Joining the 13th Precinct ...

By Rebecca Winters

Who loves ya, Ving baby? The next generation of Kojak fans, if the USA network has any say. Starting in March, Pulp Fiction's VING RHAMES will resurrect the role of the dapper detective played by TELLY SAVALAS. Rhames, 43, says he never watched the '70s show. "Growing up in Harlem, running into the house to see a bald white guy arrest black people didn't interest me," Rhames says. "I was running in to watch Good Times." Rhames' Kojak will be "edgier, a Prince of the City type," he says. Yet he'll retain the character's trademarks: expect chrome domes and Tootsie Pops to suddenly seem hip again.