TELEVISION - May 3, 1994

Clinton Goes Global: Journalists in Bosnia, South Korea, South Africa and the Middle East will question President Clinton as part of a “global news conference” today on CNN at 3:30 p.m. Clinton is expected to be asked about U.S. foreign policy during the 90-minute forum, part of a CNN-sponsored conference of international journalists.

* King-Size Lineup: Hillary Rodham Clinton will also have a question-and-answer session on CNN this week. The First Lady will take questions from viewers on Thursday’s “Larry King Live.” King continues this week’s series of interviews with celebs and political figures tonight with Burt Reynolds. Mike Tyson, taped in prison in Indiana, appears Wednesday; former Vice President Dan Quayle on Friday, and Jay Leno Saturday.

* High Viewership for Nixon Farewell: The state funeral of President Richard M. Nixon last Wednesday attracted a cumulative national rating of 30.0 (each rating point represents 942,000 homes) and a 54% audience share on ABC, CBS and NBC. According to Nielsen figures, ABC coverage led the ratings, followed by NBC and CBS.

* Talk about ‘Talk Soup’: Things got soupy at E!’s “Talk Soup” last week. On Friday morning, Greg Kinnear, who hosts the show on which he shows clips of talk shows that he mocks, called Warner Bros. senior Vice President Barbara Brogliatti a liar on the air. The senior vice president of programming for E! promptly called Brogliatti to apologize, and pulled the program, scheduled for four repeats during the day, off the air. Last week’s TV Guide noted that a lot of talk shows no longer supply clips to Kinnear’s show and quoted Brogliatti for the reason Warner Bros. no longer helps with Jenny Jones and Jane Whitney clips. “ ‘Talk Soup,’ ” she said, “degrades our shows and makes fools of the guests.” On the Friday show, Kinnear said, “Now when you open this article up. . . there’s something that you need to know. Barbara Brogliatti is lying through her teeth. . . It has everything to do with some legal entanglements that are happening here with Warner Bros.” Brogliatti responded that Kinnear was referring, incorrectly, to litigation over the title of a new syndicated show planned by Warner Bros., “which is totally irrelevant to the clip issue.”

POP/ROCK

Message to Grant: Nine days after he died, former President Nixon’s congratulations were delivered to gospel singer Amy Grant. Nixon, who died April 22, sent his best regards to the performer in a letter dated May 1, the day she was awarded the Pax Christi Award by Minnesota’s St. John’s University. Nixon’s former spokeswoman said the letter had been routinely dated ahead to coincide with the event. It was on display at the university, along with letters to Grant from President Clinton and former Presidents Reagan, Bush, Carter and Ford. The Pax award, presented annually and usually reserved for theologians, was given to Grant, 34, for her service to the gospel through her music.

PEOPLE WATCH

Gene Kelly Ailing: Gene Kelly, suffering from flu, was reported resting comfortably Monday in St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco. The 81-year-old actor-dancer was admitted Sunday after complaining of a headache and some pain. Kelly was in stable condition Monday and could be released today, according to a hospital spokesman. Kelly, who lives in Beverly Hills, was in San Francisco to see the ballet “Romeo and Juliet.”

DANCE

Joffrey Update: Tickets go on sale May 9 for the summer engagement of the Joffrey Ballet at the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Two works will be added to the June 28-July 3 engagement--the first Joffrey performance of “The Garden of Villandry,” the 1979 ballet by Martha Clarke, Felix Blaska and Robby Barnett, and the L.A. Joffrey premiere of artistic director Gerald Arpino’s “Light Rain.” Both will be performed only on opening night, June 28. The other programs featured in the engagement include “Les Presages” by Leonide Massine, “A Tri-Fling” by Randy Duncan, “Les Patineurs” by Sir Frederick Ashton and “Return to a Strange Land” by Jiri Kylian. The company will also perform “Billboards” to music by Prince on June 29-30, July 2 and the July 3 matinee. Looking ahead, the ballet will perform Robert Joffrey’s “The Nutcracker” Dec. 21-30.

QUICK TAKES

Roy Lichtenstein will paint Young America, an entrant in next spring’s America’s Cup sailing race. On Monday at New York City’s Whitney Museum of Art, the artist unveiled a blue-and-white design with a mermaid along the side. . . . There’s something for almost everyone at a sale of Oprah Winfrey’s clothes. The clothes range from size 8 to 22 and are priced at $20 to $1,000. The first 2,000 viewers of Oprah’s TV show to respond will get to attend the sale. All profits go to charity. . . MTV will launch new channels in Asia, specifically China, Taiwan and Singapore. . . . Country stars Billy Ray Cyrus, Charley Pride, John Anderson and Michelle Wright will be on hand for today’s 11 a.m. groundbreaking of the first Country Star restaurant, a country music-themed eatery set to open at the Universal CityWalk this summer.