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

TV & MOVIES

Asian Achievements: Actress Joan Chen’s directorial debut, “Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl,” was named best foreign feature and Tony Bui’s “Three Seasons” won the best independent feature prize at the inaugural Ammy Awards, recognizing “the year’s brightest achievements by Asian and Asian Americans in film and television.” Held Saturday in Universal City, the ceremony also recognized M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense” (best Hollywood picture), the animated “Princess Mononoke” (anime award) and actors Lucy Liu and Chow Yun-Fat (best cinematic performances, for “Shanghai Noon” and “Anna and the King,” respectively) and Kelly Hu and Dustin Nguyen (best TV performances, for “Martial Law” and “V.I.P.,” respectively). Additional winners, selected in a public Internet and magazine poll, included Bing Yao’s “Twinkle, Twinkle” (short film), “Young Asianz Rizing! Breaking Down Violence Against Women” (documentary) and actor James Shigeta (lifetime achievement).

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Good Opening Score: NBC’s quirky, well-reviewed drama series “Ed” made its debut to encouraging numbers Sunday, with an estimated 15.7 million people viewing the series premiere. It was NBC’s highest rating for a regularly scheduled series in that time slot since “3rd Rock From the Sun” in 1997. The show faced “60 Minutes” on the East Coast because the preceding NFL football game went into overtime on CBS. Meanwhile, CBS’ postponement of the season premiere of “Touched by an Angel” due to the football runover resulted in a flood of telephone and e-mail complaints. The network said some of the complaints--which included an estimated 1,000 e-mails--came from those who mistakenly believed the show had been canceled. But the network said Monday the show would now begin its season next week.

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More Pretending: Cable’s TNT will air two new “Pretender” TV movies, taking off where the canceled NBC series ended. Episodes of “The Pretender,” starring Michael T. Weiss, began airing in syndication on TNT in September. The new movies, which do not yet have air dates, will be written and executive produced by series creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle.

POP/ROCK

Garth Brooks Divorce: Garth Brooks and wife Sandy are divorcing after 14 years of marriage. They have three children, ages 8, 6 and 4. “Sandy and I both agree that we need to get divorced,” the singer told Billboard magazine. “Right now, we’re focused on the impact it will have on the children and how to handle that best, to remain parents even if we don’t remain husband and wife.” Brooks said that dealing with his mother’s recent death and his first touring break in 11 years contributed to the marriage’s breakup.

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Black Promoters’ Protest: The Black Promoters of America organization and civil rights leaders including Brotherhood Crusade’s Danny Bakewell plan to demonstrate outside Creative Artists Agency’s Beverly Hills headquarters today at 12:30 p.m. to protest alleged discrimination within the talent agency industry. The group has filed a $170-million lawsuit against CAA, William Morris and other agencies charging that the companies refuse to use black concert promoters for concerts by white artists or top black artists.

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Girls & Guitars: Throughout October, the Lifetime cable channel is airing a breast cancer awareness campaign that will include an all-star concert special, “Women Rock!: Girls & Guitars.” The concert, being taped for an invitation-only audience at the Wiltern Theatre on Thursday, for broadcast on Lifetime Oct. 22 at 8 p.m., features Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Destiny’s Child, Amy Grant, Heart, Cyndi Lauper and Wynonna.

QUICK TAKES

Pearl Jam performs Oct. 24 at the Greek Theatre. Tickets go on sale Sunday. . . . KCRW-FM’s (89.9) weekly half-hour series “Left, Right & Center” moves to a new time slot today, airing Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Meanwhile, co-hosts Robert Scheer, Arianna Huffington and Matt Miller have been joined by conservative commentator David Frum. . . . More than 70 top daytime stars, including “General Hospital’s” Anthony Geary, Genie Francis, A Martinez and Maurice Benard; “Days of Our Lives’ ” Deidre Hall and Peter Reckell; “The Young & the Restless’ ” Michelle Stafford, Melody Thomas Scott and Heather Tom; and “One Life to Live’s” Robin Strasser will join presidential candidate Al Gore’s daughter, Kristen Gore, at a private “Daytime for Gore/Lieberman” gathering tonight in Tarzana. . . . “Powers of Ten,” a nine-minute film by famed designers Charles and Ray Eames about “scale and space relationships,” will be available online starting today at https://www.powersof10.com.