ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.
TV & RADIO
KCBS Anchor Shake-Up: Due to what insiders are attributing to sagging ratings, KCBS-TV has broken up its top veteran anchor team of Michael Tuck and Ann Martin. Tuck, who had been paired with Martin on the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, has been replaced by weekend anchor Jonathan Elias. Tuck, in the meantime, has moved to co-anchor the 4:30 p.m. newscast with Linda Alvarez. One insider said that Tuck, who has been with the station since 1990, and Martin had worked well together, but that declining viewership and research stipulated that a change had to be made. The move came amid rumors that Martin--who was off the air on Monday but scheduled to be back Tuesday--may be leaving the station because of a salary dispute. Tuck was also off on Monday but began his new duties Tuesday.
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Stern Draws Denver Criticism: Radio shock jock Howard Stern and the Denver station that airs his syndicated program have drawn criticism over his comments about the Columbine High School massacre. Stern was quoted by the Rocky Mountain News as describing the girls fleeing from the April 20 shooting as “really good-looking” and asking on air whether the suicide gunmen tried “to have sex” with any of them. “Let Howard Stern make his millions in other broadcast markets,” the News said in an editorial Monday. “He does not belong in Denver.” Stern was unavailable for comment, but the general manager at Denver’s KXPK-FM said that Stern “feels that his comments were taken out of context.” Meanwhile, things at Stern’s Los Angeles outlet, KLSX-FM (97.1), are “quiet as a mouse,” with the station having received “zero calls” over the comments, the station’s program director says.
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More Littleton Notes: Eight local teenagers will talk with reporter Ruben Martinez about the school rampage and violence in schools on KCET-TV today during a special 7-8 p.m. edition of “Life & Times Tonight.” . . . In what they call a way to “show support from the hip-hop community,” Rappers Jay-Z and DMX planned to donate all their personal proceeds from a joint concert in Denver Tuesday night to the shooting victims’ families. . . . Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Belton, noting that her office had been inundated with hundreds of telephone calls from parents speaking out “against the hopelessness and despair” associated with the music of shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the wake of the shootings, called for a boycott of his concert in the city Tuesday night. “An empty house . . . is the best way to discourage future concerts of this genre,” the mayor said. A recorded message Tuesday at the concert venue, Target Center, said, “Due to contractual obligations, the show will go on as scheduled.”
ARTS IN EDUCATION
Spreading the Wealth: MGM has established a $25,000 acting scholarship at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television in honor of the Showtime series “The Outer Limits” and one of its stars, the late Lloyd Bridges, who was an alumnus of the university. The scholarship will award $5,000 to a different student each year over the next five years. Bridges--along with his actor son, Beau, and his grandson, Dylan, starred in “The Outer Limits’ ” 1995 premiere episode. . . . In other UCLA news, Ginny Mancini, widow of composer Henry Mancini, has donated $250,000 to UCLA’s Center for the Performing Arts to establish the Ginny Mancini Vocal Endowment, which will support UCLA performances by renowned vocal performers. . . . And over at USC, dedication ceremonies are scheduled today for the David L. Wolper Center for the Study of the Documentary, which will house the renowned movie and TV producer’s archives at the university’s Doheny Memorial Library.
OPERA
Pavarotti Must Pay: Luciano Pavarotti has lost his court battle against Italian authorities and must pay $2.5 million in back taxes, according to Rome news reports Tuesday. The tenor, one of the world’s highest paid entertainers, had argued that his official residence is in the tax haven of Monte Carlo. But an appeals court ruled Monday that he spends most of his time in Modena, Italy, so must pay the taxes required of a resident.
QUICK TAKES
A new bicoastal art gallery opens in Beverly Hills tonight, with Grant Selwyn Fine Art (which opened its New York location in November) taking residence at 341 N. Canon Drive. The gallery--featuring an inaugural exhibition of postwar work by Christo, Donald Judd, Ed Ruscha and others--is operated by Marc Selwyn and Anthony Grant, formerly of Sotheby’s and more recently directors of Beverly Hills’ PaceWildenstein Gallery. . . . Nancy O’Dell, a correspondent and weekend anchor on “Access Hollywood” since the syndicated show’s launch in 1996, has been named the program’s regular co-host, joining Pat O’Brien. . . . Rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers get their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today during 11:30 a.m. ceremonies at 7018 Hollywood Blvd. . . . Citing irreconcilable differences, producer-writer-director James L. Brooks (“As Good as It Gets”) has filed for legal separation from his wife of 20 years, Holly Beth Holmberg. The couple have three children. . . . Western movie and TV star Rory Calhoun, 77 (“The Texan,” “River of No Return”), is hospitalized at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank, suffering from complications from emphysema and diabetes. “He is fighting hard and holding on,” said a family spokesman.