TODAY’S BEST BETS

Television

Too sassy for some but dandy for others, Kathy Griffin--with her quick wit and even faster retort--takes her act to HBO. “The ‘Round Midnight Special” is sure to flash more adult humor not allowed in her portrayal of Brooke Shields’ acerbic sidekick on NBC’s “Suddenly Susan.”

“Kathy Griffin: Hot Cup of Talk,” midnight, HBO.

Pop Music

Neil Finn’s “Try Whistling This,” released in July, got a three-star review from The Times and is the pop craftsman’s first album since the demise of Crowded House last year.

Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., (213) 380-5005. 8 p.m.

Freebie

The Conjunto Jardin and Ballet Folklorico del Pacifico perform a program of traditional Mexican music and dance. And if the weather’s too hot, you can always run through the water fountain that’s part of the downtown stage.

California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., (213) 626-1901. Noon and 8 p.m.

Movies

The “Twentieth Century Fox and the Golden Age of CinemaScope” series continues with “Carmen Jones,” Oscar Hammerstein’s modernization of Bizet’s “Carmen,” with Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte (above) and Pearl Bailey. A fiery show, directed with urbanity and cool by Otto Preminger.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., (323) 857-6010. 7:30 p.m.

More openings, F12