`LAUGH-IN'S' SCHLATTER SEES BROADER COMEDY LANDSCAPE.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Producer George Schlatter is preparing to unleash ``Laugh-In 2000'' - the third edition of the hit comedy series he founded in 1968 with Dan Rowan and Dick Martin.

He reports that he's huddling with network execs about the new ``Laugh-In,'' which he sees focusing on material ``that needs minimal attention - even less than the original show did.'' It would feature ``bright, young funny people talking about things that people are interested in today. We need it. We need the laughter.''

Not that TV isn't trying to maximize the laughs as it is - with some 42 sitcoms on the air. But Schlatter, who's producing the 10th annual ``American Comedy Awards,'' which tapes Feb. 9 for airing on ABC Feb. 17, sees comedy starting to take a different form.

``Right now all the shows are about sex,'' he says. He sees ``the intense interest'' in Bill Maher - and the fact that ``Politically Incorrect'' is ``starting to give Jay Leno and David Letterman a run for their money'' - as a sign that the range of comedic subjects is beginning to broaden.''

This year's ``American Comedy Awards'' will be a blend of the old and the new. Seven-year-old Jonathan Lipnicki of ``Jerry Maguire'' fame and Mae Whitman, who plays George Clooney's daughter in ``One Fine Day,'' will be a presenting team. And in a class by himself: Walter Matthau, who'll be the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The naked truth

Farrah Fawcett producing a video with Playboy Home Video? Indeed. And from the sound of a casting notice that's been getting a lot of attention around town, the former ``Charlie's Angel,'' who turns 50 on Sunday, is going to be, shall we say, revealing a lot about herself. The notice asks for a Farrah look-alike to play her mirror image in the video set to shoot Feb. 10. Nudity will be required, along with the following stats: 5 foot 6, 110 pounds, 34-36 D bust, 25-inch waist, 36-inch hips, dress size 4-6, and must be able to move well. The ``twin,'' casting sources have been notified, just might wind up being featured - along with Fawcett - in a forthcoming issue of Playboy ``spotlighting Farrah Fawcett.'' We don't know which spot they're lighting.

The legend continues

Joe Penny, who co-stars with Charles Bronson in Sunday night's ``Breach of Faith: Family of Cops II'' on CBS, says, ``I am so into Bronson I was like a little kid when I was working with him.'' The former co-star of ``Jake and the Fat Man'' carries on about the septuagenarian actor. ``We had this scene where this guy says something about my wife, and when I go for the bad guy, Charles grabs me by one hand and just rips me back. I thought, `This 74-year-old guy could clean the floor with me!' He's pretty amazing.'' Penny does a dead-on impression of Bronson, which kept everyone amused on the ``Breach of Faith'' set. But when Bronson asked to hear the imitation, ``I told him, `Quite frankly, sir, I think you could hurt me. ... I want to get through the shoot pretty much unscathed, all right?' ''

Behind the camera

``Homicide: Life on the Street'' co-star Kyle Secor, who makes his debut as a director with the episode that airs tonight, reports that he got some advice from one of the top men in the business: Oscar winner Barry Levinson, who serves as exec producer of the NBC series. Levinson did a cameo turn in a recent segment of the series - and to Secor's surprise, he was also asked to direct.