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TV/RADIOCraft Dismissed: Christine Craft, who became widely...

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TV/RADIO

Craft Dismissed: Christine Craft, who became widely known after she filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit against a Kansas City TV station alleging she was demoted because of her looks, was fired from her talk-show job at Sacramento’s KFBK radio Monday, one week after the 10-year anniversary of the much-publicized discrimination case. KFBK general manager Rick Eytcheson said he decided “not to renew her program,” but wouldn’t give reasons. Craft, 48, declined to comment. She had been on a two-week leave, during which she criticized what she perceived as too many white, conservative male radio talk-show hosts during a guest appearance on “Good Morning America.” In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Craft’s case against the Kansas City station, ending years of litigation. Two federal court juries had found in her favor, but both times an appellate court reversed the verdicts.

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Sci-Fi Takeover: Nearly 250,000 Southland cable subscribers will have a new addition to their programming choices this morning when the Sci-Fi Channel launches in six Comcast markets at 7 a.m. The network, previously not seen in these areas, will be available to Comcast cable subscribers in Orange County, Simi Valley, Lompoc, Santa Maria, San Bernardino/Fontana and Ontario.

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Making Sense of the Season: For those still confused about the new fall TV season, several programs may offer insights. Former television bigwig Brandon Tartikoff handicaps the winners and losers on “Variety: TV’s Year of Living Cautiously,” a syndicated special from the reporters and editors of the Hollywood trade paper Variety, which airs locally on KCAL-TV Channel 9 Sunday night and again on Sept. 9. Among Tartikoff’s predictions: David Letterman will win the late-night wars over Jay Leno “at the wire.” . . . On Monday, CNN’s Labor Day special edition of “Showbiz Today” will examine the fall season’s night-by-night lineup, with TV critics from Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide and US magazine giving their picks and pans. . . . And cable’s Comedy Central will provide a “sneak preview” of NBC’s new fall comedy series on the entertainment and news program “Short Attention Span Theatre.” The one-hour special edition airs several times on Sept. 8 and 9.

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MOVIES

Sting Redux: Pop star Sting has recorded a new “urbanized version” of “Demolition Man,” from the Police’s 1981 album “Ghost in the Machine” for the Sylvester Stallone-Wesley Snipes action fantasy “Demolition Man,” which opens in October. The track, which will be included on a six-song Sting EP being released Sept. 21, also features former Red Hot Chili Pepper Arik Marshall, Sounds of Blackness’ diva Ann Bennett-Nesby and Sting guitarist Dominic Miller.

ART

Pop Art in China: China’s struggling art scene got a big boost this week when celebrated British pop artists Gilbert and George held a Beijing press conference to introduce Chinese journalists to the duo’s critically acclaimed work, which opens in Beijing Friday and moves to Shanghai Oct. 21. One of the first major exhibitions of modern Western art to hit China, “The Gilbert and George China Exhibition” is viewed as a major leap toward bringing China--which not very long ago condemned modern art as negative and anti-socialist--into step with the Western art vanguard. The duo’s imposing, color-filled pictures feature double images, photographic negatives and a heavily homoerotic undertone.

LEGAL FILE

Two in a Row: Comedian Marty Ingels has been hit by another lawsuit, this one filed by attorney Hugh Duff Robertson, who claims Ingels put two personal ads in the attorney’s name in the Advocate, a magazine for gay readers. Robertson alleges that Ingels placed the ads, one of which included his name, office address and phone number, to cause him emotional distress. Ingels said he did not place the ads. Robertson has represented actress June Allyson, who filed a separate suit against Ingels for allegedly harassing her over an advertising commission.

QUICK TAKES

Sally Jessy Raphael has renewed her daytime talk-show contract for five more years, through the ‘97-’98 season. . . . Actress Marlee Matlin, 28, married Los Angeles policeman Kevin Grandalski, also 28, on Sunday. A priest and rabbi jointly conducted the ceremony, which was held at the home of Matlin’s longtime friend, actor Henry Winkler. . . . Psychologist Sonya Friedman, host of CNN’s “Sonya Live,” has received the American Psychological Assn.’s first Presidential Citation award.

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