LIBERTY BOWL (8 p.m., Ch. 29) - Friday's Fiesta Bowl, in which the undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions and the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes fight for the national title, is the Boardwalk of this year's bowl games. This bowl, by contrast, is the Mediterranean Avenue. It pits the Minnesota Gophers against the Tennessee Volunteers (team names about as imposing as, say, the Fighting Ceramics). Both teams are evenly matched - with identical 6-5 records. What that means, of course, is that only one of these teams will emerge from the Liberty Bowl with a winning record. Give me death.
BLUE DEVILLE (9 p.m., Ch. 3) - Kimberly Pistone and Jennifer Runyon take turns behind the wheels of two flashy vehicles. One is the mint-condition '59 Cadillac in which they tool around; the other is this 1986 telemovie itself, an obvious pilot for an updated, female version of Route 66. NBC.
CABLE HIGHLIGHTS
HEALTHSTYLES (8 p.m., LIF) - Mary Frann, co-star of CBS's Newhart, competes against herself tonight. Newhart is on at 9 p.m. and Fit for a Lifetime, an installment of this Lifetime series of specials, runs until 10. Guests offering fitness advice include Jane Fonda and Joan Van Ark.
GIANT (8:05 p.m., TBS) - Although it comes encumbered by enough commercials to launch a fourth network, this telecast of George Stevens' 1956 film is well worth watching. The running time for this particular movie slot is 4 hours, 20 minutes, which is more than enough time to avoid cutting Giant (original running time: 3 hours, 18 minutes) down to size. Elizabeth Taylor was 23 when she made this film, James Dean died in a car crash the week after completing his scenes and Rock Hudson always called this one of his favorite films. Another reason to watch: Giant provided the blueprint for CBS's Dallas, with Hudson and Taylor in the newlywed roles later approximated by Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal.
