Fri. Best Bets: 6/26

5pm / Festival

“King of the Blues,” B.B. King gets the Taste of Orange County ’98 food and music festival off to a flying start at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro. The Braxton Brothers and pianist Joe Sample keep things hopping on Saturday, and keyboardist Jeff Lorber continues Sunday. Master chefs prepare their best dishes, comics tell their best jokes on the Improv stage, and there’s plenty of kids’ stuff too, from “bounce houses” to pony rides.

* Taste of Orange County ‘98, Friday, 5 p.m.-midnight (King appears at 9 p.m.); Saturday, noon- midnight; Sunday, noon-10 p.m. Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro (take the 5 or 405 freeways to Sand Canyon exit in Irvine). Adults, $8; 12 and under, free; food and beverage samples, $1-$5. (714) 664-1496; or (714) 753-1551.

8:30pm / Art

Gen Art, the nonprofit arts organization devoted to showcasing works by emerging artists and cultivating young art collectors, hosts its annual fund-raiser at the former home of the Craft and Folk Art Museum, which closed in December. The 1998 Gen Art Los Angeles Summer Benefit will feature a silent auction of works in a variety of media by local artists, hors d’oeuvres from area restaurants, a hosted bar and music by Men Without Sex. Proceeds will benefit Gen Art’s local programs, including Fresh Faces in Fashion, Culture to Kids and Artist’s Alliance.

* The 1998 Gen Art Los Angeles Summer Benefit, 8:30 p.m.-1 a.m., 5817 Wilshire Blvd. Tickets: $35 in advance; $45 at the door. (310) 204-6050.

Noon / Television

The Museum of Television & Radio’s “The Complete and Utter History of Monty Python’s Flying Circus” celebrates the legendary TV series, which aired in Britain from 1969 to 1974 and was created by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The screening series kicks off this weekend with a marathon of all 45 “Flying Circus” episodes, followed by three months of pre-Python material, classic Python episodes and sketches, and a potpourri of post-Python television appearances.

* “The Complete and Utter History of Monty Python’s Flying Circus” screening series, July 1-Sept. 24. “Flying Circus” Marathon, Friday and Saturday, noon-9 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4:30 p.m. Museum of Television & Radio, 465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills. Included in museum admission: suggested donation $6 for adults, $4 for students and seniors, $3 for children under 13. $12 for three-day pass, $10 for seniors and students. (310) 786-1000.

8pm / Theater

Lanford Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Talley’s Folly” tells the story of a World War II-era courtship between a Jewish-German immigrant and the daughter of a wealthy Southern family.

* “Talley’s Folly,” International City Theatre at Center Theater, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends July 19. $28-$30; Friday’s opening, $37. (562) 938-4128.

5pm / Family

Put on your dancing shoes for the International Salsa Festival, a three-day family fest featuring bands, L.A. circus performances, carnival rides, a Selena fashion show, salsa lessons and Caribbean cuisine. Entertainers scheduled to appear include Charanga Cubana, Johnny Polanco, Susie Hansen, the L.A. Salsa Kids and more. Sunday, 3-7 p.m., winners of amateur salsa dance contests will compete in the Salsaweb.com dance contest. Also as part of the festival, the Coasters present an oldies concert Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Proyecto Uno joins Tito Puente, Jr. onstage Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Some of the same bands will perform Saturday at the 2nd Annual Dia de San Juan at John Anson Ford Ampitheatre.

* International Salsa Festival, Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. Friday, 5 p.m.-midnight; Saturday, 11 a.m.-midnight; Sunday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Adults, $8; children under 12, $3. Dance contest entry and festival ticket $10 (all ages). (877) TO-SALSA.

* 2nd Annual Dia de San Juan, 7-11 p.m. John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, off the 101 Freeway, north of the Hollywood Bowl. $20-$25. (213) 461-3673.

all day Movies

In the old days, leading men wooed their leading ladies by bringing them flowers and whispering sweet nothings to them under the moonlight. Nowadays? They kidnap ‘em. To wit: “A Life Less Ordinary,” “Excess Baggage,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Palmetto” . . . and now “Out of Sight.” George Clooney stars as a prison escapee who holds beautiful federal marshal Jennifer Lopez hostage. Does romance ensue? What do you think? Steven Soderbergh directs screenwriter Scott Frank’s adaptation of the Elmore Leonard page-turner.

* “Out of Sight” (rated R) opens in general release on Friday.

FREEBIE: Bel Artes Trio, California Plaza, 300 S. Grand Ave., downtown, noon. (213) 687-2159.