Dark Shadows

Denise, our second-born, saw her baby's heartbeat yesterday. She saw it as a pulsing light that was no bigger than a pinpoint. She came out of a room at the hospital and showed me pictures from the ultrasound scan. She had seen the heartbeat live, on a monitor, and now she wanted me to see the baby in still photos. All I could make out were dark shadows. She pointed to a tiny spot that wasn't as dark. I said, "Oh. " Even if I couldn't recognize a 6-week-old fetus as a baby, I was still amazed.

It's that time of the season when networks are retooling, revamping, rethinking, downsizing, putting things on hiatus (the TV equivalent of storing leftovers in the fridge till they're thrown out) and just plain canceling shows. If you think this means fresh new ideas are on the way, forget it. "Twin Peaks" and "Cop Rock," two examples of the same, were too out-there for most viewers. So it looks like old ideas will be recycled again like so many aluminum cans, which may or may not benefit our viewing environment.

A Feltonville man and his 31-year-old son were found murdered execution- style yesterday morning in the father's two-story rowhouse, police said. Pablo Padilla, 59, was found dead about 8:50 a.m. by his daughter, Irma Santiago, 30, in the home in the 4700 block of North Third Street. Homicide detectives said Padilla was bound and gagged and had been shot in the head. After being summoned to the house by the daughter, officers searching the blood-splattered residence found Pablo Padilla Jr. dead in the basement.

It's a wonderful day for TV, but only if you enjoy cult shows or football. DAYTIME HIGHLIGHT BLAKE'S 7 (3:30 p.m., Ch. 12) - This sci-fi series was billed as Britain's answer to Star Trek. If so, it was a very slow reply. Blake's 7, a sort of Magnificent Seven in outer space, didn't premiere on BBC until nine years after Star Trek was canceled. It was a hit there, fast achieving Dr. Who-style cult status, but survived only three seasons. Like Space: 1999, which preceded it, Blake's 7 told of a group of reluctant travelers.

He is tall, Gothic and handsome. His entrance reduces the stature of a mortal man by at least 25 percent. He mesmerizes women with his dangerous eyes. He is the vampire. He's in books (start with Bram Stoker and work your way up to Anne Rice) and movies. More than 600 vampire films have been made worldwide, and television's series include "Dark Shadows," which ran from 1966 to 1971, to the currently syndicated "Forever Knight" and Fox's brand new series, "Kindred: The Embraced.

Hey, you know that business about the The Uncle Floyd Show maybe getting a second chance on the New Jersey Network? Forget it. "No way will I ever be back on NJN," Uncle Floyd, a.k.a. Floyd Vivino, said yesterday from his home in Paterson, N.J. "This facade about bringing it back belongs on the funny pages, not the radio/TV page. " On Wednesday, Stephen Adubato, chairman of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, remarked on the letters of protest he'd received since Floyd's cancellation was announced.

The cold war between Channel 10 top gun Gene Lothery and anchorstar Larry Kane appears to be thawing. At a station farewell party Thursday night at the Adam's Mark for Channel 3-bound news boss Paul Gluck, Lothery stunned Kane with a major smooch on the cheek during a picture-taking session. Said one party observer: "It was 30 seconds of weirdness. " WCAU-TV insiders say Lothery was posing for a photo with Gluck when he called Kane over to join them. Lothery embraced both men for the camera, then turned to Kane and planted a long kiss on his cheek.

PHILADELPHIA RULES our ears in this week's tune parade. Worth celebrating - a soul-stomping "comeback" album by Betty Wright, masterminded by the Roots; plus a frisky collection from legendary Philly-billy Charlie Gracie, and two juicy jazz sets by homegrown talents Robin Eubanks and Christian McBride. THE CLEANUP MEN: Producer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and his Philadelphia-based playmates in the Roots did wondrous things for Al Green three years back, refocusing his scattered nature and nonsectarian R&B chops on the long player "Lay It Down.

Allan Erush wears Halloween underwear - all year round. "He just bought fraidy cats with glow-in-the-dark eyes," says his wife, Sarah. "He's very proud of them. " Erush's visible wardrobe is black, black and more black, from his boots and jacket to his own jet-black long hair. "For somebody's wedding," admits Sarah, "he might wear gray. " He owns three cats - black, of course - and a pet rat. His answering machine greets callers in Dracula's voice. He converted his Volkswagen Beetle into a hearse.

Quick - name a local historic site with strong associations to a woman. And, no, the Betsy Ross House doesn't count. (Because, for one thing, historians aren't positive that she ever lived there.) Stymied? Here are some hints: What local, family-owned department store grew out of a woman's hat shop - even though the name suggests it was founded by men? Who wrote the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and struggled unsuccessfully for 54 years to get it ratified?