COMEDYLaughing in Las Vegas: Brian (Kato) Kaelin’s...

COMEDY

Laughing in Las Vegas: Brian (Kato) Kaelin’s exposure as a witness in the O.J. Simpson trial has earned him a two-week gig at Las Vegas’ 1,400 seat Celebrity Room at Bally’s. Kaelin, a recent guest star on UPN’s “The Watcher” and Comedy Central’s “Politically Incorrect,” will perform live from June 8-21 as the opening act for comedian Louie Anderson. Anderson, who has been working with Kaelin to prepare him for his Las Vegas showroom debut, called America’s most famous house-guest “extremely witty and funny,” and said, “In addition to his acting, I believe Kato is a natural stand-up comedian.”

POP/ROCK

Pearl Jam Ticket Numbers: Tickets to Pearl Jam’s June 26-27 concerts at San Diego’s Del Mar Fairgrounds go on sale by phone Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets for the first show may be obtained by dialing (800) 225-5069, while tickets for the second show will be available through (800) 225-5075. Tickets are $24 each ($15 for the concert itself, plus a $7 admission to the fair and a $2 service fee) plus a 45-cent handling fee per order. Orders will be accepted only from the following area codes: 805, 310, 818, 213, 619, 714 and 909. Tickets can be purchased with Visa or Mastercard, or callers can reserve their tickets and then mail in a check or money order. There is a limit of two tickets per order; 13,000 seats are available for each show.

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Three Stabbed at Weekend Shows: Cal State Dominguez Hills has no plans to curtail rock concerts in the campus Olympic Velodrome despite scattered violence during Saturday and Sunday’s punk-rock and skateboarding festival, featuring bands including Social Distortion, Sublime, L7 and Bad Religion. Campus police reported Monday that three males were stabbed during the concerts and three females were taken unconscious to a local hospital. One of the women was kicked in the head while in the mosh pit in front of the stage. A Cal State official said security measures will be reviewed.

TELEVISION

ABC Versus Latinos: The scheduled boycott of ABC last Friday to protest the so-called lack of Latinos on the network did not seem to make a dent in ratings, according to ABC executives. In fact, ratings for two series, “Family Matters” and “Step by Step,” were higher than the previous Friday, while viewership for “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper” and “20/20” basically remained the same. The National Hispanic Media Coalition, which spearheaded the protest, said any disappointment about the numbers was offset by a large turnout for the Latino family drama “My Family,” which opened in theaters Friday. The coalition’s chairman said that grass-roots efforts against ABC would continue.

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‘Jurassic’ Ratings: “Jurassic Park” did not disappoint NBC Sunday night, scaring up 37% of the TV viewing audience, according to the available overnight ratings from 33 markets. National numbers will be in this morning, but in the meantime, NBC is estimating that 65 million people watched the movie, which, if the preliminary figures hold up, would become the network’s highest-rated theatrical movie since 1983, which is as far back as NBC’s records go. . . . Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal also helped NBC soar in the ratings Sunday. Game 1 of a second-round NBA playoff series between Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and O’Neal’s Orlando Magic attracted 25% of the TV viewing audience, according to overnight ratings from 33 markets. The ratings were about the same as for Jordan’s return in March, which was the highest-rated regular-season NBA telecast in 20 years.

ART

Shapazian Joins Gagosian: New York art dealer Larry Gagosian--who declared his intentions to open a gallery in Beverly Hills more than a year ago but has declined to comment on his progress and has not yet set an opening date--has hired Robert Shapazian, former director of the late artist Sam Francis’ Lapis Press, to work at the new gallery. Gagosian will direct the West Coast operation but confirmed that Shapazian will assist him. “He’s somebody I feel very comfortable working with,” Gagosian said, praising Shapazian’s knowledge of photography, Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp and art of the ‘90s.

QUICK TAKES

P.J. Harvey, the acclaimed British singer-songwriter, is such a big Bob Dylan fan that she jumped at the chance to open his concert May 18 at the Hollywood Palladium--even though she headlines her own sold-out concert later that night at the Mayan Theatre. She’ll go on stage around 7:30 p.m. at the Palladium, then head downtown for her own show. . . . “The Martin Short Show” returns to NBC on May 20 with a retooled sketch/variety format. But the show, which aired in prime-time in its previous version, will air at 11:30 p.m. with a 90-minute special that preempts “Saturday Night Live” for the week. Short’s “Saturday Night Live” alumna Jan Hooks returns, and guest stars include Phil Hartman, Bruno Kirby, Paul Shaffer, Chad Lowe and Harry Shearer. . . . Actor Gary Busey was released from Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center in good condition on Monday. He had been admitted on Thursday after being found unconscious after an apparent cocaine overdose.