The cable portion of the Television Critics Association press tour did not let a little earthquake stop the show from going on. And why should it? After all, the reporters were stuck in the hotel anyway.

While Turner Broadcasting System head Ted Turner spurned his own party to get out of town, Turner executives stayed on to detail new programing for TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies, The Cartoon Network and CNN.

Turner Classic Movies, set to launch this April, has landed longtime "Hollywood Reporter" columnist Robert Osborne as its movie host and on-air personality.

TNT has acquired exclusive cable rights to In the Heat of the Night starting in January 1995. TNT also will premiere five original movies during the first six months of this year.

The Cartoon Network has inked a deal with Hanna-Barbera Inc. to create 48 cartoon shorts to air exclusively on the network starting early this year. The network also will premiere Space Ghost: Coast to Coast--the "world's first late-night talk show hosted by a superhero"--on April 15. The show will feature celebrity interviews.

In other programing news from the tour:

* CNN is taking CNN Presents... from a monthly to a weekly hour-long documentary show.

* USA Network confirmed that Seinfeld co-star Jason Alexander will be the voice of Duckman, the title character of the network's new animated comedy scheduled to premiere in April. Other voices on the show include Nancy Travis and Dweezil Zappa.

* Premiering in April on USA is Weird Science, based on the 1985 movie that counted John Landis among its executive producers.

* The Sci-Fi Channel confirmed acquisition of The Bionic Woman, Beauty and the Beast, Quantum Leap and Friday the 13th: The Series.

* CNBC in February will launch a new prime time lineup that includes talk shows hosted by Geraldo Rivera, Tim Russert, Al Roker and MTV's Daisy Fuentes.

* The Arts & Entertainment Network is stripping its weekly A&E Biography show with Peter Graves and Jack Perkins as host. Profiles include Senator Ted Kennedy, Milton Berle and Alfred Hitchcock.

* A&E's History Channel and Hearst Entertainment signed a 10-hour co-production deal that includes Modern Marvels--10 original historical documentaries.

* The Discovery Channel is working with the BBC to produce The Promised Land, a five-part series on black migration from the South to Chicago from the 1920s to the 1970s, and Queen of the Elephants, a two-hour special premiering March 9.

* The Family Channel is launching The Mighty Jungle, a comedy series about three animals and the family living nearby.

* American Movie Classics in June premieres Homeward Bound: Family in the Movies, a special on the changing values and traditions of the family as seen through Hollywood.