PEOPLE : `SEINFELD' CAST SEEKS RAISE ACTOR RICHARDS SAYS DEAL FAR FROM COMPLETE.

Michael Richards, who plays wacky neighbor Kramer on the No. 1-rated NBC sitcom ``Seinfeld'' told the Daily News Thursday that the show's supporting cast members are far from a deal that would bring them back to the show for a ninth season next fall.

``We are not close to signing,'' Richards said.

Richards and fellow cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander are ``hopeful'' that a deal can be struck, he said..

Jerry Seinfeld, who stars and produces the anchor show in NBC's dominant Thursday-night lineup, has said he will not return without the supporting cast.

Richards, Louis-Dreyfus and Alexander - who are reportedly each paid $125,000 an episode - banded together to seek $1 million each per episode.

Richards, responding to a flurry of varying reports about the salary talks between the actors and NBC, said the negotiations were in flux.

An NBC spokesman said that the network does not comment on ongoing negotiations.

Unlike Seinfeld, who shares in the show's profits, the supporting cast does not. The show, through reruns and merchandising, reportedly nets Seinfeld about $40 million a year.

In her ``Celebrities'' column published Thursday in the Daily News, Marilyn Beck quoted unnamed sources saying that a salary deal paying supporting cast members between $250,000 and $300,000 per episode for a ninth season was ``85 percent'' complete.

Also Thursday, Variety reported in its ``Dish'' column that the supporting cast members had turned down an offer of salary and stock options valued at about $350,000 as too low.

ABC looking for Roseanne

in new series

ABC is in serious talks with Carsey-Werner Co. about bringing Roseanne back in a new series for the 1997-98 season, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

The new series would have Roseanne playing the Roseanne Conner character from ``Roseanne.'' However, she would be in a new setting, and many of the characters in her current series would not move to the new program.

The premise of the new show would be set up in the series finale of ``Roseanne,'' which is scheduled for May. If ABC and Carsey-Werner reach an agreement on the new series, it would join the prime-time schedule as a midseason show. The two parties were scheduled to meet late Wednesday.

Putting a lead character from a successful long-running series into a new show is not unprecedented. After the eighth season of CBS' ``All in the Family,'' Carroll O'Connor played Archie Bunker in a new setting, and the show's title was changed to ``Archie Bunker's Place.'' It ran for four more seasons.

``Roseanne'' is finishing its ninth season on ABC. It was the network's top-rated program for five straight seasons and ranked among the top five prime-time shows for six years. However, its ratings declined significantly in the past three seasons.

``Roseanne'' has also taken a battering from critics this season for straying from its authentic depiction of a working-class family. The season started with the Conner family winning a fortune in the lottery.

Neeson sought for `Star' turn

Liam Neeson may be mentoring young Jedi knights as the star of the first ``Star Wars'' prequel, Daily Variety reported Thursday.

George Lucas and Neeson have met several times, and he has emerged as the top choice for top billing, the industry newspaper said, citing sources it did not identify.

Though Lucas' script for the first of three more planned ``Stars Wars'' movies has been a tightly guarded secret, sources told Variety that Neeson would play a new character, a master Jedi knight much like Alec Guinness' part of Obi Wan Kenobi.

A spokeswoman for Lucas denied that any final casting decisions have been made. She said Lucas has been meeting with many actors.

Neeson, from Ireland, played Oskar Schindler in ``Schindler's List.''

Model makeup flap appears made up

Emmanuelle Beart denied news reports that going without makeup at protests this year cost her a cosmetics contract with Christian Dior.

The actress, who starred in ``Manon of the Spring,'' ``Jean de Florette'' and most recently ``Mission: Impossible,'' said she will continue to do cosmetics ads for Dior, said Art Media, which represents her.

``Recent reports in the media are based on false information,'' the agency said in a statement. Beart has worked for Dior since 1995.

The French daily Le Monde reported Wednesday that Dior had decided to let its contract lapse with Beart after she appeared ``au naturel'' during demonstrations against the conservative government's new law aimed at curbing illegal immigration.

A Dior spokeswoman, who refused to give her name, called the Le Monde story ``a stupid rumor.''

``We are very happy with her,'' she said.

Comic giants plan small-screen blitz

Robin Williams and Billy Crystal are hitting the small screen to promote their big-screen adventure.

The pair will make a joint guest-star appearance on NBC's hit television series ``Friends'' on May 8.

Crystal and Williams will also appear together two nights earlier on ``The Tonight Show With Jay Leno'' on May 6.

The pair have teamed up in their first joint starring roles for Warner Bros.' new comedy from Ivan Reitman, ``Fathers' Day,'' which opens May 9 nationwide.

In the opening scene of the ``Friends'' episode, titled ``The One With the Ultimate Fighting Champion,'' all ears perk up at Central Perk when best friends Chris (Crystal) and Thomas (Williams) begin arguing furiously about the former's suspicions that his wife is having an affair.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1) Michael Richards, rear center, said he and fellow cast members Jason Alexander, left, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, right, are seeking $1 million per episode of `Seinfeld' to do a ninth season.

(2) Roseanne

(3) Neeson

(4) Beart

Character courted