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

MUSIC

Hill, McGraw Lead CMA Noms: Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, the first couple of country music, snared a combined eight nominations for the 2000 Country Music Assn. Awards, announced Tuesday, and they will square off against each other in the marquee category, entertainer of the year. Hill took five nominations, including album of the year for “Breath” and single of the year for its crossover-hit title track, while McGraw got two nominations, including best male vocalist. The couple, who perform Friday at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, shared an eighth nod in the vocal “event” category for a duet performance of “Let’s Make Love.” The other nominees for entertainer of the year are the Dixie Chicks (with five nominations, trailing only Hill), Alan Jackson and George Strait. The awards will be presented Oct. 4 at the Grand Ole Opry and broadcast live by CBS.

TELEVISION

‘Starship’ Moves to Showtime: Showtime has ordered 13 episodes of “Starship Regulars,” a comedy series created by Rob LaZebnik, a television writer (“The Simpsons”) and Icebox.com co-founder. Icebox, which has been among the more aggressive Internet companies producing original online entertainment, primarily by aligning itself with name television writers, was quick to herald the deal as “the first series to migrate from an online site to an established network.” But “Starship Regulars” has yet to appear on Icebox. Set aboard an interplanetary military spaceship, the series will make its online debut Aug. 11 and subsequently run as interstitials on Showtime’s “Sci-Friday” programming block. Showtime plans eventually to run “Starship Regulars” as a half-hour, live-action series, said a network spokesperson, though a production schedule has not been finalized.

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‘20/20’ Segment Disputed: An environmental watchdog group called for the firing of ABC News correspondent John Stossel, who in a report said organic food was no safer than regular food and warned it could even be dangerous. Stossel’s report, first aired on the newsmagazine “20/20” in February, seemed in part to debunk the common belief that organic food is safer because no pesticides are used. “Our tests surprisingly found no pesticide residue on the conventional samples or the organic,” he said. But the Washington-based Environmental Working Group charges that pesticide tests were never conducted for the show. The group says it has complained to ABC News President David Westin as well as Stossel. The report was repeated on a July 7 edition of “20/20,” where Stossel said: “It’s logical to worry about pesticide residues, but in our tests, we found none on either organic or regular produce.” The network said neither the segment’s producer nor Stossel would comment until the matter could be looked into.

THE ARTS

Debut Derided: Despite taking acting lessons and getting voice coaching--even cutting her trademark blond hair--model Jerry Hall was mauled by the London press after her stage debut Monday as “The Graduate’s” seductive Mrs. Robinson. “Enter Jerry Hall, barely acting” proclaimed the Times. “Wooden as a toothpick,” chimed the Daily Mail, likening her “amateur dramatic” range of stage emotion to that of “a retiring clam.” The Daily Telegraph was scarcely less damning, describing her as “stiff without much passion and less than convincing.” Even Hall herself had been unwittingly prophetic in a recent interview, saying, “I kinda thought I’d missed the boat as an actress, but here I am.”

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Olympic Arts Festival Woes: An Australian newspaper on Tuesday reported that managers of the Olympic Arts Festival were under fire Monday as leading companies complained that the organizers had bungled the distribution of tickets and failed to adequately promote individual events, resulting in poor sales. Sydney Theatre Company general manager Rob Brookman said he had been compelled to apologize for the festival’s failure to deliver tickets to at least 30 addresses. Others have complained that some events have sold as little as 8% of tickets with just six weeks until the festival’s opening. Other industry sources said some protracted contract negotiations lasted up to 14 months. Festival management went into damage control Monday, the newspaper said. “The facts are that the festival has already sold over 100,000 tickets. This accounts for 35% of the potential capacity,” said festival general manager Craig Hassall. But with ticket sales already at 30% early in May, indications are that sales have been slow in the past three months.

QUICK TAKES

An emotional Marc Anthony told fans during a Saturday concert in Miami that he and his wife, Dayanara Torres, are expecting, publicist Jennifer Nieman confirmed. . . . Sean “Puffy” Combs’ trial on gun possession and bribery charges will be pushed back to late this year or early next year, a judge said Monday. After lawyers for Combs and his two co-defendants explained their commitments for the next several months, state Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon told them to return Sept. 13 for a status conference. . . . Teen trio Hanson will appear at 5 p.m. today for a live Web cast and interactive chat on iCAST (https://www.icast.com). . . “Joseph: King of Dreams,” DreamWorks’ first animated feature to debut exclusively on video and DVD, will be released Nov. 7. . . The WinFemme 2000 Film Festival will honor actress Lauren Bacall and director Jane Campion at the festival’s closing-night ceremonies, Aug. 20 at the Beverly Hills Civic Plaza.