PEOPLE

Nicholson Settles: Jack Nicholson has struck a deal with the man who claimed the actor struck his car with a golf club. Nicholson settled a lawsuit filed by Robert Scott Blank, who accused the actor of bashing his car’s hood and windshield while he was stopped at a red light Feb. 8. Blank said Nicholson apparently thought he had been cut off in traffic. Details of the settlement were not available. Nicholson, 57, still faces arraignment March 31 on misdemeanor charges of vandalism and assault.

TELEVISION

Making a ‘Point’: ABC News says that the 18.1 rating, 30 share for Wednesday’s debut of Diane Sawyer’s “Turning Point” received the best national Nielsens ever for a weekly newsmagazine premiere. Although condemned by critics for its story about the Charles Manson family murders, the series topped NBC’s “Law & Order” and more than doubled the ratings for CBS’ “48 Hours,” with a look at an Oregon murderer’s controversial parole. Meanwhile, Tuesday’s “Dateline NBC” had its best ratings ever by devoting nearly an hour to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

* Tinseltown Time: Comedy Central’s popular “Politically Incorrect” and its host, Bill Maher, will focus on the politics of Hollywood next week. Topics will include “What’s wrong with sleeping your way to the top?” and “Isn’t fame the most addicting drug of all?” An hourlong Academy Awards special will air Friday at 8:30 p.m. Among the week’s panelists: Shelley Winters, Corbin Bernsen, Tim Allen, John Malkovich, Tom Arnold, Brett Butler, Grant Tinker, Dick Clark and Steve Allen.

* Supreme Beings: C-SPAN says it made TV history this week when the Supreme Court agreed, for the first time, to allow coverage of an entire event inside its chambers. But the event was not a court proceeding. It was the first in a series of six panel discussions about the history of the high court during the Civil War era. The 90-minute session will be shown at 9 a.m. Sunday.

TV Signings: Kelly McGillis has been signed to star in a one-hour pilot for ABC with the working title of “Dark Eyes.”. . . Former “Laverne & Shirley” co-star Michael McKean, whose film credits include “Coneheads” and “This Is Spinal Tap,” joins NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” as a repertory member beginning with tonight’s show.

* What a Sport: CBS Sports will launch a weekly studio-hosted series, “Eye on Sports.” The Sunday afternoon show, premiering April 17, will be hosted by Greg Gumbel and Andrea Joyce.

ART

No Show: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York has abandoned plans to present a retrospective exhibition of Robert Irwin’s work, which was organized by L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art and appeared there last summer. “We really wanted to have the show, but the timing didn’t work out,” Catherine Vare, the Guggenheim’s head of public affairs, said. Commitments to other projects prevented Irwin from scheduling time to construct a special installation for the New York exhibition, she said. The Guggenheim had planned to host the exhibition next year, but the museum had not signed a contract with MOCA.

* Collecting Collections: One of the world’s most comprehensive private collections of the works of scientist Charles Darwin has been given to the Huntington Library in San Marino. Warren D. Mohr, a retired businessman from San Francisco, donated his entire 1,500-volume library to the Huntington, including all the early editions and important translations of Darwin’s seminal publication “On the Origin of the Species” and an 1835 printing of excerpts from letters Darwin wrote during his expedition on the H.M.S. Beagle. Selections from the collection are expected to go on display in June.

MOVIES

Snipes to Drop In: Wesley Snipes will star in the upcoming action-thriller “Drop Zone” for director John Badham. In the Paramount Pictures film scheduled to begin production Monday, Snipes plays a U.S. marshal who enters the world of exhibition sky-diving to avenge his brother’s death.

QUICK TAKES

A series of well-known guest stars have agreed to make cameo appearances in selected performances of the Canon Theatre’s “Ruthless!,” in the role of Frederick, played on the musical’s cast album by Bob Newhart. The guest star this Sunday will be actor Dan Lauria. Future Fredericks include Bruce Davison, Andrew McCarthy, John Ritter, Ted Lange and Barry Bostwick. . . . Fox-TV has ordered 12 new episodes of “Culture Clash,” featuring L.A.’s Latino comedy trio of the same name, bringing the total number of episodes ordered to 30. . . . . Robert Townsend will host this year’s Independent Spirit Awards on March 19. . . . Ozzy Osbourne won’t be taking the witness stand in a lawsuit filed by a Burbank man who claims he was injured at an Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre Osbourne concert in 1992 because the heavy metal singer invited the crowd onto the stage.