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

All the ‘President’s’ Words: Actor-activist Martin Sheen, who plays an American president on TV, has filmed a commercial for Handgun Control Inc. attacking the gun control record of presidential candidate George W. Bush. Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlet on NBC’s “The West Wing,” is seen in the ad in front of an American flag, asking: “Should the next president be the candidate of the gun lobby?” The ads are not currently slated to be seen in California; a Handgun Control spokeswoman said plans call for airings in Washington, Cleveland, St. Louis and Milwaukee--all cities in crucial swing states.

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Speaking of Bush: After declining to join Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore on “Late Show With David Letterman,” Republican George W. Bush is scheduled to appear solo on the CBS show Oct. 19. Letterman had invited the candidates to debate on the program and then made an ongoing joke out of Bush’s failure to agree. Although he has been interviewed on NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” Bush’s only appearance with Letterman was an awkward exchange via satellite prior to the March primaries.

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Good Grief, CBS: ABC has secured the rights to air “Peanuts” holiday specials starting next year, ending a 25-year CBS tradition. Lee Mendelson, the specials’ executive producer, said ABC offered a couple of hundred thousand dollars more in license fees and promised to broadcast the Charlie Brown Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas specials every year of its three-year pact (CBS has aired the Thanksgiving program only sporadically). Also in ABC’s favor, Mendelson said, was the network’s willingness to discuss airing new animated “Peanuts” programs. Such fare could stem from an outline of a dozen possible specials that Mendelson says famed “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz discussed before his death.

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By the Numbers: Olympic ratings slipped over the weekend, but NBC is still estimating that nearly 180 million people in the U.S. watched at least some of the 16-day event. . . . CBS’ new Saturday drama “That’s Life” ran second in its time slot with a Sunday preview against the Games, attracting a projected 12.3 million viewers. The network’s “Big Brother,” meanwhile, averaged roughly 11.1 million viewers for its finale Friday, in which student Eddie McGee became the $500,000 winner--an unspectacular performance given the huge numbers the franchise has drawn in other countries and the ratings the show delivered when it followed “Survivor.”

POP/ROCK

Pearl Jam Triples Its Live Releases: After flooding the market last week with 25 live albums recorded on its European tour, Pearl Jam is planning another mass release, this time American style. The Seattle rock band plans to issue live albums of all 46 shows on its current North American tour. Group manager Kelly Curtis said Monday that double CDs of the first 22 concerts are ready to go. The second leg begins Wednesday in Montreal and includes dates at San Diego Sports Arena on Oct. 25 and Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion on Oct. 28. If the release follows the pattern of the European sets, the albums will be offered by mail order to fan club members through the band’s Web site (https://www.pearljam.com) before they are shipped to record stores.

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Break Just Temporary: TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins says she will, indeed, tour again with the group. Clarifying statements made last week, Watkins said over the weekend that she is merely taking a break from performing while she awaits the birth of her baby, due at the end of the month. “I am still an active member of TLC and look forward to performing with the group again soon,” she said. “Right now I am healthy, planning for the birth of my child and enjoying my new marriage.” Last week, Associated Press quoted Watkins, who has been hospitalized several times for the blood disease sickle cell anemia, as saying that she would stop touring because it was “not healthy, not good and not smart.”

THEATER

Globe Lineup: Old Globe Theatre has announced its programming for 2001. The lineup includes: Lynn Nottage’s “Crumbs From the Table of Joy” (Feb. 10-March 18), Gregory Murphy’s “The Countess” (March 31-May 6), Donald Margulies’ “Dinner With Friends” (April 5-May 6), Eileen Atkins’ “Vita and Virginia” (May 26-July 1) and Yasmina Reza’s “Art” (May 31-July 1). Next summer: a new Stuart (“Forever Plaid”) Ross musical, “The Boswell Sisters” (July 7-Aug. 11), Hugh Leonard’s “Da” (July 21-Aug. 25), a Robin Phillips-staged “Twelfth Night” (July 28-Sept. 1), Regina Taylor’s jazz musical “A Night in Tunisia” (Sept. 8-Oct. 13), Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Country Club” (Sept. 15-Oct. 20) and a Daniel Sullivan-directed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Sept. 22-Oct. 27).