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

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Remembering Littleton Victims: A USC music professor has been commissioned to write a musical composition dedicated to the students killed in the Littleton, Colo., high school shooting. Professor Frank Ticheli was selected by members of the Columbine High School band, who were working on a composition of his at the time of the shootings. The band intends to perform the piece on the one-year anniversary of the April 20 shooting. Students have asked Ticheli, who is composer-in-residence at Orange County’s Pacific Symphony, to write a work that is hopeful rather than tragic; poetry written by survivors of the attack may be incorporated in the piece. One of the students killed and two of those injured--both of whom are still hospitalized--were members of the Columbine High School band.

TELEVISION

Where Was Jerry Springer? Rosie O’Donnell got into a spat over gun control with guest Tom Selleck on her show Wednesday, and though “the queen of nice” wound up apologizing, the incident didn’t appear to end well. Selleck, who was promoting his movie “The Love Letter,” had recently filmed a commercial for the National Rifle Assn., which O’Donnell has frequently criticized since the Columbine High School massacre. When O’Donnell complained about the NRA’s opposition to banning assault weapons, Selleck, who earlier had said he believed gun-control legislation wouldn’t have prevented the Columbine tragedy, said he couldn’t speak for the organization. “You can’t say, ‘I will not take responsibility for anything the NRA represents’ if you’re doing an ad for the NRA,” O’Donnell responded. “You can’t say that. Do you think you can?” Selleck then said he felt attacked, adding: “I didn’t come on your show to have a debate. I came . . . to plug a movie. . . . If you think it’s proper to have a debate about the NRA, I’m trying to be fair with you. This is absurd.” O’Donnell then apologized, saying she wasn’t making a personal attack. But the only response from Selleck, who looked down at the floor, was: “It’s your show, and you can talk about it after I leave.”

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The ‘McBeal’ Deal: Fox Entertainment President Doug Herzog made no apologies Thursday for the network’s decision to put a half-hour version of the drama “Ally McBeal” on its Tuesday schedule instead of using the slot to launch a new show. The program, which will have some fresh bits but mostly will use recycled and leftover material from the original show, will cost far less than any new series would, he said, citing “really tough” business conditions in network television. Unlike cable, he said, networks are “the only guys out there showing things [just] once a week. . . . [Viewing in more than one time slot] is the way America watches television now; let’s get used to it.” Herzog said he expects the half-hour program to bring new viewers to “Ally,” but added that if it ends up cannibalizing the audience for the one-hour Monday show, the half-hour version “is an easy show to pull.” . . . Meanwhile, “Ally” star Calista Flockhart, during her summer hiatus from the series, will return to the theater in an off-Broadway production of “A Gaggle of Saints,” three one-acts by film writer-director Neil LaBute. Opening June 24, the theme is an investigation of evil, including gay bashing and infanticide.

POP/ROCK

Cyber Tip: David Bowie will make cyber-history of sorts on Monday when he records a song, “What’s Really Happening,” live on the Web. Bowie collaborated on the song with co-writer Alex Grant, who was one of 80,000 people to submit lyrics in an online contest. The live recording session, from 4-7 p.m., can be viewed at https://www.rollingstone.com or https://www.fullview.com.

QUICK TAKES

Hip-hop music will get its own televised awards show when UPN airs “The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards,” presented by the Source magazine, on Aug. 19. . . . Fifty-five art works by the late musicians Miles Davis and Jerry Garcia will be on view today through Sunday at the Pink (2810 Main St., Santa Monica). The exhibition, “Duet,” includes original paintings, drawings, lithographs and serigraphs, all available for sale. . . . Proceeds from Luciano Pavarotti’s sixth annual “Pavarotti & Friends for War Child” concert--scheduled for June 1 in the tenor’s hometown of Modena, Italy--will aid children in Kosovo and Guatemala. Additional scheduled performers include Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, B.B. King, Joe Cocker and Lionel Richie. . . . The J. Geils Band will perform together for the first time in 16 years on tonight’s “Late Show With David Letterman” on CBS.