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

TV & MOVIES

Recuperating: Filmmaker Steven Spielberg was recuperating from surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to remove a kidney after an “irregularity” was discovered there, his spokesman said Monday. The problem was discovered by Spielberg’s doctor during a routine physical examination, said the spokesman, who declined to say when the surgery took place or what the irregularity was. “A complete recovery is promised and no follow-up treatment is necessary,” he said in a statement.

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Speaking of Spielberg: Virginia police have arrested an Iranian-born man three times in the last month for pretending to be a high school-aged nephew of Spielberg’s. They say the alleged impersonator could be deported if convicted of a felony fraud charge. The man--who would be 27 according to his 1998 driver’s license--was born Anoushirvan Fakhran but changed his name to Jonathan Taylor Spielberg 2 1/2 years ago. Police said he began attending a Catholic high school in Fairfax, Va., after a woman called the school to say that Steven Spielberg’s nephew would be in the area filming a movie and wanted to study high school life part time. He allegedly flashed money on campus, talked about his “Uncle Steven” and parked his BMW with a “SPLBERG” vanity plate in the high school principal’s parking spot. The ruse was discovered when the school attempted to reach the alleged student’s family through Spielberg’s company, DreamWorks SKG.

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NBC, UPN Premieres: NBC will try out three new comedies in March, causing a shuffle of the network’s Tuesday and Thursday night comedy blocks. The animated “God, the Devil and Bob,” featuring James Garner as the voice of God, will move into the Tuesday 8:30 p.m. slot beginning March 7, pushing “3rd Rock From the Sun” back to 8 p.m. while “Just Shoot Me” segues to 9:30 p.m., displacing “Veronica’s Closet.” Joining the Thursday schedule starting March 23 are the family comedy “Daddio,” starring Michael Chiklis as a stay-at-home dad, and “Battery Park,” an ensemble comedy about police detectives in New York’s Battery Park, from “Family Ties” and “Spin City” creator Gary David Goldberg. The latter two series--scheduled for six weeks only--will run at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., respectively, temporarily displacing “Jesse” and “Stark Raving Mad.” . . . UPN, meanwhile, will premiere the new Barry Levinson-Tom Fontana cop series, “The Beat,” on March 21 in the Tuesday 9-10 p.m. slot. It replaces “Shasta” and “Dilbert,” which will go on hiatus.

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Comedy Award Winners: The Robert DeNiro-Billy Crystal pairing “Analyze This” beat out Oscar hopefuls “American Beauty” and “Being John Malkovich” to be named funniest motion picture Sunday night at the 14th annual American Comedy Awards. Other winners included NBC’s “Frasier” (funniest TV series) and its co-star David Hyde Pierce (supporting TV actor), Mike Myers (funniest movie actor, for “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”), Ray Romano (funniest TV actor for CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond”), Tracey Ullman (funniest TV actress, for HBO’s “Tracey Takes On . . . “) and the evening’s sentimental favorite Betty White (funniest guest appearance, for Fox’s “Ally McBeal”).

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Tube Notes: Telemundo will air the first TV interview with Lazaro Gonzalez, the Miami-based uncle seeking custody of Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. on KVEA. Gonzalez is interviewed by the host of “Padre Alberto,” a Roman Catholic priest. . . . Charlie Sheen is in “serious discussions” to replace Michael J. Fox on ABC’s “Spin City,” Time magazine reports. Fox recently announced he would leave the series at the end of the season to spend more time with his family and to promote research on Parkinson’s disease, from which he suffers. . . . With “The X-Files” future after this season up in the air, creator Chris Carter is working on a pilot for a spinoff featuring actors Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood and Tom Braidwood--better known as the series’ recurring computer geek characters the “Lone Gunmen.”

POP/ROCK

Combs Pleads Not Guilty: With former O.J. Simpson lawyer Johnnie Cochran at his side, rap mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs officially pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of illegal gun possession following a Manhattan nightclub shooting in December. Combs was indicted Jan. 13 for criminal possession of a weapon after New York police allegedly found two loaded 9mm guns in his possession following the Dec. 27 nightclub shooting in which three people were injured. Combs, his bodyguard and his girlfriend, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, were arrested after police said they ran 11 red lights while fleeing the scene of the shooting in the rapper’s sports utility vehicle. Lopez was released, but Combs faces 15 years in prison. Meanwhile, Combs’ bodyguard, Anthony Jones, accused of having a loaded gun at his feet after the car stopped, failed to show up in court Monday for his arraignment.

QUICK TAKES

Organizers of the fourth annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival have moved the event from October to July 21-30. By changing the dates, organizers hope to avoid competing with other fall film festivals such as those in Toronto and Telluride. The Latino event has been growing in size, with more than 20,000 people in attendance last year, up from 15,000 the previous year. . . . “Star Trek’s” Scotty, James Doohan, is set to become a father again just weeks after his 80th birthday. The actor’s wife, Wende Doohan, is due to give birth to a daughter on April 1, according to the actor’s agent, who termed the pregnancy an accident but said the couple was nonetheless “thrilled.” Doohan turns 80 March 3. The couple already have two sons, ages 21 and 23. . . . Los Angeles’ Staples Center was named best new major concert venue of the year at the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards ceremony in Las Vegas last week.