MORNING REPORT - News from Nov. 2, 2000

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Oprah Will Keep Talking: Oprah Winfrey will continue her reign on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” through the 2003-2004 season. The new deal, announced Wednesday, will take Winfrey’s talk show through its 18th season. “I am finally at a point in my life where I’m doing the kind of shows I’ve always wanted to do,” Winfrey said, “helping people to see themselves more clearly and to make choices that lead to more fulfilled lives.”

Bad, Good News: NBC has canceled “Deadline,” the new Monday night Oliver Platt drama from “Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf. Though it posted solid numbers in its Oct. 2 debut, its ratings fell in subsequent weeks. . . . Fox, meanwhile, has given full-season pickups to two of its more-viewed freshman series, the 2-week-old David E. Kelley Monday drama “Boston Public” and the James Cameron-produced Tuesday series “Dark Angel.”

Getty Continues Court Fight: The J. Paul Getty Trust will appeal a recent judicial ruling that prohibits construction of an outdoor theater at the Getty Villa in Malibu. In response to a lawsuit filed by Pacific Coast Homeowners and other parties, an L.A. Superior Court judge last month invalidated the city of Los Angeles’ approval of the project. The 450-seat, Roman-style theater--designed for visitor orientation, outdoor seating and performances of classical drama--is part of a renovation that will transform the Villa property into an antiquities museum and study center.

Extending Smithsonian’s Recognition: President Clinton has signed a bill to change the name of Washington’s National Museum of American Art to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The facility is among 22 museums and research facilities run by the Smithsonian Institution. “As we send more and more traveling exhibits across the country and create affiliations with museums in all 50 states, it’s important for people to be able to recognize instantly that the Smithsonian has come to their town,” Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small said of the name change.

Taking It Public: Former child star Gary Coleman takes his legal woes before TV’s “Judge Mills Lane” today (11 a.m., KTLA) when Lane presides over “Fields v. Coleman,” the civil case involving the L.A. bus driver (Tracy Fields) who sued Coleman for punching her in the eye after she sought his autograph. Coleman previously pleaded no contest to criminal charges stemming from the 1998 incident and attended 26 weeks of anger-management counseling.

QUICK TAKES

Fox Family Channel is developing a cable movie about tennis coach Richard Williams and his daughters, tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams. . . . Universal Pictures is holding an online casting call for two “featured extras” for “American Pie 2,” which begins filming in February. Applicants, who must be 18 or older, can enter through Wednesday at https://www.hypnotic.com. . . . The American Film Institute today will unveil a series of 22 limited-edition classic movie posters reprinted in their original, pre-1939 color lithography process. The posters ($200-$975) will be sold online at https://www.AFIonline.org and at https://www.artofthemovies.com, with a portion of proceeds going to the AFI.