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

TELEVISION

Former CNN Reporter Files Suit: Five weeks after his former colleague settled her case, a second producer fired by CNN for the 1998 Tailwind story has filed a defamation and wrongful termination lawsuit against the network. Jack Smith was fired for his role in reporting that the U.S. military used nerve gas on Vietnam War-era defectors. After receiving complaints, CNN subsequently retracted the story, saying after an internal investigation that it could not verify the report’s accuracy. The story was a major embarrassment for CNN and its corporate partner, Time magazine, which printed a story based on the investigation. CNN would not comment on the lawsuit, filed last Friday in Atlanta. In late May, the network settled with April Oliver, Smith’s Tailwind co-producer, on her lawsuit. That settlement persuaded Smith to act, he said. He’s using Oliver’s lawyer. The Tailwind fallout “destroyed my journalism career,” Smith said Thursday. He now teaches journalism at two Chicago-area colleges.

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Not-So-Big “Brother”: Nearly half the audience that tuned in Wednesday to sample the first hour of “Big Brother,” CBS’ new summer “reality” series, didn’t return for Thursday’s second edition, although its audience still represented considerable improvement over CBS’ average Thursday-night ratings. The half-hour show drew an estimated 11.5 million viewers--down from 22.4 million on Wednesday--but won its time slot, edging a “Friends” rerun on NBC. CBS is running the program five nights a week through September.

POP/ROCK

Houston, Brown Reunited: Singer Bobby Brown was released from jail in Pompano Beach, Fla., Friday after getting 10 days’ credit for good behavior. Brown, 33, had been sentenced to 75 days behind bars after repeatedly violating his parole on a 1996 drunk driving conviction. He attended a drug rehabilitation program while in jail. Brown was picked up outside the North Broward Detention Center by his wife, pop star Whitney Houston, in a long, white limo. She jumped into his arms while comedian Chris Rock led a group of supporters in a mock vigil for a bit on his HBO show. “It’s beautiful out here,” Brown yelled as he embraced Rock. “I just want to be with my family and my friends.”

FILM

Too Much for the French?: French director Catherine Breillat’s latest film, “Rape Me,” a sexually explicit movie that opens with a harrowing rape scene, has been banished to the country’s few X-rated theaters. France’s Council of State, responsible for interpreting rules and regulations, declared the film pornographic. Two mainstream distributors, however, defied the ban by showing the movie to adult audiences. The film was screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it was panned by most critics. Breillat and other well-known French filmmakers have accused the Council of State of censorship and launched a campaign in defense of freedom of speech. Breillat’s last film, “Romance,” raised some eyebrows in the U.S. for its steamy sexual content, though most critics gave it good reviews.

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Remake of Welles’ Classic: Alfonso Arau has signed to direct the remake of Orson Welles’ 1942 classic “The Magnificent Ambersons,” based on a Booth Tarkington novel. The movie will be shot as a theatrical feature for the international market and as a four-hour miniseries for U.S. audiences that will debut on A&E.; The picture is budgeted at about $16 million and represents the latest attempt by the network to pump up its original miniseries programming. Arau’s last picture, “Picking Up the Pieces,” which had an all-star cast including Woody Allen and Sharon Stone, didn’t make it to theatrical release and instead premiered on cable.

QUICK TAKES

The Getty Museum acquired a previously unknown masterpiece by 16th century Greek painter El Greco. Called “Christ on a Cross in a Landscape,” the painting was purchased at Sotheby’s London auction this week for more than $5 million. . . . Speaking of the Getty, it will be the site for next week’s editions of “Let’s Do Lunch” on KCSN-FM (88.5), as host Rene Engel talks with various Getty officials about the operation. The program airs weekdays at noon. . . . Ricardo Montalban’s Nosotros organization will honor Showtime’s “Resurrection Blvd.,” Telemundo’s “Los Beltran,” the producers of the film “The Other Conquest” and Evelina Fernandez of the film “Luminarias” at this year’s Golden Eagle Awards, July 28 in Beverly Hills. . . . Auto insurer GEICO has decided to stop running its ads on Laura Schlessinger’s syndicated radio program, the latest corporate fallout from the talk show host’s much-publicized comments on gays. The company said it has received a great deal of feedback--mostly negative--about its advertising on the program. The company said it “does not condone discrimination of any type directed toward any minority.” . . . The Art Directors Guild, in conjunction with House Beautiful magazine, has designed and constructed a classic Hollywood bungalow film set inspired by the movies and popular architecture from the 1920s-1930s on display beginning next Friday at the Pacific Design Center.