TELEVISIONNo More Roseys for Goodman?: John Goodman...

TELEVISION

No More Roseys for Goodman?: John Goodman has given notice that he will not return to “Roseanne” if the hit ABC comedy comes back for another season. Even though the future of the show has still not been determined by ABC or producers Carsey-Werner, Goodman, who plays blue-collar husband Dan Conner, sent a legal letter to the show’s producers saying he wanted out next season, according to sources. If the letter had not been sent, Goodman would automatically be obligated to another season. Despite Goodman’s notice, he could still change his mind if the show is renewed, officials said.

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‘60 Minutes’ Ratings Slip?: For the first time ever, it looks as if ABC’s 17-year-old Friday night entry “20/20” could beat CBS’ venerable Sunday night staple “60 Minutes” in the newsmagazine ratings battle. So far this season, “20/20” is in 10th place, one notch above the once-unbeatable ticking clock, which sits at No. 11. The ABC show, which has beaten the CBS program ratings-wise seven times in 12 weeks, has been aided by Barbara Walters’ high-profile interviews with subjects including Colin Powell and Christopher Reeve, as well as a portion of the Princess Di BBC chat. “60 Minutes” took a body blow when CBS lost its NFL Sunday night lead-in to Fox two years ago. . . . In a related note: Cable’s Court TV will air live coverage at 8 a.m. today of an appeal before the Kentucky Supreme Court to set aside a temporary restraining order barring former tobacco executive Jeffrey Wigand from disclosing information about Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. Wigand is the tobacco executive who recently gave a controversial “60 Minutes” interview that was pulled before broadcast due to CBS lawyers’ fears of a lawsuit.

OSCAR WATCH

And They’re Off . . . : Emma Thompson’s “Sense and Sensibility” got a big opening-day boost on Wednesday when the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures named the movie the year’s best film, picked Thompson as best actress and voted “Sense’s” Ang Lee best director. The board, the first group to announce its choices in the pre-Oscar race, also picked Nicolas Cage as best actor for “Leaving Las Vegas,” Kevin Spacey as best supporting actor for “Seven” and “The Usual Suspects,” and Mira Sorvino as best supporting actress for “Mighty Aphrodite.” James Earl Jones was voted a career achievement honor. The board, made up of teachers, actors, writers, movie production workers and others, will hand out its awards Feb. 26 in New York. Next up on the awards circuit is the New York Film Critics Assn. voting today, followed by the L.A. critics’ picks on Saturday.

POP/ROCK

NARAS Honors: West Coast jazz pioneer Dave Brubeck, the late rhythm and blues legend Marvin Gaye, British conductor Sir Georg Solti and singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder will be honored with 1995-96 Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. In addition, Beatles producer George Martin and R&B; producer Jerry Wexler will receive the academy’s annual Trustee Awards. The honorees will be recognized Feb. 28 as part of the annual Grammy Awards.

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Concerts, Pop Charts: The Eagles were the top-grossing North American concert act this year, earning more than $60 million, according to concert industry trade magazines Performance and Pollstar. Other top 10 acts, according to Performance, were the Grateful Dead, R.E.M., Page-Plant, Van Halen, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Billy Joel/Elton John, Boyz II Men, Elton John (alone) and Alan Jackson. Final Pollstar figures will be revealed in the publications’ Dec. 25 editions. . . . On the nation’s pop chart, “The Beatles Anthology I” was the best-selling album for the third consecutive week, selling 404,000 copies last week to bring its total sales to more than 1.7 million units. Mariah Carey’s “Daydream” came in second (370,000), followed by Garth Brooks’ “Fresh Horses” (287,000) in third. Kenny G’s year-old “Miracles: The Holiday Album” was not eligible for the Top 200, but actually topped Brooks with sales of 302,000, setting a SoundScan era record for one-week sales by a catalog (ie: non-current) album.

ART

‘Stellar Axis’ Debate Continues: The latest episode in an ongoing flap over artworks at the Peninsula Center Library in Palos Verdes will take place tonight when the library board is scheduled to consider the addition of two small but conceptually important components of Lita Albuquerque’s $150,000 architectural sculpture “Stellar Axis.” The abstract artwork--conceived as a solar observatory with a telescope-like tube rising from the library roof--was funded by a percent-for-art program in a $19-million library renovation, and has won honors from the Cabrillo Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. But the library’s new board members cite Albuquerque’s work as a symbol of wasteful spending and frivolous cultural pursuits in a time of recession-forced cuts. Now the board will decide if Albuquerque can place a glass, book-like sculpture in a niche of the library and a model of the project near the entrance. These elements, plus accompanying text, will complete the work and make its underlying concept comprehensible to library patrons, the artist says.