Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

RADIO

Grice Says She’s Off the Air: Controversial KUSC-FM (91.5) deejay Bonnie Grice, who was to have left the station on Oct. 31 after seven years there, is no longer on the air. Grice said Thursday that acting general manager Stephen Lama called her into his office after her broadcast at 10 a.m. Wednesday and summarily told her to pack her belongings. “I was officially placed on leave of absence [until the resignation],” Grice said. “I’m still kind of in shock.” Lama had been brought to the station by Grice’s husband, Wallace A. Smith, KUSC’s longtime president and general manager. Smith resigned last Friday and Grice followed suit on air Monday. Grice said she was told that her personal remarks on air were not acceptable. “I didn’t ask to what he referred,” she said. Lama was not immediately available for comment. In recent years, Grice’s chatty, irreverent style drew as much criticism as Smith had for overturning the station’s classical format.

Over the Airwaves: The New York Philharmonic, led by Music Director Kurt Masur, will broadcast five of its concerts on national radio next year, beginning on Jan. 25 and running once a month through May. The syndicated broadcasts, sponsored by Time Warner, will be carried live in Los Angeles on KKGO-FM (105.1), airing Saturdays at 5 p.m.

TELEVISION

Caruso Returning to TV: David Caruso--who rose to fame as the flame-haired star of ABC’s “NYPD Blue” but left after the series’ first season for a movie career that drew disappointing results--has been cleared to star in a new CBS legal drama for next fall. Caruso needed the approval of his old bosses for the new series, since he signed an exit contract with “NYPD Blue” promising not to return to television until 1998. But sources say that the discord between Caruso, ABC and “NYPD Blue” producer Steven Bochco is water under the bridge, and Bochco’s having a three-series deal with CBS also probably helped the network push Caruso’s deal through. Author Nick Pileggi (“GoodFellas”) will write the pilot for Caruso, who will play a federal prosecutor.

Bo Knows TV: Two-sport star and product endorser extraordinaire Bo Jackson is in talks to star in a sitcom on UPN, the network confirmed. Jackson recently appeared on the UPN comedy “Moesha” and may also guest in an upcoming episode of the network’s drama “The Sentinel.” Many athletes have made the move to prime-time television, including boxer George Foreman, who did a short-lived ABC comedy, and former linebacker Brian Bosworth, who will star in the upcoming Fox drama “Lawless.” . . . In other development news, “Prime Suspect” star Helen Mirren may do her first U.S. series, playing opposite “China Beach’s” Dana Delany in an ABC drama being developed for the two Emmy winners by author Patricia Cornwell.

Following in Jenny’s Footsteps: MTV has picked Jenny McCarthy’s replacement on “Singled Out.” Dancer Carmen Electra, a protegee of the artist formerly known as Prince and, like McCarthy, a former Playboy Playmate, will take over co-hosting duties on the dating game show in February.

POP/ROCK

Van Halen Vs. Roth, Cont.: Van Halen has fired back in its war of words with former singer David Lee Roth. Responding to Roth’s open letter of Wednesday calling his short-lived reunion with the band a “publicity stunt” in which he was an “unwitting participant,” the group said Thursday that Roth had not been duped. “The intention all along was to do two new songs with Dave for the [upcoming] ‘Best of Volume I’ package,” Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony said in a statement. “He was never led to believe anything but that.” The band also said it had been “working with someone who we hope will be part of the future of Van Halen, although no final decision can be announced until contractual considerations have been resolved.” Meanwhile, A&M; Records announced Thursday that the rock band Extreme has disbanded. Extreme singer Gary Cherone is expected to join Van Halen as the replacement for singer Sammy Hagar, who was fired by the band in June.

Beatles Book Plans: Haven’t had enough of the Fab Four yet? The “Beatles Anthology” projects aren’t over. Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, George Harrison and John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, have written a book reliving the British quartet from its birth to breakup. Billed as “the bible on the Beatles,” the tome will be released worldwide by Pavilion Books next September.

QUICK TAKES

Disney-owned ABC has set Nov. 3 as the broadcast premiere date for Disney’s animated blockbuster movie “The Lion King.” The movie will air from 7 to 9 p.m., accompanied by never-before-seen footage and a song from the original production that was cut out of the theatrical release. . . . The “Evita” soundtrack’s first single, “You Must Love Me”--a song written specifically for Madonna by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice--will debut on radio and on MTV Wednesday, then hit store shelves Oct. 29. The full album goes on sale Nov. 5. The movie opens on Dec. 25. . . . ABC News’ Diane Sawyer will conduct the first network TV interview with former L.A. police detective Mark Fuhrman since his plea bargain on perjury charges, on Tuesday’s “PrimeTime Live.” The chat is being billed as the first time Fuhrman has spoken publicly since his controversial testimony in the O.J. Simpson trial. . . . Liza Minnelli will step into the starring role of the gender-bending Broadway musical “Victor/Victoria” in January to give Julie Andrews a four-week vacation. . . . Micah Papp, who got his 15 minutes of fame as “Late Show With David Letterman” movie critic “Manny the Hippie,” was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for violating probation on an Ohio conviction for selling marijuana (he moved to California without court permission). Ohio officials prosecuted Papp after spotting him on Letterman’s CBS show. . . . The Country Music Assn. Awards played to 24% of the available audience Wednesday, easily winning the night for CBS in ratings. Viewership was up 15% compared to last year’s ceremony.