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

STAGE

Edgemar Plans: A new, celebrity-filled company plans to create 99- and 65-seat theaters at Edgemar, the complex in Santa Monica that formerly housed the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Called Loretta Theatre, the group includes Holly Hunter, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Beth Henley and others who broke away last year from the Met Theatre in Hollywood. The group has launched a $1.2-million fund-raising campaign to support its proposal, which is contingent on approval of a zoning change by the Santa Monica City Council.

TELEVISION

A Call From Cosby: Bill Cosby postponed a guest appearance on the CBS series “Touched by an Angel” after the death of his son, Ennis Cosby. The part was to have been taped Tuesday, but Cosby called personally on Friday--the day after his son’s murder--to ask for a rain-check. “It moved us all to tears that he would take the time to do that,” said “Touched” executive producer Martha Williamson, who had to recast to make the episode’s scheduled airdate. “He’s a consummate professional.” Cosby will resume work on his own CBS series, “Cosby,” next week.

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‘Butt-Bowl’ Is Back: For the fourth year, MTV will counter-program the Super Bowl’s halftime show Sunday with “Butt-Bowl,” a takeoff on the popular Budweiser “Bud Bowl” beer commercials featuring two new “Beavis and Butt-head” cartoons. In other MTV news, Daisy Fuentes will take over hosting duties on the “House of Style” series, beginning Feb. 4. And original “House of Style” host Cindy Crawford, who left in 1995, will return as a correspondent.

MOVIES

Game Time: Bruce Willis, who began in TV’s “Moonlighting” before becoming a big film star, is branching out to another medium: video games. He will star in “Apocalypse,” an “arcade-style action shooter” being designed by Activision Inc. for the Sony PlayStation. Rather than compete against Willis, players will team up with him as a “virtual partner” in a battle against the legendary Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Willis struck a multimillion dollar deal--including an equity interest in Activision itself--to lend his image to the entirely-computer-generated 3-D character. The game is expected to be released this fall.

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Producers’ Picks: In yet another possible harbinger of the upcoming Oscar race, the Producers Guild of America announced its Golden Laurel Award nominees Wednesday: Saul Zaentz for “The English Patient,” Ethan Coen for “Fargo,” David Barron for “Hamlet,” Jane Scott for “Shine” and Oliver Stone, Janet Yang and Michael Hausman for “The People vs. Larry Flynt.” The award will be presented March 12 at the Universal City Hilton.

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Supporting Human Rights: Urging that “respect for freedom of expression must underpin ties between our two countries,” 59 leading actors, directors, producers and writers have written to President Clinton urging him to sponsor a resolution on China during the annual United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva in March. “We believe,” the letter says, “that the U.S. should continue to speak out on behalf of freedom of expression, freedom of association and a free press and other fundamental human rights in China and Tibet.” Those signing included Barbra Streisand, Oliver Stone, Susan Sarandon, Sydney Pollack, Gregory Peck, Edward James Olmos, Sidney Lumet, Ron Howard, Larry Gelbart, Harrison Ford, Sally Field, Steven Bochco, Alec Baldwin, Ed Asner and Steve Allen. The letter was prompted in part by recent displeasure in China over a planned Walt Disney Company movie about the Dalai Lama. The group said this is “only the latest in a series of efforts by the Chinese authorities to censor the film industry.”

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Genesis Winners: “Fly Away Home,” the story of a young girl who befriends a flock of orphaned goslings, was named best feature film Wednesday by the Ark Trust, a national animal protection organization whose annual Genesis Awards recognize movies and television programs that “spotlight animal issues with courage, creativity and integrity.” Other winners include ABC’s “Ellen” (best comedy series) and the syndicated “Baywatch” (best TV drama).

QUICK TAKES

With 143,000 copies sold last week, No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom” continued its reign as the nation’s best-selling album for the seventh week in a row, the longest consecutive chart-topping run since “The Lion King” soundtrack was No. 1 for nine straight weeks in the summer of 1994. A distant second, according to SoundScan, was the “Evita” soundtrack (with 104,000 copies sold). . . . TNT’s “Last Stand at Saber River,” starring Tom Selleck in the movie version of Elmore Leonard’s novel, drew nearly 5.2 million households (11% of the available audience) for its premiere Sunday; it is believed to be the largest audience ever for an original film on basic cable. . . . In what is being billed as their first reunion in more than five years, former Motley Crue singer Vince Neil will join forces with band members Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars to perform “Shout at the Devil” at the 24th annual American Music Awards, airing Monday on ABC. . . . Morgan Freeman has joined with his “Bopha!” producer Lori McCreary to form Revelations Entertainment, a production company based in Santa Monica that will focus on projects that “enlighten, express heart, and glorify the human experience.”