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

TELEVISION

‘Seinfeld’ on the Web, Finally: With the countdown having begun in earnest for Thursday’s “Seinfeld” finale, series producer Castle Rock Entertainment and Warner Bros. Online have launched the first official “Seinfeld” Web site (at https://www.seinfeld.com). The site is expected to keep going after the series completes its NBC run and is to feature updates on the careers of the series’ four stars, including details about Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up comedy tour this summer.

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Adios, Geraldo: Geraldo Rivera taped the 2,163rd and final episode of his talk show in New York on Thursday, using the occasion to recall an infamous 1988 incident in which a white supremacist broke Rivera’s nose by heaving a chair, setting a standard for daytime TV debauchery at a time when Jerry Springer was just a washed-up politician. “I leave the talk-show business with my honor intact and my bills paid,” said Rivera, who plans to take a larger role at NBC News. In recent weeks, the show had been downgraded locally to a 2 a.m. air time on KCBS-TV Channel 2.

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Words of Warning: “Home Improvement” star Tim Allen speaks but doesn’t appear on a court-ordered video he made to fulfill a Michigan drunken driving conviction. In the 12-minute educational tape, Allen calls in to a program called “Choose to Drink, Choose to Get a Ride.” Speaking to a group in a bar, he says: “I was back here not too long ago and had a good time with some good friends, then I made a mistake--and a big one. I got behind the wheel. I knew better; I knew it only takes a couple of drinks to become impaired and become a real danger to someone else on the road.” Allen pleaded guilty last year to drunken driving after police, who had stopped him for speeding, tested his blood-alcohol level at .15 (Michigan’s legal limit is .10). Allen checked into a California rehabilitation clinic last month as part of his sentence, and is expected to be released soon, his spokeswoman said.

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Quick Response: A potential scheduling controversy between KCET-TV Channel 28 and “In the Life”--a gay and lesbian newsmagazine that airs every other month on more than 100 public TV stations--has ended almost before it began. On Thursday, Chastity Bono, entertainment media director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, faxed a letter to KCET President Al Jerome stating that the organization “strongly encourages” the station to move the next 60-minute installment from midnight to 11 p.m. Channel 28 spokeswoman Barbara Goen said the next program--expected to air in July--will indeed get an 11 p.m. berth. Bono had argued that “the majority of . . . viewers, both gay and straight, who might be interested in the program are asleep by midnight.” John Catania, director of communications and a producer of “In the Life,” welcomed the schedule change and said he hopes KCET can give the program a consistent time slot “so we can build an audience.”

ART

Met Gift: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will receive a treasure trove of 20th century European art considered to be one of the best collections in private hands. The museum said honorary trustee Natasha Gelman, who died Saturday in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at age 86, left the museum 85 works by Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Balthus, Modigliani and two dozen other masters. Gelman’s late husband, Jacques Gelman, made his fortune producing films for the late Mexican comedian Cantinflas.

QUICK TAKES

A high school principal canceled a free Indigo Girls concert Wednesday in Knoxville, Tenn., the third high school show by the duo to be called off in a week. But unlike the past cancellations, Farragut High School Principal Ed Hedgepeth said the duo’s homosexuality wasn’t a factor. Instead, he said he nixed the show because of reports that the Indigo Girls had used profanity at a previous concert. . . . Art Linkletter was hospitalized Thursday after collapsing while speaking to 2,000 health-care workers in Ohio. The 85-year-old TV personality was 45 minutes into his presentation when his speech slowed and his words began to slur. He then fainted, but regained consciousness before the ambulance arrived. . . . Alternative rocker Ani DiFranco guests--in animated form--on Sunday’s “King of the Hill” on Fox. She plays a feminist guitar teacher who teaches Peggy to reject her homemaker ways. . . . Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart has sued a landscaper, Matthew Munnich, for extortion and defamation over his claims that she angrily cursed him and pinned him with her sports utility vehicle while he was working for her Long Island neighbor last May. . . . The National Enquirer has settled a libel lawsuit brought by Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee after the tabloid reported they had a secret deal to reap more than $8 million from their honeymoon sex tape. The couple contend the tape was stolen from their Malibu home.