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

MOVIES

‘Postman’ on Holiday: Warner Bros., which this year offered such high-profile box-office misses as “Fathers’ Day,” “Mad City” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” could be ending 1997 with another big underachiever, according to box-office figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. “The Postman,” an action-filled tale of a letter carrier who inspires hope among survivors of a post-apocalyptic America, debuted at No. 8 at the box office on Christmas Day. The movie, directed by and starring Kevin Costner, took in only $1.55 million on 2,207 screens. Meanwhile, “Titanic” continued to do strong business, grossing $8.5 million to capture the No. 1 spot on the holiday. To date, the James Cameron film has taken in $51.9 million in two weeks of release. The second-highest-grossing film on Christmas Day was United Artists’ James Bond thriller “Tomorrow Never Dies,” which raked in $5.8 million. Among the week’s new films, “Jackie Brown” ranked No. 3 with $3.9 million; “An American Werewolf in Paris” was next with $3.5 million and the Jack Nicholson-Helen Hunt romantic comedy, “As Good as It Gets,” was fifth with $3.4 million. Rounding out the top 10 were: “Scream 2,” $2.7 million; “Mouse Hunt,” $1.8 million; “Mr. Magoo,” $1.3 million; and “Amistad,” $1.26 million. Four films bowing in limited release were: “Wag the Dog,” $32,138; “Kundun,” $27,513; “The Winter Guest,” $7,953; and “The Education of Little Tree,” $543(on one screen).

TELEVISION

High Stakes: Seeking to rain on rival WB network’s parade, UPN has scheduled a special titled “Real Vampires . . . Exposed!” at 8 p.m. on Jan. 20--opposite the WB’s fang-tipped drama “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,” which moves from Mondays to Tuesdays beginning that night. UPN will also air a special at 9 p.m., “Alien Encounters: The Incident at Lake County,” against the premiere of the WB’s coming-of-age drama “Dawson’s Creek.” WB and UPN have been dueling to establish a viable fifth broadcast network. The WB’s expansion to Tuesdays will bring that venture to four nights of programming per week, while UPN has postponed plans for a fourth night until next fall.

Still the One: Concurrent with his Christmas Day announcement that 1997-98 marks the final season of his hit NBC comedy, for the second year running, comic Jerry Seinfeld tops the list of most popular TV personalities, according to a Harris poll released this week. Spots 2, 3 and 4--”Home Improvement’s” Tim Allen, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby--are also repeats. On the upswing were Rosie O’Donnell, who moved up from eighth to fifth place, and Drew Carey who shot from No. 10 to No. 6. David Letterman, on the other hand, slipped two notches to seventh place, one spot ahead of Jay Leno, who was 10th last year.

‘Mockingbird’ Flies Low: Even in reruns it’s hard to beat Jerry. ABC’s telecast of the 1962 classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Christmas night drew slightly better ratings than the network averages Thursdays but still couldn’t keep pace with reruns of NBC’s popular lineup, which includes “Seinfeld.” The movie, starring Gregory Peck, attracted 12% of the audience, according to preliminary results from major cities monitored by Nielsen Media Research. That was only good enough for third place, behind NBC’s 19% of available homes and 13% for CBS, which aired the original movie “The Christmas Box,” starring Maureen O’Hara.

THE ARTS

Bowl-ing in Japan: The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by conductor John Mauceri, launches its fourth visit to Japan with a New Year’s Eve concert at Osaka Festival Concert Hall, followed by four performances at Tokyo’s Orchard Hall Jan. 2-4. The tour program commemorates the centenary of George Gershwin’s birth, the 80th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Walt Disney company. The Mitch Hanlon Singers, who range in age from 5 to 14, will join the orchestra on tour, performing in the Disney Classics Overture, and music from “Annie” and “Home Alone.” Radio host Rich Capparela will be phoning in daily “Postcards From Japan” to classical music stations KKGO-FM and KGIL-AM (1260) Monday-Jan. 5.

QUICK TAKES

Sylvester Stallone, writer-director Kasi Lemmons (“Eve’s Bayou”) and film composer Jerry Goldsmith (“The Omen,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Chinatown”) will be honored at the ninth annual Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival Jan. 8-19. . . . KABC-AM talk host Larry Elder will fill in as host of CNBC’s “Rivera Live” during Geraldo Rivera’s vacation Sunday and Monday. . . . For the first time, Disneyland’s traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks extravaganza will be broadcast live as part of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ‘98” on ABC.