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

TELEVISION

Carol and Co.: “A Conversation With Carol Burnett” will lead off the Museum of Television & Radio’s fall seminar schedule on Sept. 17, when the comedian will take questions from the audience following a showing of highlights from her career. Other seminars, all of which will take place at the museum in Beverly Hills, include three (on Oct. 15, 20 and 22) focusing on the images of gays and lesbians on television; an Oct. 8 session with the creators of “The Simpsons” (Matt Groening), “King of the Hill” (Mike Judge) and “South Park” (Trey Parker and Matt Stone); and “40 Years of Top 40 Radio in Los Angeles,” with panelists Chuck Blore, Rick Dees, Bill Drake, Casey Kasem, Johnny Rivers and Gary Owens, on Dec. 2. Others are “Stretching the Silver Screen: Cinematography on Television” on Nov. 4, “A Conversation With Dick Van Dyke” on Nov. 12 and “The John H. Mitchell Seminar: Leslie Moonves,” featuring the president of CBS Television, on Dec. 9. Tickets are $10 per seminar, or $24 for all three “Gay and Lesbian Images on Television” sessions.

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A ‘NewsRadio’ Reunion: Khandi Alexander, who left NBC’s “NewsRadio” a year ago, will return for the show’s season premiere Sept. 23 in a guest starring role. The episode, titled “Bill Moves On,” will deal with the death of newsman Bill McNeal, who was played by the late Phil Hartman. In the episode, Alexander’s character, Catherine Duke, will learn what McNeal said to her in a personal letter he left to be read in the case of his death. In addition to “NewsRadio,” Alexander starred in two movies with Hartman: “Greedy” and “CB4.”

POP/ROCK

Rocket Sales: Elton John is now the second-best-selling solo artist of all time, ranking behind only country singer Garth Brooks, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. In new RIAA figures released this week, John’s cumulative U.S. album sales have reached 60.6 million, including 15 million for his 1974 compilation “Elton John’s Greatest Hits,” which is the top-selling album of its decade by a solo artist. The new numbers also place John in fifth place in the overall bestsellers list, behind the Beatles (more than 100 million albums sold), Brooks (81 million), Led Zeppelin (64.3 million) and the Eagles (62.0 million). Other best-selling solo artists include Billy Joel (60 million), Barbra Streisand (57.3 million) and Elvis Presley (50.1 million).

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Spicy Clothes: Ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is clearing out her wardrobe, including her famous Union Jack mini-dress, to benefit charity. Along with the clothes, the Sept. 16 sale at Sotheby’s London auction house will include the 1967 MGB roadster Halliwell bought with her first royalty check. She promises to deliver the Union Jack dress personally to the buyer. Proceeds will go to a children’s cancer charity.

VIDEO

Vintage Comedy: “Bob Hope’s Entertaining the Troops: The Vietnam Years,” a nine-tape set from Real Entertainment featuring his renowned USO tours from 1964 to 1972, will be available for the first time on home video in October. The comedian’s first Christmas tour in 1964 featured Jill St. John, Jerry Colonna and Les Brown & His Band of Renown on stops in Guam, Okinawa, Korea and Thailand. Last October, Hope was made an honorary veteran by an act of Congress.

MAGIC

Presto! It’s a New Club: Magicopolis, a new two-theater magic club that will feature both resident magicians and a series of performances by “celebrity” tricksters, will open in Santa Monica on Sept. 18 with a grand opening celebration featuring Penn & Teller. The club, located at 1418 4th St., will also have a walkway entrance accessible from Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. The initial nightly show in the 150-seat Abracadabra Theatre is “Nothing’s Impossible,” starring illusionists Nicholas Night and Bob Sheets; the 40-seat Hocus Pocus room will feature “World Class Sleight of Hand,” featuring close-up magic, with new shows starting every 20 minutes. Club owner Steve Spill, a veteran magician who has devised effects for Universal Studios Hollywood and the FX network’s “Penn and Teller’s Sin City Spectacular,” says he hopes the club will lead to heightened visibility for magicians the way that venues such as the Laugh Factory and Comedy Store have helped launch TV careers for numerous stand-up comedians. He also hopes to be “the impetus for budding young Houdinis.”

QUICK TAKES

NBC’s Monday night Princess of Wales tribute, “Diana,” garnered the highest ratings for any network special since ABC’s Academy Awards telecast last March, attracting an estimated 14.7 million viewers, the network said Tuesday. . . . Cable’s A&E; network will premiere four new installments of its 9 p.m. “Biography” series next week: “Regis Philbin: Made for TV” (Sunday), “Merv Griffin: Master of the Game” (Tuesday), “Don Imus: Mouthing Off” (Wednesday) and “Geraldo: Pushing the Envelope” (Friday). The programs are part of a “Can We Talk?” theme week on talk-show hosts, which also features repeat “Biographies” on Kathie Lee Gifford (Monday) and Joan Rivers (Thursday). . . . CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” will hold Los Angeles-area auditions on Sept. 12 for its “Stupid Pet Tricks” and “Stupid Human Tricks” segments. All tricks must be “safe,” and be humane to the animals involved. Auditions are by appointment only, at (888) PET-TRIK. . . . Jazz artists Alice Coltrane and Billy Higgins will be honored with the Leimert Park Jazz Festival Lifetime Achievement Award Saturday at the Vision Theater in Los Angeles. The award is presented to individuals who exemplify the mission of the jazz festival, which is to preserve jazz as a cultural art form.