Did you see NBC's recent season-ending Thursday? First, on Seinfeld, Kramer, the walking ganglion, while plugging his coffee-table book on Regis and Kathie Lee's show, takes a sip from a coffee cup, grimaces and, on air, spews a mouthful of liquid all over Egregious and Chatty Kathie. Then, on Frasier, the good doctor surprises his brother with a personal question as they sit in their favorite Seattle coffee salon. Niles promptly geysers a sip of his Kenya cappuccino. Two spit takes in an hour! Up in comedy heaven, Danny Thomas must have been smiling.

>YOUTH MUST BE SERVED

HERE ARE TWO FOR THE TOTS. STORY-TIME, a mix of live action, puppets and illustrations designed to encourage parents to read to their children, comes to PBS weekdays beginning June 6 (check local listings). The series, a winner of three local Emmys in Los Angeles, gainfully employs the energetic rhetorical skills of such celebrities as Ellen DeGeneres, Meshach Taylor, Mayim Bialik and Wilford Brimley to make children's books come alive.

Kiddie impresario Shelley Duvall presents a new series on Showtime, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (Tues., June 7, 9:30 p.m. ET), starring Jean Staple-ton as the serendipitous savior of the Belly MacDonald books. The first of these gentle live-action fables about problem-solving features Christopher Lloyd (Taxi) and Macaulay Culkin look-alike Nathanael Meyst. On subsequent Tuesdays, this series will air at 7:30 p.m. ET.