the Red River. Yellow slickers, grave looks, one-on-one interviews with the brave, the weary, the homeless. It all smacked a little of Arthur ‘Skud Stud’ Kent in the Gulf and made for some beautiful work across the board on the six and 11 o’clock newscasts. CTV News registered 1.6 million viewers on April 30 with Lloyd Robertson live in Winnipeg, rising to 1.8 million May 1.

While Izzy Asper continues a personal appeal for flood relief funds on Global, cbc extends its efforts with its live broadcast of the Red River Relief Concert May 18. The Peter Gzowski-helmed Red River Rally, a cbc radio and tv initiative, has brought in more than $1 million in donations to date.