ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

MOVIES/TELEVISION

Keeping the Heat on Hollywood: Hoping to keep the heat on Hollywood to reduce sex and violence in television and film, Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) appealed at a press conference in Los Angeles Wednesday for the entertainment industry to adopt a code of conduct. Since the Littleton High School massacre April 20, the pair have been calling for Hollywood to voluntarily monitor itself but so far, they said, their demands have been met with silence. The lawmakers began an ad campaign Wednesday in the national media in an effort to bring industry executives to the table. “We fully acknowledge that parents shoulder a huge responsibility in monitoring their child’s entertainment and intervening when appropriate,” Brownback said. “But . . . entertainment companies must also shoulder some responsibility for the product they produce and promote.”

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And the Nominees Are . . .: The 26th annual “People’s Choice Awards” announced nominations for TV, movie and pop music favorites in 16 categories Wednesday, with the winners to be revealed Jan. 9 on CBS. Choices for comedy series are ABC’s “The Drew Carey Show” and NBC’s “Frasier” and “Friends.” Drama nominees are NBC’s “ER” and “Law & Order,” and ABC’s “The Practice.” Movie faves are “The Matrix,” “The Sixth Sense” and “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace”; choices in musical groups are Alabama, Backstreet Boys and Dixie Chicks.

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Tawny Little Leaving: Veteran local broadcaster Tawny Little will relinquish her anchor duties Friday on KCOP-TV’s 10 p.m. newscast. A former Miss America, she had been on the air for 20 years, also with KABC-TV and KCAL-TV. No reason was given for her departure, and a replacement has not yet been named. Her co-anchor, Alan Frio, is also leaving and will be replaced by Rick Chambers of KNBC.

POP/ROCK

‘All the Way’ to the Top: Celine Dion’s “All the Way--A Decade of Song” went all the way to the top of the nation’s album charts this week, climbing three notches on the power of a prime-time concert special last week on NBC. The Canadian singer’s retrospective album sold 394,000 copies on the week (surging from 303,000), easily topping the 300,000 copies sold of the No. 2 album, Metallica’s “S&M;,” which teams the metal outfit with the San Francisco Symphony. Dr. Dre, the Backstreet Boys and Korn round out this week’s top five.

ART

Record Price: Sotheby’s broke the sales record for an American painting at auction Wednesday when it sold George Bellows’ 1910 “Polo Crowd” for $27.5 million. The name of the buyer was not disclosed. The painting had been in the John Hay Whitney collection for nearly 70 years. Sotheby’s said the previous record was $20.7 million for Willem de Kooning’s “Interchange.”

MUSIC

Substitution: Chicken pox in the ranks of Philadelphia’s Borromeo String Quartet has forced the cancellation of the group’s appearance tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. The award-winning Miro String Quartet, from Oberlin College, will appear instead. Information: (714) 556-2787.

QUICK TAKES

Naomi and Wynonna Judd will tour for the first time since 1991, starting Feb. 4 in Denver. Tickets for the country duo’s March 2 date at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim go on sale Dec. 11. . . . Steve Harris, of ABC’s “The Practice,” will play boxer Sonny Liston in the network’s upcoming movie about the early career of Muhammad Ali.