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

TV & RADIO

Let It Be: NBC has set Dec. 3 as the air date for “In His Life: The John Lennon Story,” a TV movie that follows the artist (played by Irish actor-musician Phillip McQuillan, in his TV debut) from ages 17 to 24. In a related item, 150 bricks from Lennon’s childhood home in Liverpool, England, where the film was shot, will go up for auction on the Internet next week. It was the first time a film crew had been given access to the house, which is privately owned. The bricks were removed and documented in the presence of a Liverpool auctioneer and then “carted away almost under armed guard,” according to Reuters.

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Big Numbers: This week’s election proved to be a boon for NBC, which scored record ratings for “Today.” On Wednesday, the program posted the highest rating ever for morning TV, averaging 12.5 million viewers. And last week’s appearances by Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush helped “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” attract its highest weekly ratings average in 11 months.

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Quality Votes for ‘Gilmore Girls’: The Virginia-based advocacy group Viewers for Quality Television has named the new Thursday night WB family entry “Gilmore Girls” the season’s best new drama and best-written new series, while naming its star Lauren Graham best actress in a new series and her character, Lorelai Gilmore, the season’s most interesting new character. (Meanwhile, the WB has picked up six additional episodes of the series, which has struggled opposite NBC’s top-rated “Friends.”) The group also named Fox’s Tuesday night series “Dark Angel” as the season’s “biggest surprise” for being “better than expected.” However, the group, which makes such distinctions annually, found no new comedy worthy of its best new comedy honor. NBC’s canceled Dick Wolf series “Deadline,” which starred Oliver Platt as a New York journalist, was named the season’s “biggest disappointment.”

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Copland Concert: National Public Radio will mark the 100th anniversary of composer Aaron Copland’s birth on Tuesday. At 11 a.m. that day, a concert of his music will be presented by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and broadcast as a special one-hour edition of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” and a two-hour presentation of “Performance Today.” “Talk of the Nation” airs on KPCC-FM (89.3) and “Performance Today” airs from 11 a.m. to noon and 1 to 2 p.m. on KCSN-FM (88.5), which will focus on Copland programming throughout the day.

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Making Music: “Elton John: Greatest Hits Live! One Night Only,” the British pop artist’s first network entertainment special, will air Dec. 1 at 10 p.m. on CBS with guests Billy Joel, Mary J. Blige and Kiki Dee. The one-hour special was taped during his Oct. 20 and 21 performances at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, John and Joel reportedly are trying to set tour dates and places for a joint American tour beginning in February. The duo toured together several years ago.

THEATER

All in a Day’s Work: “The 24 Hour Plays,” a theatrical event that has built a cult following in New York over the last five years, will make its local premiere next Saturday at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. The production, which begins at 8 p.m., is an evening of six one-act plays written, directed, rehearsed, designed and performed within a single day’s span. Tickets are $10 and available by calling (213) 485-1681.

PEOPLE

Schlesinger Honored: The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center will honor Oscar-winning director John Schlesinger (“Midnight Cowboy”) and Showtime Networks Inc. at 8 tonight for their groundbreaking work in film and programming and “consistent sensitivity” to gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. Schlesinger and Showtime will receive the Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award and Corporate Vision Award, respectively, at the center’s 29th anniversary ball in Los Angeles.

QUICK TAKES

Actress Jami Gertz starts a four-episode arc on “Ally McBeal” Monday, reuniting with Robert Downey Jr., her co-star in the 1987 film “Less Than Zero.” Gertz plays a former classmate who sues Ally for libel. . . . The first official Beatles Web site will be launched Monday in conjunction with the release of “1,” a new collection of Beatles hits. EMI Records said the site, https://www.thebeatles.com, will contain material submitted by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono. . . . Writer Allen Rucker will sign “The Sopranos: A Family History,” the official companion to the HBO series, Monday at 8 p.m. at West Hollywood’s Book Soup at 8818 Sunset Blvd. Natalie Cole will sign her memoir “Angel on My Shoulder” Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Brentano’s Century City. . . . Singer Monica will star in “Love Song,” a new TV movie to air Dec. 1 on MTV. Directed by Julie Dash (“Daughters of the Dust”), the drama focuses on the relationship of a young woman and a New Orleans blues musician (Christian Kane). . . . “Red Rocks Live,” a concert video from singer-songwriter Neil Young shot in Colorado, is set for release on home video and DVD on Dec. 5 from Warner Reprise Video.