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

TV & MOVIES

Harrelson’s Hemp Hurdle: Woody Harrelson lost his battle Thursday to draw a legal line between industrial hemp and recreational marijuana, when Kentucky’s Supreme Court ruled the difference in the substances to be “of no consequence” and ordered Harrelson to stand trial for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Knowing he would be arrested, Harrelson planted four hemp seeds in the state in 1996 in an attempt to challenge laws outlawing possession of any part of the cannabis plant. The actor has argued that the law should distinguish between marijuana and hemp, which contains only minute amounts of THC, the substance that makes marijuana smokers high. The court ruled, however, that Harrelson should be making his argument to lawmakers, not the legal system. Harrelson is an investor in a hemp clothing company and touts hemp as a potential savior of the nation’s forests if it is used in place of trees to make paper.

*

Latino Honorees: The National Council of La Raza, the country’s largest Latino advocacy group, has announced its annual ALMA Awards nominees in recognition of Latino entertainers. They include Antonio Banderas (“The 13th Warrior”), Hector Elizondo (“Runaway Bride”), Andy Garcia (“Just the Ticket”), John Leguizamo (“Summer of Sam”) and Freddie Prinze Jr. (“She’s All That”) for best actor, and Cameron Diaz (“Any Given Sunday”), Salma Hayek (“Wild Wild West”), Gloria Estefan (“Music of the Heart”), Rosie Perez (“24 Hour Woman”) and Madeleine Stowe (“The General’s Daughter”) for best actress. Male and female entertainer of the year honors will go to Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez, while Christina Aguilera will take home the New Entertainer of the Year prize. The awards will be handed out April 16 in Pasadena.

*

Extended Summer: After disagreement among the major networks, ratings service Nielsen Media Research has determined that the fall TV season will begin Oct. 2, two weeks later than usual. The postponement is due to NBC’s broadcast of the Summer Olympics from Sydney, Australia, which will run Sept. 15-Oct. 1, prompting other networks to push back their new-series premieres. While NBC had wanted to keep the start date in mid-September, ABC, CBS and Fox lobbied for the delay. In the past, such disputes were settled by the late Bob Knight, a columnist at the trade paper Variety.

*

‘Millionaire’s’ Gender Questions: Would-be contestants calling the 800 number for ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” are now being asked to give their gender, signaling increased attempts by the show’s producers to diversify the contestant pool. Of the first 100 people to occupy “Millionaire’s” “hot seat,” only 11 were women and one was a minority. That lack of diversity prompted host Regis Philbin to issue an on-air plea in February to attract more minorities and women to the program.

*

New ‘Teletubbies’ Foes: A group of 19 child advocates, including academics from Harvard and Boston universities, has called on PBS to stop airing the preschool program “Teletubbies,” saying that the program’s fast-food sponsors “manipulate” young children into eating unhealthy food and that the show’s young viewers are better off playing than watching TV. A network spokeswoman, noting the show’s recent Daytime Emmy nomination, said PBS is proud to air “Teletubbies,” which she said was developed with strong input from the educational community. Commercial sponsors, she said, are needed to make viewers aware of the show.

*

Oscar Notes: Best picture front-runner “American Beauty” will be released on video May 9, DreamWorks announced Thursday. The DVD release date has not yet been set. . . . Wim Wenders’ documentary nominee, “Buena Vista Social Club,” will get its U.S. TV premiere July 19 on PBS outlets including KCET. . . . A new ABC News poll of 1,009 American adults asking for their choice for the best picture Oscar found a surprising answer, with the top choice being “No opinion.” . . . Chris Isaak will be the musical guest on a live, post-Oscar edition of ABC’s “Politically Incorrect,” scheduled to begin 35 minutes after the awards telecast. Other guests are Arsenio Hall, movie critic Michael Medved and Adam Carolla of “The Man Show.” . . . Author Aphrodite Jones has settled her lawsuit against Fox Searchlight over its nominated film “Boys Don’t Cry.” Jones--author of a book on the life of murder victim Brandon Teena, the subject of the film--had sued Fox when it dropped development of a film based on her book to instead purchase “Boys Don’t Cry.” Settlement terms were not disclosed. . . . Clips from all the films nominated in the top eight categories are available on the Web at https://www.firstlook.com. . . . And for those who will miss Sunday’s episode of “The Sopranos” because it airs opposite the awards, HBO will rerun the episode that night at 12:30 a.m. and at 9 p.m. on Monday.

QUICK TAKES

Rodney Dangerfield, 78, is recuperating after undergoing double bypass heart surgery on Tuesday, and could be released from the hospital this weekend, his business manager said late Wednesday. Dangerfield, 78, experienced chest pains last week following a six-night stand in Las Vegas. . . . Los Angeles-area artists Lari Pittman, Alison Saar, Peter Shelton, Michael C. McMillen, Harry Gamboa Jr. and Daniel J. Martinez are among 12 recipients of $25,000 visual arts grants from the Flintridge Foundation. The grants “acknowledge and support mature artists” from California, Oregon or Washington. In addition, local artists Robbie Conal, Charles La Belle, Sarah Perry, Lynn Aldrich and Clemente Hanami have each been awarded $15,000 from the California Community Foundation’s J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts. . . . “Harsh Realm,” the Chris Carter series that aired only three episodes on Fox before being canceled last fall, premieres on cable’s FX tonight in the Friday 9 p.m. time slot. The run will include six previously unaired episodes. . . . David Bloom has joined Soledad O’Brien as co-anchor of the weekend editions of NBC’s “Today.”