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

TELEVISION

Farley’s Funeral: Fellow “Saturday Night Live” alums Dan Aykroyd and Chris Rock and the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels, were among those attending comedian Chris Farley’s funeral, held on Tuesday in his hometown of Madison, Wis. Security guards turned away reporters and others from the Queen of Peace Catholic Church. About half a dozen fans gathered across the street from the church. Three seniors from an area high school said they played hooky to come to the funeral and managed to get into the church for the wake. “It’s really a sad scene,” said 18-year-old Josh Myers. “All these people who make you laugh on TV, to see them crying, it’s really different.” Farley’s brother Tom said earlier that the family was dealing with the tragedy “in typical Irish fashion. A lot of tears, a lot of laughter.” Farley, 33, was found dead Thursday at his apartment in Chicago. The cause of death has not yet been released.

MOVIES

Levinson Is Livid: Director Barry Levinson is threatening to quit the Writers Guild of America after an arbitration panel refused to give first-position screenwriting credit to David Mamet on Levinson’s new film, “Wag the Dog” (see review, F4). The panel, instead, gave the credit to screenwriter Hilary Henkin, who had adapted the novel “American Hero” before Levinson ever signed onto the project. “If the movie that is on the screen is a reflection of what is written in the screenplay, then David Mamet should have the first position,” Levinson said Tuesday. By listing Mamet second in the credits, the director added, “it indicates that all he did was a punch up on her work.” Henkin told Daily Variety that she felt she deserved the credit. “I did not ask for sole credit, I asked for shared credit and the guild decided in my favor,” she said. To receive screen credit, guild rules require that 33% of the material--dialogue, characterization, structure, tone, sequencing or any mixture of all of these--remains in the final script. Mamet could not be reached for comment.

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Deja Vu: Three screenwriters have filed a $5-million lawsuit against MGM, claiming the idea for “Tomorrow Never Dies”--the latest James Bond installment--was based on their screenplay “Conspiracy of Fear.” In court papers made available Monday, Jeffrey Howard, Chris Beutler and Jay Schlossberg-Cohen said that Madeleine Warren, wife of “Tomorrow Never Dies” writer Bruce Feirstein, was among those requesting a copy of their script when it was circulated in March 1996. There were major similarities between the scripts, the suit maintained. Both villains are media magnates trying to boost the value of their stock by fomenting friction between Britain and China over Hong Kong and both female protagonists are TV journalists of Asian descent. In addition to Feirstein and MGM, producer Barbara Broccoli and director Roger Spottiswood were named. “We regard this as a frivolous and transparent attempt to capitalize on the movie’s successful opening,” said Craig Parsons, MGM’s senior vice president of corporate communications.

POP/ROCK

Not So Hot Chili Peppers: One week after reports surfaced that guitarist Dave Navarro had relapsed into hard-drug use, the Red Hot Chili Peppers announced that they have canceled shows next week in Hawaii and Alaska and Jan. 7 in Las Vegas. Navarro’s publicist, Ken Phillips, declined comment on the cancellations Tuesday but said that Navarro had rehearsed with the band in Los Angeles as recently as Thursday. According to bassist Flea, whose comments were included in a statement released Tuesday by Warner Bros. Records, the lack of “the proper rehearsal time to perform at the group’s high musical standard” led to the shows being scrapped.