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

TELEVISION

Fox’s Batting Average: Fox’s telecast Saturday of Game 6 of the World Series, in which the New York Yankees clinched the championship by defeating the Atlanta Braves, 3-2, gave the network its highest-rated prime-time program ever, according to Fox. The game delivered a 37% share in the Nielsen-metered markets. . . . Fox’s new drama, “Millennium,” was seen by 17.7 million people in its premiere Friday. The show tied the third-best rating that night by “The X-Files,” which “Millennium” replaced. Meanwhile, “The X-Files” moved into its new Sunday slot with its second-highest rating ever, 21%, based on preliminary Nielsen results. CBS didn’t fare as well Sunday with a two-hour preview of “EZ Streets,” as the Ken Olin series attracted just 14% of the available audience and saw its rating drop in each half-hour. The crime drama premieres in its regular time period Wednesday.

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Hard Feelings: Video paparazzi, who are noted for stalking stars and sometimes getting battered for their troubles, will face a different counter-attack from “ER” and “Batman” star George Clooney. In a letter to producers of “Entertainment Tonight,” Clooney said he will boycott the show that frequently featured him because its fellow Paramount TV show, “Hard Copy,” recently “did an undercover story about my girlfriend and me.” Clooney pointed out that when he complained previously about “Hard Copy’s” tactics--”follow[ing] me around collecting footage and creating their own stories”--he got a letter from Frank Kelly, president, creative affairs, of Paramount Pictures Television Group, promising that “Hard Copy” would no longer cover him or use paparazzi footage of the sort described by the actor. An exasperated Clooney wrote last week to “Entertainment Tonight” that “I guess the statute of limitations for keeping your word is about six months for Mr. Kelly, or maybe it was a landmark, and I should feel honored.” Clooney said he will continue to talk to “all press but you.” Paramount spokespersons said they had no immediate response.

PEOPLE

Program Changes: Performance artist and author Karen Finley is ill with a viral infection, and has canceled performances of her one-woman show, “The American Chestnut,” scheduled for Friday through Sunday at UCLA, along with a signing of her book, “Living It Up: Humorous Adventures in Hyperdomesticity,” at Book Soup. Best known as one of the “NEA Four,” Finley also canceled her performances last weekend in Portland, Ore. A spokeswoman for UCLA said that the show will be rescheduled here for later this season. . . . Joseph Bologna will sub for Richard Benjamin Wednesday night at the Skirball Cultural Center’s Festival of American Jewish Comedy. Following a screening of the 1981 film “My Favorite Year,” in which Bologna co-starred and which Benjamin directed, Bologna will discuss ethnic humor. Benjamin is currently acting in a movie being filmed by Woody Allen and pulled out of the Skirball event because of changes in the shooting schedule.

DANCE

Firefighters Invited: Southern California firefighters and their families were offered free tickets to Sunday’s matinee performance by the Bolshoi Ballet at Shrine Auditorium, but since many were still on the fire lines Sunday, the Bolshoi organization has also invited them to attend Wednesday’s 8 p.m. performance. Each firefighter will be allowed four tickets; additional tickets may be purchased at the discount rate of $15. The offer was made possible by Oklahoma City-based sponsors who also wished to express gratitude to the many area firefighters who responded to the explosion at the city’s federal building last year.

POP/ROCK

Jackson Stirs Malaysia: Forty-thousand shrieking fans filled a stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday for a Michael Jackson concert despite demands that it be canceled. More than 1,000 Muslims, who contend Jackson’s music is immoral, held a half-hour protest outside the National Mosque as riot police stood by. The concert, one of two scheduled at a soccer stadium, was the largest ever held in Malaysia. “We are giving the people a chance to see a renowned artiste,” Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said. “It has never been our intention to encourage bad values.” Fans didn’t seem to comprehend the complaints against Jackson. “How can Michael’s concert be immoral and have a bad effect on youth?” Dinesh Sai, 17, said. “If that is immoral what about all sorts of things on Internet, movies and songs. Then everything should be banned and what would we have left?”

QUICK TAKES

The 15th Media Access Awards, honoring the accurate portrayals and employment of people with disabilities in the entertainment industry, will be held tonight at 6 at the Universal City Hilton. . . . Paul Newman, owner of the Westport, Conn.-based food company Newman’s Own, gave $500,000 to the Nature Conservancy’s Connecticut chapter to acquire tidelands along the Connecticut River. . . . Another prime-time comedy is undergoing an executive producer change, with Tim O’Donnell leaving the CBS sitcom “Dave’s World” to be replaced by Tom Straw, who had previously worked with series star Harry Anderson on “Night Court.” Several other shows, including “Cybill” and “The Jeff Foxworthy Show,” have undergone similar behind-the-scenes changes early this season.