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

TELEVISION

Bono Tributes: Cable’s VH1, TV Land and A&E; will pay tribute to the late Congressman Sonny Bono by focusing on his roots in the entertainment world. TV Land will air six hours of the 1970s staple “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” from 5-11 p.m. tonight. And VH1 has scheduled “Sonny Bono: VH1 Behind the Music News Special,” a new 30-minute documentary described as “an in-depth look at Bono’s influence on music and entertainment,” today at 1 p.m., with repeats Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. A&E;, meanwhile, will air a new hourlong installment of its “Biography” series focusing on Bono on Saturday at 9 p.m. Bono, 62, died Monday in a skiing accident in South Lake Tahoe. (See A1.)

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Palestinian Conflicts?: Angry over a “60 Minutes” story about human rights abuses and government corruption, an advisor to Yasser Arafat has told CBS television crews they will no longer have free access to cover Palestinian officials and events. However, the Palestinian Information Ministry said the advisor was merely expressing his own views and that the Palestinian Authority, which accredits foreign journalists, has made no such decision. In a front-page article Tuesday in the pro-government Palestinian newspaper Al Quds, Arafat advisor Bassam Abu Sharif accused the CBS program of intentionally trying to damage the image of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people. The Dec. 7 program reported that prices for such items as cigarettes, cement, flour and gasoline had risen because the products were controlled by monopolies run by the Palestinian Authority. A letter from Abu Sharif outlining what he said were Palestinian Authority’s complaints was sent to the show’s producers in New York. Dan Mogulof, head of the CBS bureau in Tel Aviv, said CBS was taking Abu Sharif’s complaint “very seriously” and was discussing the matter with Palestinian officials.

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‘Cheers’ Reunion: Former “Cheers” barmates, including Ted Danson, Shelley Long, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger and Kelsey Grammer, are scheduled to reunite in Aspen, Colo., March 4 through 8 during the fourth annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. The “Cheers” tribute, which will also feature series creators Glen Charles, Les Charles and James Burrows, will join other festival events including “On the Comedic Edge of Animation ‘98,” a series of screenings and symposiums; “Paradigm Lost,” from the Chicago troupe Second City; and live tapings of ABC’s “Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher” and HBO’s “Dennis Miller Live.”

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No Kids Allowed: The WB network stressed Tuesday that it doesn’t think its upcoming teenage drama “Dawson’s Creek” is appropriate for children. Meeting with reporters in Pasadena, WB chief executive Jamie Kellner said: “I don’t think we want children to watch the show. That’s why we put it on at 9 [p.m.].” Kellner predicted that despite a teenage cast, the show would have a broader appeal to those ages 12-49. The series, which deals with teenage sexuality, premieres Jan. 20 following the second half of a two-part “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” launching the network’s new Tuesday night of programming.

MOVIES

Not Backing Down: In his annual letter to Walt Disney Co. shareholders, Disney Chairman Michael Eisner promised to keep censorship out of the Mouse’s way, vowing to defend the company’s “right” to make entertainment that some might find offensive. Eisner did not mention the Southern Baptist Convention by name, but alluded to the conservative church that has called for a boycott of the company because Disney offers benefits to partners of gay employees and releases what the church believes are violent and sexual films. “We seek to be in business with the best and most creative talent we can find,” Eisner said in the letter released this week. “We then try to give them freedom to do their best work. We try not to censor them, and I will always defend the right of the talented artists who work for us to push the limits of their imagination.”

POP/ROCK

Tenors Tidbits: The three tenors announced plans Tuesday to celebrate soccer’s 1998 World Cup with a July 10 concert under Paris’ famed Eiffel Tower. It will be the third World Cup songfest by the renowned trio, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. Up to 800,000 are expected for the show, featuring the Paris Orchestra under the direction of American conductor James Levine. Meanwhile, the super-tenors appeared at a charity concert in Madrid Monday night celebrating Spanish King Juan Carlos’ 60th birthday. Performing before 1,630 guests in the recently reopened Teatro Real, the three sung without microphones for the first time in their 15 joint engagements.

QUICK TAKES

NBC has extended Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” contract to the year 2003. He marks his 10th anniversary on the show in 2002. . . . Final December-drive pledge results for KCET-TV Channel 28 amounted to $1,026,364, just passing the station’s $1-million goal, a spokeswoman said. . . . Three-time Oscar-winning producer Saul Zaentz (“The English Patient”) will receive the American Cinema Editors’ Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, March 14 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Previous honorees include Clint Eastwood, Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. . . . A total of 275 feature-length films are eligible for this year’s Academy Awards, up from 248 contenders last year. Nominations ballots with the list of eligible films will be mailed to academy members this weekend.