PEOPLE WATCHRoasting the Roast: Talk-show host Montel...

PEOPLE WATCH

Roasting the Roast: Talk-show host Montel Williams and New York City Mayor David Dinkins were among those who did not find Whoopi Goldberg’s New York Friars Club roast funny. While Goldberg laughed Friday when her boyfriend Ted Danson appeared in blackface, others were angered by his racially peppered jokes. “I was confused as to whether or not I was at a Friars event or at a rally for the KKK and Aryan Nation,” Williams said in a telegram to the Friars announcing his resignation from the entertainment industry club. Friars’ roasts are typically down-and-dirty affairs, but Dinkins said later that many of the jokes at Goldberg’s roast were way over the line. Not so, Goldberg said in a statement Saturday, claiming that she was roasted “with humor and a great deal of affection.” The Friars Club issued a statement offering an apology to Dinkins, Williams and others who were offended.

MOVIES

Cool: The cryogenic action film “Demolition Man” demolished the box-office competition over the weekend for the biggest October opening ever, according to early industry estimates. The Warner Bros. film starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes grossed an estimated $14.5 million to top “Under Siege,” which opened in October 1992 with $14.1 million. Another icy movie, Disney’s “Cool Runnings,” finished second with $8.7 million. “Malice,” produced by Castle Rock and released by Columbia, dropped to third with $7.6 million, and 20th Century Fox’s “The Good Son” was fourth with $5.2 million. Next, Columbia’s “The Age of Innocence” with $3.4 million; Hollywood Pictures’ “The Joy Luck Club” was close behind with $3.3 million.

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Fabric Cuts: Director Robert Altman announced during a fashion show in Paris on Sunday that in March he’ll begin filming “Pret-a-Porter,” or “Ready to Wear,” a project he began 10 years ago. The new movie about Paris’ fashion biz will star Anouk Aimee, Marcello Mastroianni, Lauren Bacall, Michel Piccoli, Julia Roberts, Sally Kellerman and others. Altman’s latest film, “Short Cuts,” opened in Los Angeles on Friday.

TELEVISION

Not So ‘Good’: The future of “Good Advice,” the CBS comedy starring Shelley Long as a divorced marriage counselor and Treat Williams as a divorce lawyer, is up in the air. The series, which was supposed to have its season premiere Friday, has been postponed due to production delays. Officials said Long has been out with the flu and had a relapse when she returned last week for filming. CBS has not yet named a replacement for the show, which airs Friday at 9:30 p.m.

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Controversial Subject: An undisclosed number of advertisers pulled out of Tuesday’s “CBS Schoolbreak Special,” which deals with the prejudice a high-school boy encounters as a result of being reared by two lesbians. But CBS spokeswoman Susan Tick said that all of the ad time had been resold to “cash-paying” customers. Joseph Stern, executive producer of the hourlong “Other Mothers,” said that he had heard that more than half of the original sponsors of the show had withdrawn and that he expected many CBS affiliates to decline to carry the program because of its controversial subject matter. “The biggest taboo today is children being reared in gay homes, and it’s a kind of homophobia that cuts across all political affiliations,” Stern said. “I couldn’t have done this show in prime-time. (CBS children’s programming) is the only place with any guts.” Tick said that she expects more than 85% of the country will be able to see the program--about the normal station clearance for daytime children’s specials.

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Beavis and Butt-head Banned: Beavis and Butt-head are flunking out of South Dakota schools. Washington High School in Sioux Falls plans to ban clothing and other items bearing the likenesses of the two MTV cartoon characters. The school’s assistant principal called the clothes “inappropriate.” Pictures of the duo were banned last week from South Dakota’s Brookings Middle School. The animated characters were blamed for inspiring children in Ohio to start a fire that caused a fatality.

MUSIC

Break in the Strike: The labor dispute at the Kennedy Center in Washington took an unusual recess when the Opera House Orchestra musicians removed their picket line so their colleagues in the National Symphony Orchestra could perform Friday and Saturday nights. The temporary withdrawal of the picket line Friday--it’s scheduled to resume Tuesday--is the first union concession since the strike started more than five weeks ago. The action came after requests from NSO musicians who wanted to work but did not want to ignore their fellow musicians’ strike.

AUCTIONS

‘Aladdin’ Art Flies: A New York auction of 250 pieces of artwork from Disney’s animated “Aladdin” raised more than $1.35 million for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a children’s charity. A piece depicting Aladdin and Jasmine flying on a magic carpet fetched $25,300 at the Sotheby’s sale on Saturday.