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

TELEVISION

Court Finds Something Wrong With That: An appeals court on Tuesday reversed a $25-million judgment to a man who was fired from his Miller Brewing Co. management job after a female co-worker complained that he harassed her by discussing a racy episode of “Seinfeld.” A Milwaukee County Circuit Court dismissed Jerold Mackenzie’s wrongful-firing claim, finding that the “Seinfeld” element eventually became secondary. During a 1997 trial in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, jurors were told Mackenzie was fired after he related an off-color joke from “Seinfeld” to a female employee, who then accused him of harassment. The 1993 firing, for “poor management judgment,” came five days after the employee complaint. MacKenzie’s attorney said Tuesday’s decision will be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

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Top 10 Finish: David Letterman’s return Monday to his CBS late-night program after a five-week layoff due to emergency heart bypass surgery generated the program’s highest rating since the 1994 Winter Olympics and, barring that, since his first two “Late Show” episodes in 1993. Preliminary ratings show that Letterman was watched in 23% of homes viewing TV on Monday night, nearly doubling the audience for the usual late-night leader, NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” which featured Howard Stern as a guest. CBS estimated that 19 million people tuned in at least a portion of the show.

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The Blame Game: Fox said Tuesday that the producers of its special “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” were responsible for carrying out a full investigation of the “groom,” Rick Rockwell, and that in the wake of questions surrounding Rockwell’s past, the network is conducting its own “review of the steps taken to look into Mr. Rockwell’s background. After we have thoroughly investigated the facts, we will determine if other steps are necessary to address these issues.” After the special aired, reports surfaced that an ex-girlfriend had obtained a restraining order against Rockwell, alleging that he had struck and threatened to kill her--charges he has denied.

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Swedish ‘Millionaire’ Troubles: Swedish authorities have ordered a halt to broadcasting the Swedish version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” ruling that the TV game show is more of a lottery than a real contest of knowledge. “The decision from the authority for lotteries is based on their point of view that they think you could only make guesses in the program to take high prizes, and we deny that opinion,” the show’s director, Jan Scherman, said, noting that an appeal has been filed in civil court. “This is a competition where you only can win if you have the knowledge.” Nobody has won the Swedish program’s top jackpot (about $1.1 million) since the show began airing last month, though one contestant won about $288,000.

POP/ROCK

Celebrating Early: Sean “Puffy” Combs, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, ‘N Sync, Lenny Kravitz and Limp Bizkit were among the Grammy nominees who showed up Monday evening at the Park Plaza Hotel to pose for an MTV-sponsored poster that will be sold to fans for charity. The music stars posed with scantily clad men and women who were painted gold and wore mock televisions on their heads for the poster, which celebrates the Grammy success of artists who credit MTV’s “Total Request Live” show for boosting their fortunes in 1999. The poster, shot by photographer David LaChapelle, will be sold at https://www.mtv.com for $6 beginning today as a fund-raiser for Grammy charities and MTV’s own anti-violence campaign.

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More Grammy Notes: Grammy host Rosie O’Donnell today takes her daytime talk show backstage at the Grammy rehearsals. She’ll also interview Grammy nominees including Ricky Martin, Britney Spears, Elton John and TLC. . . . Will Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Sisqo, Diana Krall with Erykah Badu, Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer have been added to the list of performers for tonight’s show. . . . The National Education Assn. has signed Grammy front-runner Santana as a spokesman for an effort to attract more minority teachers. The NEA--which will soon begin running TV spots featuring Santana--points out that America’s student population is increasingly minority, while most teachers are white females.

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Bolton’s Isley Brothers Bid: Singer Michael Bolton, who in 1994 was hit with a $5.4-million judgment when a jury ruled that his 1991 hit “Love Is a Wonderful Thing” was stolen from the Isley Brothers’ 1966 hit of the same name, has made a $5.3 million bid for the estate of group leader Ronald Isley, whose assets are being liquidated by court order to pay off the bankrupt Isley’s creditors. Included in the estate are royalties on more than 200 recordings and compositions, including such classics as “Twist and Shout.” If the court approves Bolton’s offer, he would also be buying Isley out of his cut of the 1994 copyright infringement case (which is still on appeal), one of Isley’s major assets. According to court documents, Isley owes the IRS $5.4 million and has another $4.8 million in debts to various creditors.

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Record Sales Strong: The record business posted a 3.2% increase in 1999 over the previous year, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America, which measures the amount of recorded music shipped to record stores and other sales outlets. The RIAA said that 1.16 billion units of recorded music releases were shipped in 1999, for a total suggested list price of $14.6 billion. When broken down into just the sales of full-length CDs (excluding LPs, cassettes and videos), the growth was nearly 11% over the previous year. RIAA President Hilary Rosen said the numbers indicate that “despite the ever-increasing competition for the consumer’s entertainment dollar, music has an intrinsic value that touches Americans.”

QUICK TAKES

Steven Spielberg will definitely not direct the film version of “Harry Potter.” “I have every certainty that the series of ‘Harry Potter’ movies will be phenomenally successful,” Spielberg said in a statement Tuesday. “However, at this time, my directorial interests are taking me in another direction.” The director is said to be leaning toward the sci-fi thriller “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise. . . . It’s official: Charlie Sheen will join ABC’s “Spin City” in the fall, replacing departing star Michael J. Fox.