Short Takes

By VARIETY STAFF

Chris/Rose Prods. and New World TV have optioned "Force of Nature"-- the story of Dr. Vicki Hufnagel, a surgeon who's crusaded against the medical practice of unnecessary hysterectomies -- with plans to develop the property as a TV movie. A partnership of Bob Christiansen and Rick Rosenberg, Chris/Rose's credits include "Gore Vidal's Lincoln,""The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" and the upcoming TNT movie "Heart of Darkness."

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Forest Whitaker's directorial debut, the HBO Showcase presentation "Strapped, " has its world preem at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at USC's Norris Theatre. Whitaker, Melvin Van Peebles, Allen and Albert Hughes, Barbet Schroeder, Nancy Allen and Branford Marsalis are guests of honor. "Strapped," a drama about life and death in America's inner cities, debuts on HBO Aug. 21.

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NBC-owned cable channel CNBC has renewed Tom Snyder's live call-in show through January 1995. The show preemed in January.