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

TELEVISION

The Missing ‘X’ Factor: Quentin Tarantino’s Hollywood influence has grown to considerable size but apparently isn’t big enough to move the Directors Guild of America. The guild has refused to grant the director and sometimes actor, who is not a member of the DGA, a waiver to direct an “X-Files” episode that will follow the Super Bowl on Jan. 26. Tarantino had approached the series about directing an episode, having previously worn the director’s hat for an episode of NBC’s “ER,” for which he did get a waiver. A DGA spokesman said discussions continue with Tarantino about joining the guild, but it appears unlikely that will happen in time for the much-hyped episode of “X-Files,” which begins production in a few weeks. The 1997 Super Bowl is Fox’s first telecast of the event and the network plans to use TV’s most-watched annual event to promote its prime-time series. Networks have introduced programs after the game with mixed results; an established show offers a better chance of hanging on to viewers. NBC followed the Super Bowl last year with a special one-hour episode of “Friends.”

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At Day’s End: The 1997 calendar for the newsmagazine show “Day & Date” will be a brief one, ending on Jan. 3. That’s the last day KCBS-TV Channel 2 will air the syndicated show, which debuted in September 1995 at 4 p.m. as a contender in the competitive talk-show market. After months of disappointing ratings, syndicator Eyemark Entertainment made the decision to cancel. “Geraldo Rivera,” benefiting from the “Day” drop, is expected to be moved up as the afternoon news lead-in show.

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Daytime Resuscitation: When “The City” collapses, call in the doctors--preferably ones that are young and in love (or at least lust). ABC Daytime is casting and planning for the June 2 air date of a half-hour spinoff of “General Hospital,” the network’s 33-year-old soap that has won the Daytime Emmy for best drama the last two years. The new series is tentatively titled “GH2,” and will join the ABC daytime lineup at 12:30 p.m., replacing the floundering soaper “The City,” which will air original episodes through March 28. No word on what will air in the interim. “GH2,” like the original “GH,” will be set in the seaside town of Port Charles and will focus on the next generation of medical students in a university adjacent to the fictional General Hospital. The cast of “General Hospital” will cross over frequently to the new soap, especially in the beginning, a “GH” spokesman said Monday.

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So Long, Pee-wee Herman: Paul Reubens, known early in his career as the offbeat, red bow-tied character who made kids and adults laugh before his 1991 arrest in a Florida adult movie theater, has signed a sitcom deal. Reubens, whose Hollywood standing began an upswing more than a year ago with a recurring role on “Murphy Brown” and various awards show appearances, signed with Carsey-Werner for a show to premiere next fall. No premise has been set, but Reubens will play a number of different characters in it, Carsey-Werner executive David Tochterman said. “It will be more high-concept, like ‘3rd Rock From the Sun,’ ” another Carsey-Werner show, he said.

RADIO

Coming Home for Turkey: Tom Leykis, the syndicated radio host and former KMPC-AM (710) host, returns Thanksgiving Day and Friday to his old afternoon-drive slot at KMPC. He’ll be filling in 3-7 p.m. for Joe Crummey, who, on Oct. 21, replaced Michael Reagan, who had replaced Leykis in May. Asked if this portends anything, Bill Lennert, a KMPC spokesman, said, “No, at this point, [Leykis] is just filling in for a [two-day] vacation.” Leykis, in response to the same question, said he didn’t know. “That’s the honest answer. They know. I said yes because it would be fun and because I have those days off [from the network], and also because frankly I’ve been off the air [in Los Angeles] for six months.”

ART

The Heiress Loved Art: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York have received a bonanza of modern art from the estate of Florene May Schoenborn, a May Department Store heiress who died in 1995. The bequest of 32 major artworks by such premier figures as Picasso, Brancusi, Bonnard and Braque gives 18 paintings and sculptures to the Met and 14 pieces to MOMA. The total value of the gift exceeds $150 million. Among the most important works are Picasso’s Cubist painting “Woman With Pears,” destined for MOMA, and Brancusi’s marble sculpture “Bird in Space,” left to the Met. Born in Denver, Schoenborn was the daughter of David May Sr., founder of the May Department Stores.

QUICK TAKES

For those who’ll never forget the Lollipop Kids and the other Little People in Oz: Four of the 14 surviving Munchkins from the classic MGM film “The Wizard of Oz” will be at Planet Hollywood in Beverly Hills today from noon to 2 p.m. The Munchkins will be signing copies of the newly published book “The Munchkins of Oz” (Cumberland House), written by Stephen Cox. . . . Julia Sweeney looked death in the face and turned it into an acclaimed one-woman show. Now she’s turning “God Said, Ha!” into a book. Bantam Books said Monday it will publish the memoirs of the comic, who is now appearing on Broadway. The hardcover will come out in May. . . . A tribute to talk-show psychiatrist and best-selling author Dr. David Viscott will be held today, 7-10 p.m. at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton, in the international ballroom. Viscott died Oct. 14 at his Studio City home, apparently of a heart attack.