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

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Glass Door Intact: A vote that might have ended the Vienna Philharmonic’s 155-year tradition of not admitting female musicians was put off Tuesday in Vienna amid reportedly heated debate among the orchestra’s members. The postponement defied recent criticism from within the Austrian government (a parliament committee, as well as arts officials) and from American feminist groups planning protests to coincide with a U.S. tour that brings the orchestra to Costa Mesa for sold-out performances March 4 and 5. The International Alliance for Women in Music, organizing the demonstrations with the National Organization for Women, said Tuesday it is “dismayed” by the lack of action. “The VPO’s continued refusal to allow qualified women as members openly demonstrates to the world [the orchestra’s] utter contempt and blatant disregard for basic principles of equality,” NOW said.

POP/ROCK

Hail ‘Odelay’: Beck’s Grammy-nominated “Odelay” was voted the best album of 1996 in the Village Voice’s annual poll of about 300 pop critics from around the country. According to results announced Tuesday, the singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, whose music mixes folk-rock and contemporary hip-hop textures, received 1,134 points--almost twice the 612 for the second-place album, the Fugees’ “The Score.” Works by Sleater-Kinney, DJ Shadow, Los Lobos, Steve Earle, Stereolab, Amy Rigby, Tricky and Pulp rounded out the Top 10, in that order.

TELEVISION

‘Escape’ From Corporate Politics: “Escape From a Wonderful Life”--Comedy Central’s spoof of Frank Capra’s holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”--never aired as announced last year because of corporate politics (objections from Republic, which owns rights to the original film and is a corporate sister of Comedy Central’s through media mergers). But it will get its first public showing next week at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. For “Escape,” new dialogue was dubbed into the original footage. In one scene, for instance, Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey decides he cannot marry because he is gay. Comedy Central says it still hopes to broadcast the film at some point.

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Newsmagazine Roundup: PBS is about to debut its first newsmagazine in 20 years. “Imaging America,” produced by PBS’ New York station, WNET-TV, will be shown on KCET-TV Channel 28 Tuesday nights at 10 starting April 1. Each week’s program will focus on one American city (first up: Portland, Ore.) in an effort to “discover how the major news issues and events of the day affect us all.” . . . CNN will launch a new hourlong newsmagazine called “Impact” on March 2 in the Sunday, 9 p.m. time slot. The new series, anchored by Bernard Shaw, is a collaboration between CNN and Time magazine, both owned by Time Warner. . . . CBS News correspondent Bernard Goldberg rejoins his alma mater “48 Hours” on Thursday. Goldberg was one of the newsmagazine’s original correspondents but left after four years to work on other CBS projects including “Eye to Eye” and “Street Stories.”

COMEDY

Laughing on Campus: Rodney Dangerfield is kicking off a series of comedy events from Hollywood’s Laugh Factory that will be broadcast live to college campuses nationwide via the Network Event Theater satellite system. The initial show, tonight at 6:30, also will feature comics Jim Breuer, Margaret Cho, Harry Basil, Wendy Liebman and Harland Williams. The Laugh Factory also is sponsoring a concurrent on-campus talent search for “America’s funniest college student”; finalists will perform for a panel of industry judges at the Laugh Factory on a date to be announced.

MOVIES

End of an Era: The Four Star Theater, an Art Deco landmark on Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile, has been purchased by the Oasis Christian Church and will close early in March. The theater’s manager, Michael Schleiger, noted that ironically business at the theater “has been picking up” recently: In addition to the usual fare of Korean films and repertory, an experimental 3D company has been using the theater’s new 50-foot silver screen and plans were underway to start showing silent movies once a week. The theater, closed for two years for retrofitting after the Northridge earthquake, was a prestige showcase from the 1930s to the ‘50s. Its last major first-run presentation was “The Graduate” in 1967.

QUICK TAKES

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has set Sept. 14 for the 49th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. The ceremony, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, will be broadcast on CBS. . . . Stomp’s upcoming stand at the Veterans Wadsworth Theater has been extended by seven performances. The engagement, presented by UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, now runs from March 4 through 30. . . . Elizabeth Taylor checked into Cedars-Sinai Hospital Tuesday morning to prepare for surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. Although the date has not been scheduled, the surgery will be sometime this week, according to Taylor’s publicist. . . . “NYPD Blue” star Sharon Lawrence’s new NBC sitcom, “Fired Up,” will premiere April 10 at 9:30 p.m. in the plum Thursday night spot between ratings champs “Seinfeld” and “ER.” Tea Leoni’s “The Naked Truth” will have finished its 13-episode run in that slot. . . . Sylvester Stallone is donating a $1-million, 12-foot-tall sculpture of Mozart from his art collection to Miami’s Center for the Performing Arts. . . . New Edition’s Ronnie DeVoe and two members of the band’s entourage were arrested in Louisville, Ky., Monday after a post-concert confrontation with police at a hotel. DeVoe was charged with resisting arrest, assault on a police officer and inciting a riot. Hotel staff had called police about someone drinking in the hallways.