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

TELEVISION

Doling Out Jokes: He lost the election but not his sense of humor. Former senator turned former presidential candidate Bob Dole made a guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live” last weekend and had no trouble poking fun at himself, joining host Robert Downey Jr. in an evening of self-parody. Dole appeared with Norm MacDonald, the “SNL” cast member who impersonates Dole and would have had a field day with his routine if the Republican nominee had won. Said the GOP nominee: “Norm, Bob Dole knows how much it meant for you to play me on the show the next four years and Bob Dole feels your pain.” Dole wasn’t completely benevolent, telling MacDonald that his impersonation was not very good anyway. Dole joked that he has a new job--answering phones at the Red Cross, which is headed by his wife, Elizabeth. Mrs. Dole was in the “SNL” audience.

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‘3rd Rock’ Day: The entire “3rd Rock From the Sun” cast--including John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, Jane Curtin, French Stewart and Joseph Gordon-Levitt--will give a free, one-hour reading from a new book about the popular sitcom (aptly titled “3rd Rock From the Sun”) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the James A. Doolittle Theater in Hollywood. The event--to be followed by a book signing in which the stars promise to sign every book presented to them--is part of what is being proclaimed “ ‘3rd Rock From the Sun’ Day” by Mayor Richard Riordan. The official proclamation will be presented to the NBC cast at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Planet Hollywood in Beverly Hills. Although no tickets are needed for the Planet Hollywood event, free tickets to the Doolittle reading can be picked up at Borders Book Store in Santa Monica or Brentano’s in Century City and West Hollywood.

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Hope in Cyperspace: To mark in modern style what he is calling his last special for NBC, Bob Hope will go live on the Internet Wednesday to talk about his more than 60 years at the network. With power-users at his side, no doubt, the legendary comedian pops into cyberspace (https://www.NBC.com) for a chat beginning at 6 p.m. “Bob Hope . . . Laughing With the Presidents” airs Saturday at 8 p.m. On the show, he talks and jokes about his unique friendships with almost every U.S. president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Tony Danza (“Who’s the Boss?”) is co-host. Appearing on the special are President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, George and Barbara Bush, Gerald and Betty Ford and David and Julie Nixon Eisenhower.

OPERA

Local Voices Make Good: Mezzo-soprano Andrea Trebnik of West Los Angeles shared first-place honors with tenor Robert MacNeil of La Palma at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Regional Auditions held Saturday at USC. Both Trebnik, 26, and MacNeil, 27, took home $4,800 and the opportunity to travel to New York City in March to compete in the national finals. In second place was soprano Terri Jean Hill, 32, of Studio City. Judges for the competition were tenor Neil Rosensheim, in consultation with mezzo-soprano Mildred Miller Posvar, conductor Stewart Robertson and composer Carlisle Floyd . Nine singers participated in the finals.

ART

Italian Gifts: Two early Italian Renaissance paintings--”The Virgin and Child With Saints and the Annunciation,” a finely detailed triptych by Sienese artist Giovanni di Paolo, and an altarpiece fragment depicting St. Stephen and St. Bruno by Florentine painter Gherardo di Jacopo, who is known as Starnina--go on view today at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Both are gifts of the Ahmanson Foundation. The jewel-like triptych, which has been kept intact and is in unusually good condition, was created as a private devotional object. The Starnina work joins another fragment from the same altarpiece in LACMA’s collection. (The central portion is part of an Italian private collection.)

MOVIES

Prewar Pitt: Brad Pitt historians will be excited about a 1988 movie that’s being re-released. Pitt made “The Dark Side of the Sun” in Yugoslavia before he shot to fame as the hitchhiker in “Thelma & Louise.” The 1988 “Dark Side,” in which Pitt plays an American with a rare skin disease, was lost during the Bosnian War. Producer Angelo Aranjelovic has recovered it and is having it restored. A few scenes from it were scheduled to be shown Monday night on “Inside Edition.”

QUICK TAKES

Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis has married actress Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, his publicist confirmed Monday. The couple wed in a private ceremony last Wednesday in Vermont. . . . He wasn’t dirty dancing but Patrick Swayze made a grand entrance nonetheless Sunday to open the Middle East’s first Planet Hollywood store: Dressed in traditional Gulf attire, he rode into a mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on a white Arabian horse. . . . Laura Innes, who plays Dr. Kerry Weaver in NBC’s hit “ER,” won the fifth annual “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” which aired all last week, and donated her total $24,400 winnings to the L.A. Youth Network. . . . Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo,” starring “Melrose Place” actor Rob Estes, has been extended through Dec. 15 at the Hudson Theatre. . . . Suzanne Pleshette will join NBC’s “The Single Guy” for four episodes starting Dec. 12, guest-staring as series star Jonathan Silverman’s matchmaking mother.