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Monday, December 28, 1998 3:29:24 PM EST

• Barbara Walters feels maternal bond to Monica
• Cyrus says he's singing new tune
• Columbus convinced stars to let him take 'Stepmom' voyage
• 'Mrs. Brown' influenced by Victoria's correspondence
• 'Conrad Bloom' wilts for NBC

Walters

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Veteran interviewer Barbara Walters says if she had met Monica Lewinsky during her affair with President Clinton, she would've attempted to offer a mother's advice. "I would have tried to tell her that this was a relationship that had no future," Walters said in the upcoming TV Guide. "But have you ever tried to stop a daughter when she is in love from doing anything? It's very hard."

Walters says she has since met Lewinsky, and has a favorable impression of her. "I found Monica warm and intelligent and very open. I told her, 'You're very alive.' And she said, 'Maybe that was the appeal (to the president).'"

Cyrus

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Billy Ray Cyrus is going conservative. The country singer who raised eyebrows six years ago with his pony-tailed appearance while rising charts with "Achy Breaky Heart" says he now wants to be more like his country colleagues.

"I've adjusted my attitude and my appearance. I'm letting go of the past," Cyrus said. Cyrus has cut the ponytail, is recording with studio musicians instead of his band, and is singing songs written by others rather than himself. Cyrus says the changes follow a rough year that brought him "back to earth." His wife Trish miscarried, his stepfather was diagnosed with cancer, and his friend and former manager Jack McFadden died. "It's been a pretty emotional time," he says.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Chris Columbus, the director best known for the comedies "Home Alone" and "Mrs. Doubtfire," says he had to audition for the opportunity to helm "Stepmom," convincing Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon -- the film's stars -- that he wouldn't turn them into Keystone Cops.

"I essentially had to go in and audition because of my background in comedy," says Columbus. "I'm sure they were a little concerned about the fact that I might be dropping bricks on peoples' heads."

Roberts and Sarandon play rivals who learn to put their mutual hostilities aside after Sarandon's character develops cancer. "I just wanted to convince them that this was the type of picture I'd always intended to do," Columbus, 40, said. "Stepmom" debuted in the number-two box office slot over the December 25 weekend.

"Mrs. Brown"

LONDON (CNN) -- The 1997 movie "Mrs. Brown," which tells the story of a deep friendship between Queen Victoria and John Brown, was influenced by actual letters the widowed 19th century queen wrote to Brown, the Times newspaper said on Monday.

The cache of letters, which the paper said revealed the depth of the queen's friendship with Brown, was shown to film producer Douglas Rae and writer Jeremy Brock during the early stages of their work on the film. The correspondence was found by a descendant of Brown, who had letters and photographs stored in a trunk and placed in an attic for years in her house near the royal family's Scottish residence of Balmoral.

"All the letters and photographs had been kept by the family for all these years," the Times quoted Rae as saying. "We sat and read all the correspondence between Victoria and Brown and there is no doubt in my mind there were written by two people who were very, very close and shared an intimate friendship."

The family allowed the filmmakers to use material drawn from the letters as background for the movie, but not to reveal details, he added. "The family has decided nothing will be made public while the present members of the royal family, particularly the Queen Mother, are still alive," Rae said. Dame Judi Dench was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of the queen in "Mrs. Brown."

"Working," starring Fred Savage, is replacing the struggling "Conrad Bloom"

NEW YORK (CNN) -- NBC has pulled the plug on the struggling sitcom "Conrad Bloom," according to Variety. The show, which just two weeks ago moved to Mondays at 9:30 p.m., had its final airing last week. It had earlier aired at 8:30 p.m., but gathered disappointing ratings from its "Suddenly Susan" lead-in.

NBC won't officially say it has canceled "Conrad Bloom," but production on the remaining episodes of the show's original 13-episode order has halted, and the network currently has no plans to order a full season's work. Meantime, NBC will replace "Conrad Bloom" with the sophomore sitcom "Working," which was rumored to be headed to Wednesday nights in January.

The decision to put "Working" on Mondays rather than Wednesdays means "Encore! Encore!" will probably get to finish out the rest of its 13-episode run before being displaced by February sweeps stunts, Variety says.

Reuters Limited contributed to this report.