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

TELEVISION

Visiting the Real Titanic: Cable’s Discovery Channel will take viewers two and a half miles below the sea to the real site of history’s most famous shipwreck during “Titanic Live,” a two-hour broadcast scheduled for Aug. 16 at 5 p.m. The live special will feature a team of leading scientific experts who have been exploring the site to learn more about how the ship sank and how quickly it is disintegrating on the ocean floor. Discovery Channel Online (at https://www.discovery.com) will also provide real-time images from the Titanic, and immediately following the broadcast, the Titanic experts will answer viewers’ questions in a live Web cast. Discovery said the special--which will use remote-operated vehicles to venture far inside the “heart” of the Titanic--will air in more than 100 countries. Additional programs analyzing information gathered from the full monthlong expedition will be seen in the spring of 1999. “Given the public’s continued interest in the Titanic and all that she symbolized, we are very pleased to be able to bring new knowledge about why and how this devastating event happened,” said George Tulloch, president of RMS Titanic Inc., the legal guardian of the Titanic’s remains.

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‘Blue’ Streak: Although he keeps losing partners, Dennis Franz says he has no plans to leave “NYPD Blue.” A three-time Emmy winner for the ABC police drama, Franz said at a press conference Wednesday that given the quality of acting and writing on the show, “I see no reason why I would be interested in going elsewhere.” Jimmy Smits--who followed David Caruso as Franz’s partner--will leave in the fall, with Rick Schroder joining the cast. When the subject of his future with the program came up, Franz turned to producer Steven Bochco and asked, “How deep are your pockets?” Bochco responded by handing over his wallet.

MOVIES

Fidel Knows Jack: After spending three hours chatting with Fidel Castro during a recent weeklong trip to Cuba, actor Jack Nicholson is urging President Clinton to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba. “They are both humanists,” Nicholson told Variety columnist Army Archerd. “And it would be great for Clinton’s legacy. There’s no reason for [the schism] to continue. After all, [Clinton] did go to China.” Nicholson called Castro “a genius,” saying: “We spoke about everything. . . . We talked about life, culture. . . . Yes, he’s seen some of my movies.” Nicholson’s visit was on invitation from the Cuban Film Board; contrary to some printed reports, he says he did not buy a home there.

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Banderas Swayed by Protest Letters: Antonio Banderas, whose film, “The Mask of Zorro,” opens today, has withdrawn from a movie biography about the late Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, after receiving hundreds of protest letters from Greek Americans. Banderas’ agent, Lisa Baum, said that he would instead devote his full energy to a film version of “The Phantom of the Opera.” However, producer Tarquin Olivier, a son of Sir Laurence Olivier, told the Associated Press Thursday that he is to meet with Banderas again today in an attempt to assuage his concerns about the protests. “It isn’t honorable for a minority to block artistic expression,” Olivier, 61, said, maintaining that the letters are coming from only “a few disenchanted Greeks, a few disenchanted Armenians.” Ataturk, a brilliant military commander, has also been viewed as a ruthless leader who cared little for democracy. Greece and Armenia have historically been enemies of Turkey, and the protesters apparently fear that the film might lead to a warming of popular feeling toward Turkey, while also portraying Ataturk as a hero and ignoring what they consider his evil deeds.

POP/ROCK

Ruling Against Shakur Estate: A Georgia jury has awarded $210,000 to a sheriff’s deputy who was shot by rapper Tupac Shakur after a 1993 traffic argument. The incident occurred when Shakur, who was fatally shot three years later, was in Atlanta to give a concert. Scott Whitwell, who was off duty at the time, said he was walking with his wife and brother when they argued with the driver of a car that almost hit them. When two other cars pulled up, the Whitwells ran, and Whitwell and his brother both were shot in the buttocks, Whitwell’s attorney said. After the altercation, the rapper filed a $2-million counterclaim alleging Scott Whitwell made false accusations and the shooting was justified. However, a judge issued a default judgment against the rapper after his lawyers failed to make court-required disclosures.