TELEVISIONThat’s ‘Entertainment’: Arthel Neville, host of the...

TELEVISION

That’s ‘Entertainment’: Arthel Neville, host of the celebrity interview show “Extreme Close-Up” on cable’s E! Entertainment Television, has been named the host of “Entertainment News Television,” a new syndicated program from Warner Bros. Television planned to rival the long-running “Entertainment Tonight.” “ENT” debuts in September, airing locally on KNBC Channel 4, while “ET” moves to KCBS Channel 2. Ironically, Neville will be paired with “ET” correspondent Bob Goen in February, when the two co-host the 1994 Miss USA Pageant from Texas. Neville, a former news anchor and reporter in New Orleans, has also worked as an actress, appearing in the TV movies “Love & Curses” and “With Intent to Kill” and the soaps “All My Children” and “Days of Our Lives.” She is the daughter of Art Neville, keyboardist for the Grammy-winning musical group the Neville Brothers.

Fox Shuffle: Hoping a change of scenery might bring in new viewers, the Fox Network said Wednesday that two low-rated series will swap time slots as the February sweeps get under way. Beginning Jan. 29, “America’s Most Wanted” will move to Saturdays at 9 p.m., where Fox believes it will pair nicely with the hour of “Cops” that will precede it. Two days later, the newsmagazine “Front Page” will move to Tuesdays at 9 p.m., where “we anticipate a greater concentration of newsmagazine enthusiasts,” programming chief Sandy Grushow said.

Standing By New Friends: In other Fox news, the network has apparently killed a show starring the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone that would have aired opposite the halftime show on NBC’s Jan. 31 telecast of the Super Bowl. Why? Because Fox was reportedly afraid of angering its new “partner,” the NFL. Jay Coleman, who was to have produced the program, says, “We were working toward a live . . . show from Planet Hollywood (in either New York or Los Angeles) with a bunch of stars and comedy.” Two years ago, Fox drew respectable ratings for a live telecast of “In Living Color” that aired during halftime, so the network was interested in doing something again--until the network’s NFL deal came down in December. Fox confirms that a halftime show was “under discussion,” but a spokeswoman says: “It was determined before (the NFL deal was announced) that we were not doing it.”

PEOPLE WATCH

Drugs Keep Him Off Police Beat: John Hartman, the drummer for the original Doobie Brothers, won’t be pounding a beat for the Petaluma police. Hartman was a founding member of the Doobies--a slang term for marijuana cigarettes--in 1971. He admitted having used drugs until 1975, when other band members told him his music was suffering. After Hartman left the band in 1979, he worked as a firefighter, then--admitting his past drug use--got a part-time job in 1988 as a reserve policeman in the Northern California town of Petaluma. When he applied in 1991 for a full-time job, he was turned down after saying he had used more drugs than he’d previously admitted. So Hartman sued the Northern California police department, saying its refusal to hire him over his long-past drug use was discriminatory. But U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen ruled this week that, even if Hartman had been addicted and therefore protected from discrimination under federal disability law, he had been deceptive about his drug use and the department was entitled to reject him.

Post the Sold Out Sign: George Burns has two years to go before his 100th birthday, but the party is already a sellout. The comedian signed in November to play three shows at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace on Jan. 19-21, 1996. His birthday is Jan. 20. Caesars says that the shows, at $100 per ticket, have now been sold out and the same is expected for a fourth show just added for Jan. 18. Burns has celebrated his last several birthdays by performing at celebrity-studded galas at Caesars.

QUICK TAKES

Ken Anthony has been named the new program director at classic rock station KLSX-FM (97.1). Anthony is a veteran radio programmer whose last Los Angeles position was a yearlong job as program director at rival rock station KLOS-FM (95.5) in 1991-92. He replaces Andy Bloom, who was promoted last year to vice president of radio programming for Greater Media Inc., the company that owns KLSX. . . . Emmy winner Richard Dawson will return to the show that made him a household name when he takes over the reins of “The New Family Feud” beginning this fall. Dawson hosted the original TV game show from 1976-85. He replaces Ray Combs, who had hosted the show for the past six seasons. . . . Exactly one year after being sworn in as President, Bill Clinton will be interviewed on “Larry King Live,” Jan. 20 on CNN. Clinton will take phone calls from viewers during the hourlong program.

Quotable: “I’ll do this show for about two weeks, maybe three, then I take over Conan (O’Brien) at the end of February. I’ll have Jay (Leno)’s job by March, and I should be sitting in for Tom Brokaw come June.”--Greg Kinnear, the talk-show host recently named to take over NBC’s “Later,” responding to a TV critic’s suggestion that his new job merely puts him in the “bullpen” until NBC “pulls the plug” on late-night host O’Brien.