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

TV & MOVIES

Jerry’s Final Answer--A Baby: Jerry Seinfeld will soon be a father. The 45-year-old comedian, who married 28-year-old Jessica Sklar in December, asked pal Regis Philbin to make the announcement on Thursday’s “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee.” And Seinfeld’s spokeswoman confirmed the news, saying: “Yes. It’s true. There will be a new little Seinfeld sometime this fall.” Though the spokeswoman did not want to further pinpoint the due date, Philbin said the baby is due in October.

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I See Rental Records: “The Sixth Sense,” which recently became the 10th-highest grossing motion picture of all time, has shattered video and DVD rental records in its first week in release. The Oscar-nominated thriller starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment took in $22.5 million in rentals last week, beating the record held by Paramount’s “Double Jeopardy,” which made $14.3 million in its first week in release on VHS and DVD.

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Bergman’s Desperate Thoughts: Director Ingmar Bergman told a Swedish television station that he has considered suicide and become indifferent to life since his wife’s death from cancer in 1985. “We used to joke about it, me and Ingrid. That I would be the first to die,” Bergman, 81, said in a rare interview broadcast Wednesday by Stockholm’s TV4. “Instead she died. It has crippled me; it is the most cruel thing I have ever experienced. I am immensely indifferent to whether I keep on living.”

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Imagen Winners: NBC’s “The West Wing” won the 15th annual Imagen Award Wednesday for TV drama, while the canceled NBC show “Suddenly Susan” picked up the comedy series award. Other Imagen winners, honored for positive portrayals of Latinos, included “The 13th Warrior” (feature film), Univision’s “The Cristina Show” (Spanish-language programming), ABC News’ “The Latin Beat” (TV documentary) and KABC-TV’s “Vista L.A.” (informational programming).

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CBS Casts Initial Renewal Votes: CBS has renewed “Judging Amy”--prime time’s highest-rated new drama--for next season, along with seven veteran shows: “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “King of Queens,” “Becker,” “JAG,” “Nash Bridges,” “Touched by an Angel” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.” Decisions on more borderline series will likely wait until the network finalizes its fall schedule in mid-May. Meanwhile, one of those struggling series, “City of Angels,” has now gotten the backing of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. The civil rights organization is launching a campaign urging viewers to watch the inner-city hospital drama. NAACP President Kweisi Mfume says the show deserves support because of the opportunities it has given minorities both in front of and behind the camera.

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Cody Gifford Steps Out?: Ten-year-old Cody Gifford, made a household name by his TV host mother Kathie Lee, has jumped into the entertainment fray in a big way, by filing his first lawsuit. The suit was filed Thursday against the National Examiner tabloid over a February story, “Kathie Lee’s Turning Poor Cody Into a Monster,” which the suit claims fabricated stories about Cody misbehaving on the set of an ABC TV movie. The tabloid’s lawyers wouldn’t comment Thursday, saying they had not yet seen the suit. In February, when his mother announced plans to step down as co-host of “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee,” she said she was no longer comfortable with sharing details of her family life on the air “only to watch the tabloid media turn them into harmful, misleading and libelous stories.”

THE ARTS

Campaigning for Smithsonian Funds: Many of the Smithsonian Institution’s 16 museums are badly in need of repairs and improvements, the institution’s new chairman told the National Press Club this week. “We are compromised by the physical condition of the buildings,” Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small said. “They are not worthy of the treasures that they contain.” Small added that the Smithsonian will require at least $100 million a year just to fix its “shabby” and aging buildings, many of which need plumbing and electrical overhauls or have damage from leaks and peeling paint. The Smithsonian’s federal funding grew from $412 million in 1999 to $438 million this fiscal year. Small is asking for $463 million for fiscal 2001.

QUICK TAKES

The Tony-winning musical “Fosse” will return to Los Angeles, with a June 14-July 9 stand at the Shubert Theatre. . . . As expected, Oscar winner Angelina Jolie has been cast as cyber babe Lara Croft in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming big screen take on the popular video game “Tomb Raider.” Filming is to begin this summer near London. . . . Longtime KROQ-FM host Richard Blade announced on-air Thursday that he will leave the station at the end of the month to pursue a new life in the Caribbean. The “Flashback Lunch” host, who’s been at the station 18 years, said he plans to eventually open a scuba diving business. . . . Staples Center will be the site of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ inaugural Latin Grammy Awards. The date of the show, to air on CBS, has been changed to Sept. 13. . . . Dana Carvey returns to NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, stepping in as George Bush opposite Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush. . . . Singer Mariah Carey was released Wednesday from Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, where she had been treated since Monday for food poisoning. . . . The on-again, off-again marriage of Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage to actress Patricia Arquette is apparently on again. Cage, who filed for divorce six weeks ago, withdrew the court papers this week, his spokeswoman said.