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

RADIO

Local Symphonies: Classical station KKGO-FM (105.1) kicks off its series of local orchestra broadcasts tonight at 8 with the first of eight live Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performances scheduled for coming months. Starting Oct. 9, the station will also air live performances by Orange County’s Pacific Symphony (10 broadcasts). Pasadena Symphony will broadcast six concerts beginning Oct. 23, and Long Beach Symphony will broadcast seven performances starting Nov. 6. “Our goal is to have a regular Thursday night feature with local ensembles,” said Program Director Blanton Alspaugh, noting that KKGO hopes to add a couple more local orchestras to fill up 39 consecutive Thursdays (all broadcasts will be at 8 p.m.). In addition, on Oct. 11, the station will begin a weekly 9 a.m. Saturday L.A. Opera program featuring Suzanna Guzman and Rich Capparela in a preview of the company’s upcoming productions.

2,000 Years of Humor: KGIL-AM (1260), which recently switched from all-Beatles programming to a format of Broadway and Hollywood show tunes, on Sunday begins a weekly “Comedy Tonight” program hosted by longtime TV and radio personality Gary Owens. For its first five weeks, the 6-7 p.m. broadcast will feature installments of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks’ “2,000-Year-Old Man” series, including an Oct. 19 broadcast of the new “2000-Year-Old Man: In the Year 2000,” which hits stores Oct. 12. It’ll be the duo’s first recording together in 24 years.

POP/ROCK

Hall of Fame Finalists: The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel are among 15 acts under consideration this year for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The other nominees are: the Stooges, Santana, the Mamas & the Papas, Dusty Springfield, Del Shannon, Gene Vincent, Joe Tex, Gene Pitney, the Moonglows, Solomon Burke, Lloyd Price and Earth, Wind & Fire. Up to seven acts will be added to the hall during the 13th annual induction ceremonies tentatively scheduled for New York in January. Honorees will be announced next month.

TV & MOVIES

Bergeron Backs Up Gibson: ABC News on Thursday hired former “Fox After Breakfast” host Tom Bergeron to be the backup for Charles Gibson on “Good Morning America.” The move fueled rumors that Bergeron would soon replace Gibson altogether, but ABC said he would simply be the steady fill-in whenever Gibson is off. Gibson has previously admitted he’s thought about leaving, but says he has made no decision about his future.

Thornton vs. Thornton: Pietra Thornton has taken her public marital woes one step further by formally filing suit against her husband, Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton (“Sling Blade”), alleging that he assaulted and stalked her for several years while they lived together. The couple, who appeared arm-in-arm at this year’s Oscars, separated soon after, with each obtaining a restraining order against the other. Pietra Thornton, who seeks unspecified damages, claims that her husband bit her numerous times on her ears, choked her and punched her in the face. Billy Bob Thornton’s publicist on Thursday vowed that Thornton will fight the charges, which the publicist called “categorically untrue.”

Diversity Honors: Producers Bruce Paltrow (“St. Elsewhere”) and John Wells and Christopher Chulak (“ER”) will receive the Directors Guild of America’s inaugural Diversity Awards, recognizing “exemplary efforts in providing equal employment opportunities” to women and minority directors, tonight at 6 at the DGA’s Sunset Boulevard headquarters. The event follows the guild’s free “Summit on Diversity,” which begins at 2 p.m. and features panel discussions with top entertainment executives.

QUICK TAKES

ABC got off to its best Thursday start in three years with the premieres of “Nothing Sacred” and “Cracker.” According to Nielsen Media Research, the new dramas attracted 9.9 million and 11 million viewers, respectively, airing against repeats of NBC’s powerhouse lineup. . . . The Jane’s Addiction reunion tour, featuring three of the band’s four original members, will kick off Oct. 30 in New York and include a Nov. 28 show at Universal Amphitheatre. Tickets for the L.A. show are expected to go on sale next week. . . . Citing concerns about weather and potential access problems resulting from last week’s fire in Running Springs, promoters of tonight’s Organic ’97 electronic dance music festival have moved the event from Snow Valley ski resort to the National Orange Showgrounds in San Bernardino (689 S. E St.). Performances start at 6 p.m. and continue through 6 a.m. Sunday. . . . Spanish-language KWHY-TV Channel 22 will add an hourlong daily afternoon newscast, starting Monday at 5 p.m. The broadcast will include a half-hour each of local news and world news from CNN Internacional. KWHY has also moved its half-hour evening newscast up 90 minutes to 9 p.m. . . . Barry A. Sanders, a senior partner with the law firm Latham & Watkins, has been elected president of L.A. Philharmonic’s board of directors, succeeding Robert S. Attiyeh, who becomes the group’s chairman. . . . ABC has ordered “Prey,” a sci-fi series about a new race intent on destroying humankind, to air during the coming TV season. Debra Messing (“Ned and Stacey”) stars. . . . Four hundred lucky fans caught a surprise show by the Rolling Stones Thursday at the Double Door, a neighborhood bar in Chicago. The band starts its “Bridges to Babylon” stadium tour in the city Tuesday.