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

TELEVISION

Touched by Pay Dispute: With some tears, “Touched by an Angel” co-star Della Reese said at a news conference Monday that she was deeply hurt because CBS had offered her a smaller pay raise than her colleagues. Reese, who plays supervising angel Tess on the popular drama, reported that co-star Roma Downey (Monica) got a 100% increase and that John Dye (Andrew) received a 30% hike, but that she was offered just 12.5%. “I don’t think that’s right,” said Reese, who pointed out that she had received an Emmy nomination for best supporting actress. She urged fans to “rise up” and contact Leslie Moonves, president of CBS Television, to help her cause. “I want them to write him, call him, catch him by his car.” Reese is not walking off the job, however; she said she’ll be on the set in Salt Lake City today. A CBS spokesman replied: “We think our offer to pay her more while she works less is fair” because Reese has a somewhat shortened work schedule than other cast members.

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“Home,” Sweeter “Home”?: “Home Improvement” star Tim Allen is said to be renegotiating his contract, under a deal that would reportedly pay him more than $1 million an episode next season. Representatives for Allen, who came into the fall season receiving about $350,000 per episode, sought the raise after widely reported salary negotiations involving the “Seinfeld” cast. Jerry Seinfeld became the first TV actor to reach the $1 million-per-episode plateau. Currently in its seventh year, “Home Improvement” remains ABC’s top-rated entertainment program. A spokeswoman for Allen would say only that the actor has not signed a contract for an eighth season. Walt Disney Television, which produces the show, declined to comment.

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Kaplan’s Moves at CNN: Rick Kaplan, who left ABC News to become president of CNN last summer, has been quietly moving to make some changes at the network. A two-hour special about campaign-finance reform--airing from 4 to 6 p.m. today and involving many CNN anchors and reporters--is a format that Kaplan says will be duplicated on other major issues. Kaplan also told The Times that he is looking to improve the regular newscasts on CNN and has met with the editors of Time Warner magazines (including People and Time) about creating new TV newsmagazines based on those publications. Kaplan confirmed that CNN has had some “preliminary conversations” about sharing some services of CBS anchor Dan Rather. But he said speculation about CNN and CBS joining resources overall was “way out front of reality.” “We’re looking at each other’s resources--what each of us has that the other covets,” Kaplan said. “We’d certainly be interested in acquiring Dan’s services. But I don’t think we’d be willing to give away CNN’s editorial news-gathering” resources to get Rather part time.

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TV Report Cards: Parents in Los Angeles and Orange counties will be able to evaluate the new educational children’s TV shows with “report cards” provided by a coalition of children’s groups called the California Campaign for Kids’ TV. The group will distribute 10,000 children’s TV report cards to parents, educators, health professionals and child advocates in the area. “TV stations will know that parents are watching what stations are counting as educational programming,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Media Education, one of the sponsors of the effort, which will be unveiled today. “We picked Los Angeles because it’s such an important television market.”

MOVIES

Women Filmmakers: “Making Sandwiches,” actress Sandra Bullock’s writing and directing debut (in which she stars with Matthew McConaughey), will be included in the 1997 CineWomen Screening Series, a two-day festival of independent films by women, scheduled for Nov. 19-20 at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Other films scheduled for the festival include “All Grown Up,” an animated short about women and aging by Joanna Priestly, and “Absence Stronger Than Presence,” Benita Raphan’s documentary about the inventor of the Polaroid camera.

DANCE

DanceWest Selections: Four of the eight artists and companies chosen to perform in the DanceWest platform of the Sixth Rencontres Choreographiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis are from Southern California. They include three groups from Los Angeles--Diavolo Dance Theatre, Hae Kyung Lee & Dancers, Malashock Dance & Company--and Oguri from San Diego. The Rencontres is considered the world’s most prestigious festival for modern dance choreography.

QUICK TAKES

“The X-Files” star David Duchovny is threatening to leave the series after the coming season if production doesn’t shift from Vancouver, Canada, to Los Angeles. Duchovny told “Access Hollywood” that he wants to be closer to his wife, actress Tea Leoni, who stars in NBC’s “The Naked Truth.” Fox, which produces the program, said no plans have been made on where to film the show next year. . . . The ACLU of Southern California has landed Ellen DeGeneres as one of its honorees for its Bill of Rights Dinner on Dec. 7 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. . . . “John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk,” a documentary about the African American scholar, is screening this week for Academy Award consideration at the Magic Johnson Theaters. The feature-length film is narrated and executive-produced by Wesley Snipes. All screenings are at 9 a.m. . . . A drive to get the Beatles a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame kicks off at 5 p.m. Thursday at the star for John Lennon, 1750 N. Vine St. . . . Julian Ganz, a longtime board member of the L.A. County Museum of Art, has been elected to the board of trustees of the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Meanwhile, Dean Valentine, president of the UPN television network, has been elected to the board of L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art.