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\ P»Q«» by Joey Sasso CONFIDENTIAL REPORT: Melissa Sue Anderson is turn­ ing her back on "Little House on the Prairie"--the show she helped keep near the top of the TV ratings for seven years. The 18-year-old star, who plays blind Mary Ingalls, is slated to appear in only three episodes next season before being written out of the show for good. "I'm mak­ ing many new changes in my life all at once. My main goal is to become a female Michael Landon. He's the nicest, smartest man I know, and I want to have a career exactly like his--directing, writing and acting." And "Little House" is not the only home she's leaving. After years of sharing a Burbank apartment with her mother, Missy --a her friends call her--has decided it's time to get out on her own. "I've bought a lovely house, just two bedrooms, in a secluded area," she says proudly. "And I'm getting a big dog to protect me." Striking out alone in­ to the world doesn't frighten her, she insists. "I feel that I'm actually older than most people my age because of all the time I've spent working with adults," she says.'"I learned more on "Little House" than I can tell. I'm truly grateful to all the wonderful people I was able to work with." TV BACKSTAGE: "Dukes of Hazzard" star John Schneider may come across as a smart aleck on TV, but in real life, he's one of the nicest guys in Tinseltown. Old buddies of Schneider say he hasn't let the bright lights of Hollywood blind him to his humble beginning as a small­ time teenage actor at Academy Theater in Atlanta. Even ex-sweetheart Lorry Hager, who was jilted by the blond- haired, blue-eyed Dukes star, still worships the ground he walks on. "John's got the type of personality that people naturally like," said Hager, who dated Schneider when he was a fat, homely kid "at North Springs High School in Atlanta. "He was pretty chubby and not what you'd call attractive back then. But he was a real nice guy, amus­ ing, entertaining and could even be romantic at times," • she told me. Success in Hollywood hasn't spoiled John a bit, says Anne Harvey, the talent agent who sent Schneider to audition for the role as Bo Duke. "I saw him about a year ago, and he's still the same old John--wild, crazy and wonderful," enthused Harvey. "Everybody in the office loved him, and our models were crazy about him. But John never took advantage of that. He was ac­ tually quite shy and never came on strong with women." TV CLOSEUP: Wold Communications and Metromedia Producers Corporation have reached an agreement in principle to deliver one of America's favorite talk/variety programs, "The Merv Griffin Show," via the Wold Satellite Express. Under the historic plan, Wold Communications will uplink the program daily in 60 to 90 minute versions to stations carrying "The Merv Griffin Show." The transmission will occur from Wold's Hollywood Television Operating Center, located just a half block from Merv's studios. This will eliminate traditional time delays bet­ ween the show's tape dates and its air dates throughout the country. Hosting his own nightly talk/variety show since 1964, Merv Griffin has proved himself one of America's most enduring and popular television per­ sonalities. Todd Bridges, Willis on NBC-TV's "Diff rent Strokes, feels fortunate to have worked with Muhammad Ali (upper right), Reggie Jackson (lower right), and Too Tall Jones (left), even though he misses playing high school sports himself. Pictured with Too TaN and Todd is Gary Coleman. Thrill for "Diff'rent Strokes" star by Kathi Fearn-Banks Burbank--Like most teenaged boys, Todd Bridges (Willis on NBC-TV's/Diff'rent Strokes," Wednesdays), loves sports Unlike other teens, Todd is sacrificing playing high school sports for an acting career. He finds the situation has positive and negative aspects. "Football is my favorite sport," said Todd. "I like to play basketball and baseball, but I hate watching them. But football is exciting either as a participant or a viewer." Todd's brother, James, is a wide receiver for Northwestern University. James, 20, is an actor too, but he was either lucky or unlucky enough to attend a regular high school and be a member of the team. Todd is tutored on set where his only schoolmates are 13-year-old Gary Coleman and 16-year-old Dana Plato. He is in the 10th grade but has never set foot in a real high school. " 'Diff'rent Strokes,' will probably be on the air at least another year," he said. "So the soonest I could go to high school will be the 12th grade. Then it's toortate to get on the teams because they're already established "But I play flag football or basketball just about every day in the evenings after work," he continued "I also skate, ride bicycles, dance, ride horses, almost anything " One of the fortunate aspects of spending his high school years in a television studio is that Todd has worked with three of the country's top athletes. Boxing's Muhammad Alt. baseball's Reggie Jackson, and football's Too Tall Jones have all guest- starred on "Diff'rent Strokes" during the past two years "They were all very nice and still very different from each other," said Todd. "All was not only friendly but very humble Most people don't think he's like that No matter how many people rushed up to him, he was always friendly and signed autographs for all of them "Reggie was nice but he kind of stayed to himself, plus he always had a lot of groupies trying ^o get to him. I think he's a great baseball player, but like I said before, I don't watch baseball games much," he continued. "I had met Too Tall Jones before he came on the show. I was in Dallas for a benefit and met him there. But I met Lena Home at the same time and she took most of my attention. He's one of my favorite players and a real nice guy."