Have you seen the McDonald's commercials in which various people sit at a table having droll conversations as smiling employees bustle around them, refilling their drinks for free and delivering their food orders to them piping hot? Exactly what planet is this particular service-intensive McDonald's restaurant on? And do you need reservations?

>AROUND THE DIAL

THE CABLE UNIVERSE CONTINUES TO expand. Recent arrivals include the Sci-Fi Channel, which mixes movies and old TV series (The Incredible Hulk, Battlestar Galactica) with a smattering of original news programs (such as Inside Space, with host Nichelle Nichols—Lieutenant Uhura of Star Trek). MOR Music TV is a hybrid of a video channel and a home-shopping network. While you're watching clips of mellow fellows like Neil Diamond and Michael Bolton. 1-800 operators wait to take your phone order for the singer's latest album. As of Oct. 1, Ted Turner gives us the Cartoon Network, drawing on the animated libraries of Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM and Hanna-Barbera.