ELVIS IS BACK IN THE BUILDING.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

Ten years ago, Greil Marcus wrote ``Dead Elvis,'' a book that examined pop culture's deification of Elvis Presley after his ignominious passing. Marcus wrote, ``Strange creatures appeared: Elvis Christ, Elvis Nixon, Elvis Hitler, Elvis inhabiting the bodies of serial killers, of saints, fiends. Each was a joke, of course; beneath each joke was bedrock, obsession, delight, fear. (The meaning of Elvis) spun further and further out of control.''

The latest chunk of Presleyana for the faithful is a thoroughly reconfigured version of the film ``Elvis: That's the Way It Is,'' made a couple of years after the King's TV comeback and just before he cried uncle and succumbed to pills and selndulgence and management's propensity for hackery. (In its own way, Presley's career was as micro-managed as those of Britney Spears or the Backstreet Boys today.)

You see glimpses of both the comeback and the downfall in this fascinating time capsule, edited by Rick Schmidlin far more lovingly than the original film was assembled. There are flashes of his old passion for the music, shown in an impromptu, loose and bluesy version of ``Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,'' a medley of ``Little Sister'' and the Beatles' ``Get Back'' during rehearsals. But during his concert performances, despite flashes of inspiration, he's overwrought and theatrical, kicking and flailing his arms about; he's sloppy and discursive. Still svelte though showing puffiness in his cheeks, he chuckles at himself when he has to clear his throat or blows lines from songs (which is fairly frequent) and makes lugubrious private jokes on stage - he tells his audience the film he's shooting is called ``Elvis Shakes His Excess Off.''

All this just makes the film more interesting. As do the healthy dollops of kitsch: He wanders through the crowd, planting kisses on swooning female fans. And his jumpsuits look sillier than ever 30 years later - he jokes before the concert, ``If the songs don't go over, we can do a medley of costume changes.''

But there are moments where Presley looks young and vital and eminently salvageable from the cruel fate he's careening toward. Even if you came of age when he was past his prime and considered a bad joke, you can sense some poignancy watching the King here struggling to retain his crown, perhaps even his sanity.

< ``ELVIS: THAT'S THE WAY IT IS''

What: Refurbished version of the 1970 film seeking to revitalize the King's musical career.

Where: Turner Classic Movies.

When: 5 and 9 tonight; also Sunday and Jan. 27.

Our rating: Three stars

Gabby legal show hits a dead-end `Street'

Starting with a career that began with 1957's ``12 Angry Men'' and continued through more recent films like ``The Verdict,'' ``Night Falls on the City'' and ``Q&A,'' filmmaker Sidney Lumet has more than proven he knows his way around a legal drama. Which makes the somewhat tentative nature of ``100 Centre Street,'' his new series for the Arts & Entertainment network (representing its first weekly drama series), a bit of a letdown.

``100 Centre Street'' takes a look at all sides of the legal system - the judges, the assistant district attorneys assigned grunt work, even the overburdened public defenders. Judges serve as the show's principles, and that's fortunate, because they're the most interesting characters. Joe Rifkind (Alan Arkin) is a thoughtful, liberal judge who comes under fire in tonight's episode for freeing a suspect who later murders a police officer; Attallah Sims (LaTanya Richardson) is referred to as Attallah the Hun thanks to her surprisingly conservative, no-nonsense, law-and-order approach to her job (we learn why she's such a tough judge in next week's episode).

By contrast, the attorneys are standard-issue drama dullards. There's Bobby Esposito (Joseph Lyle Taylor), an earnest prosecutor who tonight faces a shrug of a moral quandary when his dirtbag brother gets into trouble (the upshot, surprisingly, isn't even mentioned next week); Cynthia Bennington (Paula Devicq), who thumbs her nose at her wealthy father and his prestigious law firm by taking a lowly assistant D.A.'s position; and Ramon Rodriguez (Manny Perez, who appears next week), who could be a potentially good public defender if he'd quit flirting with every woman in sight. These folks are already pairing off with one another, while the best the judges can do are a few dinners where they discuss the day's events.

And boy, do they discuss. The main problem with ``100 Centre Street'' is that it's awfully talky, with exposition delivered in reams. Unfortunately, much of the dialogue seems repetitive and doesn't feel like it's contributing much to building characterizations; largely, it's a lot of narrative wheel-spinning. The most pertinent particulars of tonight's two- hour premiere likely could have been handled in a single hour.

Still, Arkin is, as always, an avuncular presence who naturally brings class, wit and dignity to the proceedings; Richardson is imposing on the bench. There are a lot of legal series out there right now, though - NBC has a couple more on the way - so ``100 Centre Street'' will have to step up to make its voice heard above the din.

``100 CENTRE STREET''

What: Legal drama from filmmaker Sidney Lumet.

The stars: Alan Arkin, LaTanya Richardson, Paula Devicq, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Manny Perez.

Where: A&E.

When: 9 p.m. Mondays.

Our rating: Two and one half stars

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Turner Classic Movies airs a re-edited version of the film ``Elvis: That's the Way It Is,'' made after Presley's TV comeback, shortly before his death.

(2) Joseph Lyle Taylor, left, Paula Devicq, Alan Arkin, LaTanya Richardson and Manny Perez play stereotypical legal professionals on A&E's ``100 Centre Street.''