THERE ARE MANY games on television with many names. There is even one called The Name of the Game, but out at Universal Studios the real name of the game is Put the Player Under Contract.

Monique James and Eleanor Kilgallen head the studio's new talent development programs marking Universal as the only remaining haven for Hollywood's abandoned waif ~ the traditional contract system.

Universal's enormous television schedule for the new season, which places it in the No. 1 production spot, spurred the new talent department to include in its contract program:

Julie Cobb, daughter of Lee J, Cobb and actress Helen Beverly, who will appear as a regular
in The D.A. series, starring Robert Conrad and Harry Morgan.

Lindsay Wagner, a 21-year-old beauty, whose first assignment under her contract arrives
in a segment of Rod Serling's Night Gallery.

Barry Higgins, who won the Hugh O'Brien Acting Award at UCLA in 1969 and recently appeared in a minor role with Ruth Gordon in "Harold and Maude."

Colby Chester, who had a role in "Fools" with Katharine Ross and Jason Robards Jr., but whose experience rests mainly in the legitimate theatre.

Previously signed to Universal's talent roster were:

Susan Saint James, Susan Clark, Sky Aubrey, Christine Belford (recently starred opposite
Paul Newman and Lee Marvin in the movie, "Pocket Money"), Belinda Montgomery, David Hartman, Robert Pratt (makes his film debut in "The Hired Hand" under Peter Fonda's direction), James Brolin, Ben Murphy and Sallie Shockley.

The spate of contract signings at Universal is a paradox in an industry that finds its production
at a standstill. Significantly, a great many established actors can't find jobs. Perhaps it's the studio's bountiful TV schedule, or it could trace back to the success of its new comers, including Carrie Snodgress, one of those signed in the new talent program.

Lew R. Wasserman, president and chief executive officer of MCA, Inc., has never wavered in his belief that the major studio has a responsibility to develop new stars.

Barney Glazers, Televents