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

POP/ROCK

Fugitive Rapper Caught: Police arrested rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Philadelphia on Monday, ending his status as a fugitive wanted by police in both California and New York. The rapper, whose real name is Russell Jones, escaped Oct. 17 from a court-ordered drug treatment program in Pasadena, where he was sent after violating probation stemming from charges including making terrorist threats. He also faces outstanding drug warrants in New York. The capture comes less than a week after the rapper, who has been arrested nine times in the last 13 months, made a flagrant on-stage appearance with his band, the Wu-Tang Clan, in New York. ODB, who left the stage after telling the audience, “The cops is after me, so I gotta get outta here,” managed to escape the venue without arrest, despite numerous police officers outside.

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Boys on Tour: The Backstreet Boys have announced initial dates for their 2001 concert tour, including a March 12 stop at the San Diego Sports Arena. Additional shows--including L.A.-area performances expected in late March--will be announced soon. Meanwhile, retailers are speculating that the Boys’ new album, “Black & Blue,” will not break the 2.4-million first-week sales record set in March by rival band ‘N Sync. “It fell short of ‘N Sync. My guess is it’ll do 60 [percent] to 70% of what they did,” an executive with the Sam Goody chain told several Web sites. The album’s final first-week sales tally will be released today. Speaking of ‘N Sync, a “private concert” with the group has been added to Fox TV’s “The Ultimate Auction” event, taking place Friday on Amazon.com for showing on Fox on Dec. 7. Fox said the band will donate proceeds from the sale to its favorite charity, Challenge for Children.

THE ARTS

Turner Prize Winner: German-born photographer Wolfgang Tillmans won Britain’s controversial Turner arts prize Tuesday with a work that included shots of shaved genitalia. The prize, worth about $28,420 and condemned by critics as “an ongoing national joke,” usually has traditionalists spluttering with rage. Among this year’s controversies, nominee Glenn Brown drew charges of plagiarism--fended off by Turner organizers--when a newspaper suggested that his canvas “The Loves of Shepherds 2000,” depicting a giant spaceship orbiting a sun-like planet, bore a striking resemblance to the cover of a 1974 paperback called “Double Star” by Robert Heinlein, illustrated by Tony Roberts. Chris Ofili, whose painting of an elephant dung-stained Virgin Mary set off a New York furor last year, was the Turner Prize winner in 1998.

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Boulez Wins Grawemeyer: French composer Pierre Boulez, 75, has won the 2001 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. The $200,000 prize is considered the top award in international music composition. Boulez, a former music director of the New York Philharmonic, received the honor for “Sur Incises,” a 40-minute chamber work.

TV & VIDEO

Sweeps Cliffhanger: NBC and ABC remain in a virtual deadlock nearing the end of the November rating sweeps, each averaging about 13.9 million viewers through Monday, 26 days into the four-week survey. NBC will easily win the sweeps, however, among the young adults sought by advertisers. The network enjoyed a strong weekend, with the highest-rated episode of “Providence” since February and the network TV premiere of “Titanic.” “ER,” meanwhile, saw its numbers deflated a bit by the Thanksgiving holiday but still averaged 25.7 million viewers, tops among prime-time telecasts last week. Final results for the week--and thus The Times’ weekly ratings chart--have been delayed because of processing problems at Nielsen Media Research.

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The ‘Star Trek’ Network: TNN: The National Network (formerly known as The Nashville Network) has acquired cable rights to three of the “Star Trek” series: “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager.” The cable network has also picked up rights to five of the “Star Trek” movies for a total deal covering more than 500 hours of programming. The deal calls for episodes of “The Next Generation” to begin showing next fall, followed by “Deep Space Nine” beginning in 2004 and “Voyager” beginning in 2006. The movies will begin broadcast in 2001.

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‘X’ Marks Spot: DreamWorks’ history-making DVD release of “Gladiator” wasn’t the only big home entertainment moneymaker last week. “X-Men,” released Nov. 21 on both VHS and DVD, took in about $60 million in its first week in retail and rental stores, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment said Tuesday. That’s even more than the $57.5 million the movie generated in its opening weekend at the box office four months ago.

QUICK TAKES

Cast members of the WB’s “Popular”--including Leslie Bibb, Carly Pope, Christopher Gorham and Tammy Lynn Michaels--will join the show’s producers in a 7-to-8:30 p.m. discussion of the series tonight at the Museum of TV & Radio in Beverly Hills. Tickets are $10. . . . “Sports Night,” the critically acclaimed former ABC series about the behind-the-scenes world of a sports news show, will begin repeats on cable’s Comedy Central, starting Dec. 28. Two episodes will be shown each Thursday from 10 to 11 p.m. . . . Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s Child, ‘N Sync and Santana will vie for Artist of the Year at the 2000 Billboard Music Awards, airing Tuesday on Fox. . . . Comedian George Lopez has joined radio station KCMG-FM, known as Mega 92.3, as a featured member of John London’s morning house party crew.