TELEVISIONTrial Watching: KNBC-TV Channel 4 has announced...

TELEVISION

Trial Watching: KNBC-TV Channel 4 has announced plans for “O.J. Simpson On Trial,” a nightly recap of the former football player’s double-murder trial, which the station will begin airing with the start of opening arguments. Paul Moyer will anchor the program, which will air 7:30-8 p.m. weeknights. “O.J. Simpson On Trial” will displace the syndicated “A Current Affair,” which last week switched to Channel 4 from KTTV/Fox Channel 11, reportedly because producers were unhappy with Channel 11’s moving the show to an 11:30 p.m. time slot. Now “A Current Affair” is in for an even worse spot on Channel 4, where it will be seen at 2:05 a.m. However, KNBC plans to bring “A Current Affair” back to the 7:30 p.m. slot once the Simpson trial is over.

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‘Melrose’ Highlights: Fox will air “Love Thy Neighbor: The Baddest and the Best of ‘Melrose Place,’ ” featuring the series’ “20 most memorable moments” from the last three years, on Monday at 8 p.m. Executive producer Aaron Spelling and series creator and executive producer Darren Star will introduce what they believe has been the campy series’ “number one moment” thus far.

POP/ROCK

A ‘Monster’ of a Tour: R.E.M. has scheduled its first local concert appearances in five years, with performances set for May 9 at the Forum, May 12 at the Pond of Anaheim and May 14 at Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore. Sonic Youth will open the concerts; tickets are expected to go on sale late this month.

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A Planned Emergency: Rod Stewart’s manager is contradicting press reports that the singer left a New Year’s Day concert at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach in an ambulance due to exhaustion. Instead, Arnold Stiefel said, Stewart’s unusual departure was arranged ahead of time to avoid a riot in the record-setting audience of 3.5 million. Brazilian reports of the concert had said Stewart, who turns 50 next Tuesday, had to receive oxygen for exhaustion. “When he got into the ambulance, they . . . may have had oxygen with them, but he didn’t use it,” Stiefel said. “He’s fine. He’s in great shape. He went to soccer practice (Tuesday) night.”

STAGE

Hamming It Up: Entertainment reporters played straight men to Jerry Lewis in New York on Wednesday when the comedian quipped his way through an explanation of his Broadway debut plans, as the new devil in producer Maxwell Mitchell’s revival of “Damn Yankees.” Lewis, who opens Feb. 28, called it “a role made in heaven” and didn’t blink an eye when he told reporters he was doing it for the “financial pleasure.” Lewis acknowledged that he’d been typecast before “but this is a role I’ve been preparing for for 63 years.” He’s 69 now and appeared to be in glowing good health, even doing a little dance for the cameras to demonstrate he could handle the show’s demands in that department.

MOVIES

The Moral High Ground: Here’s a set of nominations for the anti-”Pulp Fiction” crowd who were upset by the movie’s focus on violence. Vying for the 18th Annual International Angel Awards, which will be presented Feb. 9 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are the feature films “The Lion King,” “Forrest Gump,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Angels in the Outfield,” “Quiz Show,” “Little Women,” “I.Q.” and “The Santa Clause.” The awards, to be hosted by entertainers Art Linkletter and Shari Lewis (along with her puppet Lamb Chop), recognize excellence in films and television programs that promote “high moral, spiritual and social values.” Nominated in the TV category are “Touched By an Angel,” “Christy,” “Mad About You” and “Dave.”

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Personal Charity: New James Bond star Pierce Brosnan raised more than $120,000 for ovarian cancer research in London this week and said he was finally recovering from the death of his wife, ex-Bond girl Cassandra Harris, who died of the disease three years ago. “I think the healing has really taken place,” Brosnan said. The 41-year-old actor raised the money by opening the annual January sale at Harrods department store.

QUICK TAKES

Actor Keanu Reeves (“Speed”) and director Andrew Davis (“The Fugitive”) will work together on 20th Century Fox’s upcoming action thriller “Dead Drop.” Shooting is planned to start this fall, for a summer 1996 release. . . . “Roseanne” star John Goodman will host ESPN’s third annual sports awards show, the ESPYs, Feb. 13 at Radio City Music Hall. The show airs that same night on the cable channel. . . . James Hendrix, the man who obtained a Swedish court judgment stating that he is the natural-born son of legendary rocker Jimi Hendrix, has no claim under federal copyright law to renew the copyrights for the late musician’s songs, a Los Angeles judge has ruled. . . . The New York Times has appointed Margo Jefferson, who has been a book critic there since 1993, as its Sunday theater critic. She succeeds Vincent Canby, who was recently made the paper’s chief daily theater critic.