Morning Report : Arts and Entertainment Reports From The Times, News Services and the Nation’s Press

MOVIES

Labor Day Record: “The Sixth Sense” remained the top box-office draw for the fifth straight weekend with a record-breaking take of $28.5 million for the four-day Labor Day holiday, according to industry estimates. That’s nearly as much as the $30.1 million in combined grosses for the rest of the top five films--”Runaway Bride” ($8.6 million), “The 13th Warrior” ($8.4 million), “Bowfinger” ($7 million) and “The Thomas Crown Affair” ($6.1 million). “I’ve never really seen a film at this time of year performing so consistently and in such a big way,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office-tracker Exhibitor Relations. Among new movies, “Chill Factor,” starring Skeet Ulrich and Cuba Gooding Jr., grossed $5.7 million for sixth place, and “Outside Providence,” from writers Peter and Bobby Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary”) and Michael Corrente, landed in 11th place with $3.2 million. Overall weekend box office should top $100 million, breaking the Labor Day record of $96 million, set in 1997.

TELEVISION

TV Museum Schedule: The Museum of TV & Radio in Beverly Hills will remember the late comic Andy Kaufman with “ ‘Denk You Veddy Much’: A Tribute to Andy Kaufman” on Oct. 20, with scheduled panelists including Kaufman’s “Taxi” co-star, Danny DeVito; his writing partner, Bob Zmuda; his manager, George Shapiro; and Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, screenwriters of the upcoming Kaufman biopic, “Man in the Moon” (that film’s star, Jim Carrey, will be busy making his next movie, “The Grinch”). Additional events on the museum’s fall schedule include a “Groundlings 25th Anniversary Reunion” with Kathy Griffin, Lisa Kudrow, Jon Lovitz, Laraine Newman and Paul Reubens on Sept. 29, and a “Credibility Gap” reunion with comics David L. Lander, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer on Nov. 16. Still other seminars will focus on satirist Stan Freberg (Sept. 15), producer Stephen J. Cannell (Sept. 29), ABC’s “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” (Oct. 27), “Max Headroom” (Nov. 3), “Writing for Television Teens” (Nov. 15), children’s programmers Sid and Marty Krofft (Dec. 1) and KFI-AM’s “Phil Hendrie Show” (Dec. 15).

Not Everyone Can Be a Millionaire: ABC’s Honolulu affiliate is upset with the summer’s biggest TV success: the Regis Philbin-hosted game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Calling the show “You Can’t Become a Millionaire,” KITV general manager Michael Rosenberg groused that the ABC show--which drew superb ratings and is expected back in November--limits prospective contestants to residents of the 48 contiguous states because those who qualify need to be in New York to tape the show the following day. A show publicist said it was simply the way the program was set up: “I think it’s just an issue of trying to get people from Honolulu to New York in the time limit. That’s kind of a key thing there.”

POP/ROCK

Buena Vista Touring Club: With the continuing phenomenal success of the Buena Vista Social Club recordings and documentary, it’s no surprise that the local fall concerts featuring singer Ibrahim Ferrer and pianist Ruben Gonzalez--Nov. 18 at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and Nov. 20 at UCLA’s Royce Hall--are already sold out. But they’ve scheduled additional Southern California dates for next year, and several other shows featuring various members of the Cuban ensemble are coming up, beginning with Friday’s appearance by laoud player Barbarito Torres at the Conga Room. Also scheduled: guitarist/singer Eliades Ochoa, Sept. 22 at the Roxy and Sept. 25 at the Santa Barbara Jazz Festival; and guitarist/singer Compay Segundo, Nov. 11-12 at the Conga Room. Ferrer and Gonzalez are scheduled to return with their ensembles on Feb. 18 at the Wiltern Theatre and Feb. 23 at Royce Hall, and the Afro-Cuban All-Stars are booked for March 31 at the Conga Room. The “Buena Vista Social Club” album remains at No. 2 on Billboard’s Latin chart after 101 weeks in release, and even reached No. 80 on the mainstream chart, having resurged following release of the Wim Wenders documentary. Meanwhile, Ferrer’s 12-week-old album is at No. 4 on the Latin chart.

Motley Charges: Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx was arrested Friday night while playing a concert in Raleigh, N.C., on charges of inciting a riot at a 1997 concert in Greensboro, N.C. Sixx--who allegedly directed racial slurs at a security guard at the earlier show and encouraged the 2,500-person audience to attack the guard--was charged with felony rioting and three misdemeanor charges of inciting a riot, assault and disorderly conduct. Greensboro police are still seeking the arrest of former Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, who did not perform at Friday’s show.

QUICK TAKES

The Skirball Cultural Center has closed its museum galleries to begin a redesign project aiming to make room for more school tours. The galleries are slated to reopen Dec. 5; plans call for the creation of two gallery classrooms and additional interactive galleries. Other Skirball programs will continue as scheduled. . . . Computer hackers calling themselves “United Loan Gunmen” vandalized C-SPAN’s Web site on Sunday, replacing the cable public affairs network’s content with a bizarre note that included lyrics from a song by the punk rock band Dead Kennedys. The hackers also claimed responsibility for a recent defacement of ABC’s Web site. C-SPAN officials could not be reached for comment. . . . A schedule change for “Jekyll & Hyde,” opening tonight at the Pantages Theatre: A Sept. 15 matinee, with all tickets priced at $25, has been added to make up for the cancellation of what would have been the final evening performance, on Sept. 19. Ticket exchanges and refunds are available at the point of purchase.