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

Whitney Director San Francisco Bound: David A. Ross, director of New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art since 1991, has been appointed director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He will succeed John R. Lane, who resigned last September. At the Whitney, Ross, 48, led a renovation and expansion program that increased the high-profile museum’s exhibition space by 30%. His previous posts include director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston for nine years, an administrative and curatorial position at the University Art Museum in Berkeley from 1977-81 and deputy director for programs at the Long Beach Museum of Art from 1974-77.

TELEVISION

From Kids’ Show to Parents’ Newspaper: Nickelodeon’s animated children’s cable series “Rugrats” will be carried in newspapers nationwide in a new daily and Sunday comic strip debuting April 5. The strip, which will be seen in papers including The Times, will feature all the “Rugrats” characters, including 1-year-old Tommy Pickles, his best friend Chuckie Finster, baby twins Phil and Lil DeVille, and Tommy’s bratty older cousin Angelica Pickles, who is currently seen starring in her own commercials for fast-food chain Burger King.

It’s Drew Carey’s Line: ABC will get a double dose of its sitcom star Drew Carey when he hosts an American version of the British improv comedy game show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Six episodes are planned to air this summer. One of “The Drew Carey Show’s” co-stars, Ryan Stiles, will be a panelist.

Preserving History: Universal Studios is marking entertainment industry leader Lew Wasserman’s 85th birthday by funding “Amarcord: The Lew Wasserman Living History of Hollywood,” a long-term UCLA documentary project aimed at recording the memories and insights of entertainment industry pioneers. (“Amarcord,” also the title of a 1974 Federico Fellini film, is an Italian word meaning “I remember.”) The project will be conducted by documentary students at UCLA’s department of film and television, who will interview residents of the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s retirement home in Woodland Hills. The oral histories will be kept at the UCLA Film and Television Archive and will be accessible to the public.

POP/ROCK

Disney Music: Walt Disney Records on Tuesday released the first three albums in the new Disney’s Archive Collection, a series of recordings featuring classic Disney music that has been unavailable for decades. The digitally restored songs--available on compact disc for the first time--include popular Disney film songs and original material performed by popular artists of the ‘60s, as well as movie soundtracks and familiar music from Disneyland attractions. Included on the initial releases--”Louis Prima With Gia Maione: Let’s Fly With Mary Poppins,” “Let’s Get Together With Hayley Mills” and “Burl Ives: Chim Chim Cher-ee and Other Children’s Choices”--are songs such as “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Jeepers Creepers” and “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.”

What’s in a Name?: The Sunset Strip nightclub Billboard Live is undergoing a name change because of a change in ownership of the Billboard name and license. A new moniker will be announced Friday. Managers say the club will continue to operate “business as usual,” but changes will include the removal of the signature Jumbotron screens from the club’s exterior.

QUICK TAKES

Van Morrison is back on the bill for the Bob Dylan-Joni Mitchell concerts May 21 and 22 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion and May 23 at the Pond of Anaheim. Tickets go on sale Monday. . . . “Titanic” swept the annual American Moviegoer Awards, voted by callers to the MovieFone listing service. The box-office champ won for best film, director (James Cameron), actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and actress (Kate Winslet). . . . USA Network’s Sunday premiere of a new “Moby Dick” starring Patrick Stewart and Gregory Peck drew more than 5.9 million homes--the biggest audience ever for an original basic cable movie, the network said Tuesday. . . . Country singer Shania Twain’s first world concert tour will kick off May 29 in Sudbury, Canada, and will reach the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on June 21. An on-sale date has not yet been announced. . . . The best-selling pop group Boyz II Men has been set as a headliner for Fiesta Broadway, the April 26 Cinco de Mayo street festival in downtown L.A. The R&B; group will perform in both English and Spanish. . . . The “3rd Rock From the Sun” episodes featuring guest star John Cleese will now air as a two-night special, April 28-29 on NBC.