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

OSCAR RECAP

Oscar’s No-Shows: If you thought Monday’s Academy Awards ceremony was long, imagine how much longer it could have been had everyone shown up for the tribute to past Oscar-winning performers. The academy said it invited all the living recipients to participate, and 70 did for a roll call that lasted 11 minutes. But more than three dozen were no-shows, including Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Jane Fonda, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Nicolas Cage, Goldie Hawn, Kevin Kline, Patty Duke, Christopher Walken, Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino, Julie Andrews, Paul Scofield, Joanne Woodward, Marlon Brando, Sally Field, Daniel-Day Lewis and Jodie Foster.

Bear of a Problem: Oscar producer Gil Cates called Monday’s live appearance by Bart the Bear--the 1,500-pound grizzly featured in “The Edge,” “The Bear” and “Legends of the Fall”--”the biggest logistical nightmare of the show.” Cates said there were challenges in terms of where to keep the massive bear, who eats 40 five-pound chickens daily. Fortunately, Bart--who, given his size, was difficult to hide from the celebrity audience before his turn in the spotlight--relieves himself only every other day, and efforts were made to have him onstage during an off day.

TV & VIDEO

Boston Lawyers: Fox’s “Ally McBeal” and ABC’s “The Practice”--both of which are created and written by David E. Kelley--will carry a story line from one show--and one network--to the other on April 27. The episodes will bring the series’ two Boston-based law firms together in one legal case. “Ally” airs Mondays on Fox at 9 p.m.; “The Practice” Mondays on ABC at 10 p.m.

Whither Farrah, Jaclyn and Kate?: MPI Home Video will explore the lives of “three women in the world of President Clinton” when it releases “Clinton’s Angels,” a 40-minute video purporting to examine “one way JFK’s style influenced Bill Clinton.” In addition to looks at Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky, the “rush release” video will include “responses” from both Bill and Hillary Clinton to various accusations of sexual misconduct fired against the president.

RADIO

Call the Doctor: The musical madness of longtime radio fixture Dr. Demento may join the new weekend lineup at former classic rock station KLSX-FM (97.1). Demento, whose popular syndicated two-hour show has been off the air in his hometown since KSCA-FM (101.9) went to Mexican regional music last year, will get a trial run on KLSX this Sunday from 8 to 10 p.m. Whether Demento--who plays novelty songs from throughout the history of recording--gets a regular slot will be determined, in part, by Sunday’s listener response. If the show is picked up, it will be one of the features of a new Sunday lineup that the station hopes to start next month. The station had retained music on weekends after switching daytime programming to talk in 1995, but because of poor ratings, added talk on Saturdays anchored by “best of” broadcasts from weekday hosts Tom Leykis and Jonathon Brandmeier. The remainder of the new Sunday programming is yet to be determined.

ART

New Bicoastal Gallery: Marc Selwyn, director of PaceWildenstein gallery in Beverly Hills, and Anthony Grant, who directs the high-powered gallery’s operation in New York, are leaving their positions to open a new bicoastal gallery. Grant Selwyn Fine Arts will show modern and contemporary masterworks in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills and in New York’s Upper East Side. The two dealers hope to find spaces soon and open their new business in the fall. Selwyn and Grant were both art specialists at Sotheby’s auction house before joining PaceWildenstein.

QUICK TAKES

Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for Pearl Jam’s previously announced July 13 show at the Great Western Forum, as well as a second show July 14 at the same venue. . . . KCOP-TV Channel 13 has won the California Associated Press’ best half-hour newscast award for its 6-month-old 7:30 p.m. broadcast. The award covered all newscasts in California and Nevada; no other L.A. station was nominated in either the half-hour or one-hour broadcast categories. . . . The Coleman Chamber Music Assn. has rescheduled its performance of the Juilliard String Quartet with clarinetist Charles Neidich for May 24 at 3:30 p.m. at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium. Tickets from the original March 8 date--which was postponed because of the death of a family member of one of the quartet members--will be honored on May 24. . . . Al Yeganeh, the New York soup maker credited with inspiring “Seinfeld’s” infamous “Soup Nazi” character, will appear on the Home Shopping Network from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday to hawk his mulligatawny, seafood and corn chowder, turkey chili and chicken vegetable soups. No lineups required. . . . Mariah Carey has been added to VH1’s April 14 broadcast “Divas Live--An Honors Concert for VH1 Save the Music,” joining performers Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Celine Dion and Shania Twain. . . . Showtime will air “Spice Girls in Concert: Wild!,” an Istanbul concert seen previously only in pay-per-view, on April 5 at 7 p.m. . . . “Dallas: War of the Ewings,” a new TV movie starring Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray reprising their roles from the long-running series, will air April 24 on CBS. . . . Fox’s “The Simpsons” will air its 200th episode on April 26.