Morning Report - News from July 1, 1999

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Murphy’s ‘PJs’ Status: Phil Morris, who played Jackie Charles on “Seinfeld,” has been filling in recently for Eddie Murphy doing voices on Fox’s clay-animated series “The PJs.” Representatives for the company said it was due to Murphy’s frantic film schedule and that the actor would remain connected to the program, which he co-created. Murphy was said to be upset in May when Fox relegated “PJs” to a backup role for next season; the latest development has renewed speculation that he may sever ties to the show.

News for Commuters: Beginning Monday, KRLA-AM (1110) will simulcast KCBS-TV’s 6 to 7 p.m. newscast, anchored by Ann Martin and Jonathan Elias. It will be the only local TV newscast simulcast on radio. The broadcast will shorten by one hour the afternoon broadcast by father-and-son team Ken and Rick Minyard, who will be heard from 3 to 6 p.m.

Boston Museum Reorganizing: The Boston Museum of Fine Arts is reeling from a massive staff restructuring that shifts institutional power away from curators--the traditional seat of scholarly authority at museums--and toward administration, which is increasingly driven by business and marketing concerns. The museum’s director, Malcolm Rogers, terminated 18 employees last Friday, including two senior curators with 48 years’ combined tenure. Several curatorial departments that focused on mediums such as painting or decorative arts will be reorganized geographically into the art of Europe and the Americas. Egyptian, Nubian, Near Eastern and classical art will be reclassified as art of the ancient world. Meanwhile, Asian art, a museum strength for nearly 100 years, will merge with African art, a recent addition with no full-time curator. A new department of photography has also been created.

Concert Stabbing: Eight men were stabbed--two seriously enough to require overnight hospitalization--when violence broke out at a Miami pop concert Tuesday night. The concert featured rapper Nas and singers R. Kelly, Foxy Brown, Kelly Price and Deborah Cox. Police said Wednesday they had no idea what sparked the melee.

QUICK TAKES

Chris Rock, whose latest HBO special, “Bigger and Blacker,” airs July 10, has been named to host the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, airing Sept. 9 from New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. . . . The three men who stole a copy of the current “Star Wars” movie from a Wisconsin theater last month before abandoning it in garbage bags have been sentenced to five days in jail. . . . KCET-TV raised nearly $680,000 during its nine-day June pledge drive, exceeding the drive’s $500,000 goal.