HONGKONG will wake up today to the harmless banter of Satellite TV's talk show megastar Larry King, who's in the territory for two editions of his live programme as part of Cable News Network's Asia Week. Today's Larry King Live (World, 10am, repeated at 7.05pm) features a pre-recorded interview with Governor Chris Patten. Given the gentle nature of King's show, Patten will have had little to fear in the way of probing questions nor allusions to stinking colonialism. Tomorrow King hosts a panel discussion, to which viewers can contribute by phoning in their opinions. The telephone number, which is not being given out prior to the programme, is toll-free. WHEN first released, Earthquake (World, 9.30pm, ORT 129 mins) was put out on Sensurround, a technique that produced a minor tremor in the cinema during dramatic sequences of LA being razed. No doubt this had audiences of the time hysterical with fear, butsince the same effect does not work on television and the movie has little else to offer, viewers are more likely to be hysterical with laughter. One piece of classic casting is Ava Gardner playing Lorne Green's daughter. She's also meant to be chisel-featured Charlton Heston's dipso wife. As either she is sorrowfully unsuitable. Walter Matthau also appears to very little effect, but then the whole cast is battling a script that is anything but earth-shattering. The good news about A Bridge Too Far (Pearl, 9.45pm) is that a 158-minute print was made. The bad news is this is the full 175-minute version. To be fair, some people sing the praises of the film, but this viewer sides with the ones who find it over-blown, over-long and over-loud. Dirk Bogarde devoted several pages of his autobiography Snakes and Ladders to explaining how he only got roped into the film because he owed director Dickie Attenborough a favour. That's his excuse, but how do the rest of the massive big name cast - including Sean Connery, Laurence Olivier and Robert Redford - explain their presence? Only devotees of war films need apply. THE Liverpool v Bolton F.A. Cup replay is featured in The Road to Wembley (World, 8.30pm). The programme is presented by Charlie Charters and on Sunday both ATV World and ATV Home will be showing the semi-finals. The two matches are Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United (delayed live) and Spurs v Arsenal (live). JAMES Woods (The Boost ) plays a mean and moody policeman on the trail of a serial sex killer in the extremely violent thriller Cop (Pearl, 2am, ORT 110 mins). Woods' cop is the kind of guy who thinks quality time with his seven-year-old daughter is telling her about some of his more sordid busts. Daughter and mother soon take off and Woods is left to become even more obsessed with tracking down nasties.
