TELEVISIONLearning PBS-Style: KCET Channel 28 will be...

TELEVISION

Learning PBS-Style: KCET Channel 28 will be among the 11 public television stations launching PBS’ new service for kids, PTV, on July 11. PTV is a combination of children’s shows and outreach programs for parents and teachers aimed at helping all kids start school “ready to learn” by the year 2000. PTV will offer morning shows including “Sesame Street,” “Barney & Friends” and the new “Storytime.” On tap for the afternoon: “Ghostwriter,” “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?” and “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” In between shows, PTV will present educational messages encouraging kids ages 2-12 to learn specific skills. Additional PBS stations will carry PTV beginning in January.

Day of Compassion: Daytime TV is getting together to raise awareness of AIDS. On June 21, soap operas and talks shows will take part in the second annual Day of Compassion by airing episodes stressing the need for a caring response to those afflicted with HIV and AIDS. So far, ABC’s “All My Children,” “General Hospital,” “Loving,” “One Life to Live,” “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Days of Our Lives” and talk shows including “Oprah Winfrey,” “Maury Povich,” “Sally Jesse Raphael,” “Jane Whitney,” “Jerry Springer,” “Geraldo,” “Cristina” and E! Entertainment’s “Pure Soap” have signed up.

Gearing Up for the Fourth: Noted composer Marvin Hamlisch will conduct the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in the fourth annual “Pop Goes the Fourth” Independence Day concert, airing live on cable’s A&E; at 4:30 p.m., with a repeat broadcast at 9 p.m. The July 4 concert, performed along the banks of Boston’s Charles River, will include a sing-along of “Stars and Stripes Forever” accompanied by cannons, bells and fireworks.

RADIO

Stern Unplugged: Radio shock jock Howard Stern was unusually quiet for a few moments on Friday, but it was because somebody pulled the plug. Stern, whose syndicated program is based in New York, was broadcasting live from Cleveland when the show was briefly interrupted by a cut cable. Police arrested an employee of a rival Cleveland station, WMMS-FM, who allegedly did the cutting. Stern was in the city to promote his recent ratings victory on WNCX-FM over morning programs on WMMS-FM and WMJI-FM. John Gorman, operations manager at WMMS, said the station didn’t condone the broadcast interruption.

LEGAL FILE

Stars and Bars: Tom Cruise isn’t on trial, just the bartender image he captured in the 1988 film “Cocktail.” The actor gave a sworn statement last week in Los Angeles about how he learned flashy bartender moves from TGI Friday’s restaurant employees to prepare for his role. “He showed up and testified like any other citizen,” said Bertram Fields, Cruise’s lawyer. Four former Friday’s waitresses are suing two of the chain’s eateries in San Diego, claiming one male manager and one female manager harassed female employees. Attorney William Ward plans to use Cruise’s testimony to show the attitudes in “Cocktail” accurately portrayed the restaurant environment. Friday’s management has denied the harassment claims.

STAGE

Storm Over Redgrave: A plan by Vanessa Redgrave, known in the past for her anti-Zionist views, to perform in Israel for the first time next month has provoked a storm of protest and a bid to have the production at the state-subsidized theater in Haifa canceled. A meeting of the theater’s 17-member board has been called for today when the Jewish artistic director, Oded Kutler, will defend his decision to invite Redgrave to perform in a production of “Brecht in Exile,” a collection of works written by the playwright Bertolt Brecht, whose son-in-law, Ekkehart Chall, will also take part. “I believe that Miss Redgrave changed her mind about performing here because of the peace accord with the PLO,” Kutler said.

QUICK TAKES

“All My Children” star Susan Lucci, who has become famous for being snubbed by the Daytime Emmy Awards, will receive an award of a different sort today. New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will present Lucci with the 1994 Crystal Apple Award recognizing lifetime contributions to New York’s film and television industry. . . . ABC will air the 90-minute “Television Academy Hall of Fame” special on June 25, featuring last year’s induction ceremonies for producer Dick Clark, newsman John Chancellor, talk show host Phil Donahue, game show producer Mark Goodson, comedian Bob Newhart, daytime series creator Agnes Nixon and “Dragnet” star Jack Webb. The special originally aired on cable’s Disney Channel. . . . Martha Quinn, the former MTV veejay, will join “Ed McMahon’s Star Search” as host of the musical groups segment this fall.