TELEVISIONThe ‘M. Butterfly’ Story: For those intrigued...

TELEVISION

The ‘M. Butterfly’ Story: For those intrigued by the story of the Tony Award-winning-play-turned-film “M. Butterfly,” Barbara Walters talks with the real-life characters Friday in an extended segment on ABC’s “20/20.” Walters interviews Bernard Boursicot, who served as a French attache in China in 1964, and Shi Pei Pu, the former Beijing opera actor-singer with whom Boursicot had a most unusual 18-year affair.

More Fan Trouble: A David Letterman fan was hospitalized for psychiatric observation Tuesday after she refused to leave the New York theater where Letterman tapes his show “until she married Dave Letterman,” police said. Janice Mitchell McPhail, 26, apparently drove all the way from Detroit with her 3-year-old daughter to try to sneak into the show, sleeping in the car with the toddler, who was turned over to child welfare officials. Letterman, who has often joked about another obsessed fan who has repeatedly invaded his home, did not mention McPhail or the incident on his program Tuesday.

Overhauling Chevy: Fox Broadcasting Chairman Lucie Salhany acknowledged that “it was uncomfortable and embarrassing” to watch the first installments of the network’s “Chevy Chase Show” last month. She said new writers and consultants are being brought in to help save the show, which has suffered from blistering reviews and declining ratings. “Now, I’m not so stupid--and neither is Chevy Chase--to think that long-term, if this show doesn’t grow, that this is going to always be on the air,” Salhany said. “But we’ve made a commitment and I’m not going to pull the rug out from someone we’ve made a commitment to.”

THE ARTS

Happy Birthday, Philharmonic: KCRW-FM (89.9) observes the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra’s 75th anniversary with a live tribute on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Autobiography of an Orchestra: Celebrating the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 75th Anniversary” features a live broadcast of the orchestra’s 2:30 p.m. concert, conducted by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, from the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Also featured are rare recordings, reminiscences and interviews, and segments such as “Great Conductors of the Philharmonic” and “Maestros, Virtuosos and Legends.”

Coming to San Diego: The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego has announced its winter-spring season. Slated for the mainstage are Sheldon Epps’ musical revue “Blues in the Night” (Jan. 27-March 6), Bruce Gooch’s “Dirt” (March 24-May 1) and David Mamet’s “Oleanna” (May 19-June 26). Los Angeles audiences saw “Blues in the Night” at Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1990 and will see “Oleanna” at the Mark Taper Forum in January. On the Old Globe’s smaller Cassius Carter Centre Stage will be either “Jar the Floor” or “Puddin ‘n Peter” (both by Cheryl L. West, Jan. 22-March 6), Alan Ayckbourn’s “Mr. A’s Amazing Maze Plays” (March 19-May 1) and Kim Miyori in Henry Ong’s one-woman “Madame Mao’s Memories” (May 14-June 26), which was seen at Theatre/Theater in Hollywood in 1989.

MOVIES

A Bronx Cheer: Stage director Mark Travis has sued MCA/Universal, screenwriter Chazz Palminteri and others over “A Bronx Tale,” alleging that he was shut out of the film deal even though he was instrumental in transforming Palminteri’s life story from a five-minute monologue into a full-length stage piece and co-wrote the first draft of the film script. In his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, Travis, who is well known in L.A. theater circles, claims that a verbal contract entitled him to 10% of the script’s $1.5-million selling price, plus either the directing job on the picture--which marked Robert De Niro’s directorial debut--or a direction/development credit on the film.

QUICK TAKES

Noted sculptor Robert Graham and Ron Meyer, founding partner and president of Creative Artists Agency, have joined the board of trustees at Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art. . . . The stars will be out tonight for the gala opening of the four-day Pan African Film Festival. Alfre Woodard and Rosalind Cash host the event at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatres, with Louis Gossett Jr., Charles Dutton, Sidney Poitier, John Singleton, Blair Underwood, LeVar Burton and Martin Lawrence among scheduled attendees. . . . Republican political strategist Ed Rollins, who worked for former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan before becoming Ross Perot’s campaign manager in 1992, has joined NBC News’ “Today” as part of the program’s “political insiders” team. Rollins replaces Roger Ailes, who was recently named president of NBC’s cable service CNBC. . . . “Out Front L.A.,” Los Angeles’ first commercial English-language Asian-American radio program, had its first hour-long outing Wednesday on KWIZ-FM (96.7). The weekly 8:30 p.m. program promotes contemporary Asian-American musical talent.