TELEVISIONIs it FAIR?: ABC News has blasted...

TELEVISION

Is it FAIR?: ABC News has blasted a report by the Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) watchdog organization charging “20/20” Executive Producer Victor Neufeld with conflict of interest. In an article to be released today in the group’s EXTRA! magazine, current and former staffers accuse Neufeld of having his judgment on environmental issues influenced by his wife, Lois Neufeld, a public relations representative for nuclear and chemical industries. ABC News Public Relations Director Elizabeth Noyer called the article “totally irresponsible,” saying that Neufeld has frequent differences in editorial judgment with his producers. “To suggest that because he has differences that he is in collusion with his wife is totally outrageous,” she said.

* Stern Talk: While he was in Los Angeles last week, radio comic Howard Stern had meetings with Fox, Paramount and filmmaker Ivan Reitman to discuss future projects, his publicist said. Stern told Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” Friday that he hadn’t made up his mind whether to tackle a movie or a late-night TV series next. But he said that if he does enter the late-night fray, he would knock Leno off the air within six months. Leno bet him $10,000 that he wouldn’t. . . . Stern’s appearance gave Leno a ratings boost, but the NBC show did not beat out CBS’ “Late Show” with David Letterman, who had as his guest another controversial radio talk-show host and best-selling author: Rush Limbaugh. Leno’s show received a 6.3 rating (each ratings point is equal to 942,000 households) and Letterman scored a 7.7, according to preliminary averages for 29 major markets. The final ratings will be out later this week.

* Aced It: Beau Bridges, Mariel Hemingway and Sinbad will host the 15th CableACE awards Jan. 16 at the Pantages Theatre. The ceremonies honoring excellence in cable television will be carried by cable’s TNT. Presenters include Bruce Boxleitner, Harry Connick Jr., Melissa Gilbert, Jill Goodacre, Evander Holyfield, Timothy Hutton, Larry King, Kathy Najimy, Catherine O’Hara, Phylicia Rashad and Garry Shandling.

STAGE

‘Boulevard’ Breakdown: There was a stumbling block on “Sunset Boulevard” at the Shubert Theatre during the Saturday afternoon performance. In the show’s second act, the high-tech sets didn’t behave correctly. A set of the character Betty Schaefer’s Paramount office would not glide off the stage, and was left there, obscuring sets and actors in the next few scenes. The curtain went down, and Glenn Close handled the glitch gracefully. “This is Glenn Close, or Norma Desmond,” she announced to the packed-house. “There’s been a detour on ‘Sunset Boulevard.’ ” She asked the audience to wait while the problem was fixed so that they could “get their money’s worth.” Soon after, the show went on.

POP/ROCK

Hard-Driving Message: The group Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving is taking the lyrics in the classic Beatles song “Drive My Car” literally. The song is the group’s new “designated driver anthem,” which should encourage people who have had too much to drink to tell a friend, “Baby, you can drive my car.” A star-studded music video of the song will premiere on the ABC telecast of the American Music Awards on Feb. 7. Former Beatle Ringo Starr will appear in the video along with Melissa Etheridge, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood and Heavy D.

* Adams in Vietnam: Bryan Adams will perform in Ho Chi Minh City in what promoters say will be Vietnam’s first large rock concert under the communist regime. Adams, who is touring Asia, will play the Pham Dinh Phuong stadium on Jan. 16; 5,000 to 6,000 people are expected. The singer co-wrote the hit single “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You.”

LEGAL FILE

Osmond vs. the Globe: Marie Osmond has settled her U.S. District Court lawsuit against the supermarket tabloid the Globe over a story that falsely suggested her adopted son was her husband’s illegitimate child. The singer will receive an undisclosed amount of money and a correction in the paper. After Osmond and her husband, Brian Blosil, sued the tabloid saying the story that ran in July 1991 was false, the Globe said it learned the rumor was in fact false and expressed regret about any harm the article may have caused the couple.

* Name Game: A judge in New York said comedian Jackie Mason can call his next Broadway show “Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect” despite objections from a cable television show also called “Politically Incorrect.” Comedy Central had sought an injunction to stop Mason from using the phrase, but the U.S. District Court judge denied the request on Friday. Mason’s new show opens in March.

* Not Jazzed About Germany: Jazz pianist Chick Corea filed a discrimination lawsuit against a state government in Germany for canceling a concert because he belongs to the Church of Scientology. Corea said in the lawsuit filed last week that he wants Baden-Wuerttemberg to admit it practiced religious discrimination; he is not seeking money. Corea was to perform in Stuttgart during the Track and Field World Championships in August. Baden-Wuerttemberg officials called Scientology a cult that brainwashes its members.