BARKLEY ON THE BALL IN SHOOT-'EM-UP `VIP' APPEARANCE.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Basketball star Charles Barkley joined up with Pamela Anderson and her ``VIP'' series team last week to do a scene ``blowing stuff up and running with a machine gun,'' as the show's creator-producer-sometimes-director J.F. Lawton puts it.

The new syndicated series opens each episode with an action sequence - a la the James Bond films - and each features a celebrity. Lining up stars ``has proven to be much harder than I thought. Scheduling is a nightmare,'' says Lawton, a veteran writer/producer whose credits include ``Pretty Woman'' and ``Under Seige.''

Rapper Coolio, Sheila E. and Jay Leno are among the stars slated for upcoming ``VIP'' appearances. In the latter case, ``Pam runs onto the `Tonight Show' set and saves Jay from an explosion. We have a lot of explosions on our show.''

A new venture

Chuck Norris and his brother Aaron are getting ready to launch a new series, called ``Sons of Thunder,'' for CBS. The premise has longtime pals - an ex-cop and a martial arts champ - joining forces to start a detective agency. Newcomers will play those roles. Former ``Heat of the Night'' co-star Alan Autry - fondly remembered by an extremely loyal cult of fans (we know this from reader mail) - is aboard playing an ex-boxer. Production begins in Dallas Dec. 11.

`Keeper' of the fame

All-star Utah Jazz basketball player Karl Malone isn't wasting his time while the NBA and its players are working out their differences. Malone taped a guesting on ABC's ``Brother's Keeper'' series Monday. He's set to guest on CBS' ``Nash Bridges'' next week. And he just launched himself as a radio talk-show host afternoons on L.A.'s KXTA-AM (1150).

Malone has the camera in his sights for more than just the present. ``I want to get into acting on a regular basis one day,'' he tells us. ``That's why I'm doing these different parts now. But not just any parts - they have to be right. `Brother's Keeper' was fun because, although I played Karl Malone, I played Karl Malone without a baskeball in hand - being mistaken for a plumber.''

He doesn't know yet what part's been written for him on the Don Johnson series. ``I don't like to have my script in hand for a long time ahead of time,'' Malone lets us know. ``I like to study the script when I actually get into the arena of the acting.''

As for his new radio job, Malone says once the lockout ends, he'll be phoning it in from the road, except for game days, when he'll leave the mike to his co-host, Vic ``The Brick'' Jacobs.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois.

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Photo: (1--2) Charles Barkley joins Pamela Anderson for a scene in her ``VIP'' series.