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

TELEVISION

Ratings on JFK Jr. Crash: News coverage of the plane crash involving John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette resulted in a big boost in audience for the three cable networks providing continuous coverage of the story, while special prime-time programs among the broadcast networks had less dramatic impact. CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, which operate most weekends with only several hundred thousand viewers, experienced sharp increases in viewership--with CNN up nearly 2 million viewers on Saturday and Sunday. The picture was more mixed among the broadcast networks as CBS, NBC and ABC all cut into prime-time schedules with coverage of Friday night’s crash, beginning Saturday morning. NBC said its Saturday night coverage, anchored by Tom Brokaw, gave the network a 43% jump in viewers over the average summertime audience for the regularly scheduled drama “The Pretender,” though that simply enabled the network to keep pace with bigger-than-usual audiences for a special “48 Hours” on CBS and a two-hour news special on ABC, all of which averaged about 6 million viewers. Daytime numbers for network coverage were not available.

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Fox Family Updates: Joe Lando, who played opposite Jane Seymour in CBS’ “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” will star in and co-executive produce “Cliffhangers,” the first original one-hour dramatic series to air on Fox Family Channel. It debuts in November, although no specific air date or time has been set for the series, which has received a full-season commitment of 22 episodes. Lando portrays a former financial whiz kid whose high living lands him in a wilderness center where he dedicates his life to counseling at-risk high-schoolers. Emmy-nominated producer Michael Braverman, creator of ABC’s “Life Goes On,” is at the helm of the series, which went into production Monday in Vancouver. . . . In other Fox Family Channel news, actor John O’Hurley, best known for his role on “Seinfeld” as the overindulgent clothing cataloger J. Peterman, will host “Incredible Animals,” a half-hour animal series premiering Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. And comedian David Alan Grier (“In Living Color,” “Martin”) has been named host of “Random Acts of Comedy,” a new half-hour series slated for November.

POP/ROCK

‘A Day in the Garden at Yasgur’s Farm’: Tickets priced at $19.69 are on sale to commemorate on Aug. 15 the 30th anniversary of the seminal rock concert known as Woodstock. A larger anniversary show is scheduled this weekend in Rome, N.Y., but the so-called alternative event--”A Day in the Garden at Yasgur’s Farm”--will be held on the original site and will feature David Crosby and CPR, Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Winter, Melanie, Country Joe McDonald, Leslie West of Mountain and Rick Danko and Garth Hudson of the Band.

PEOPLE

Havana High: Some of Hollywood’s leading directors, actors, producers and executives are expected to gather in a night of rumba dancing and mojito (a Cuban drink like a mint julep with rum) imbibing at the Conga Room in Los Angeles tonight to attend the Havana Nights art exhibition and benefit for the New York-based Center for Cuban Studies. Among those expected are Harry Belafonte, Samuel Jackson, Gregory Peck and Sydney Pollack--part of a growing Hollywood crowd that has traveled to Cuba for the Havana Film Festival for the last several years. Their guide has been Sandra Levinson, founder of the Center for Cuban Studies, which for 27 years has quietly labored to open up artistic channels between Cuba and the United States despite the U.S.-imposed trade embargo. “When you go to Cuba, you see how much the Cubans love Americans and American film,” said “Dance With Me” director Randa Haines, co-chair of the event. “Those who go to Cuba fall under its spell.”

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All in Lear’s Family: Producer Norman Lear--creator of such breakthrough sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “Maude” and “The Jeffersons”--says he will fund a scholarship for comedians with physical disabilities. Fern Field, co-founder and co-chair of the awards, said that the first winner will be announced at the 17th Media Access Disability Awards on Oct. 24. The scholarship will help pay for classes, demo reels, transportation, union dues and other expenses, Field said.

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Face-Off: Will Smith and Mike Tyson have signed up to face off as presenters of “The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards,” airing in August on UPN. The awards show, created and produced by the Source music magazine, is to include performances by Sean “Puffy” Combs, Master P, DMX & Ruff Ryders and Nas. Other scheduled presenters at the Aug. 18 ceremony in Los Angeles include Lauryn Hill, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, model Tyson Beckford and Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors.

QUICK TAKES

E! Entertainment Television will provide live coverage of the “Prime-Time Emmy Nominations” Thursday at 5:30 a.m. Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner host the one-hour special. . . . WB announced Tuesday that it would be developing sitcoms for the fall of 2000 starring Nick Turturro of “NYPD Blue” and Nikki Cox of its recently canceled comedy “Unhappily Ever After.” Turturro will be leaving the ABC detective drama at the end of next season. . . . The long-running off-Broadway rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” will open at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Halloween and play through Jan. 31. Michael Cerveris, who played the title role in New York for more than a year, will star. . . . Charley Pride, a pioneer for black artists in country music, receives the 2,140th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today at 11:30 a.m. . . . The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has received a $100,000 grant to establish the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Educational Outreach Programs. . . . Singer Peggy Lee was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat but should be returning home soon to recuperate, according to her daughter, Nicki Lee Foster.