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

TELEVISION / RADIO

New KCMG-FM: AMix of Old and New

“Mega” is out. “Hot” is in. Radio station KCMG-FM (92.3) has tweaked its format, moving away from the “Mega” brand of “jammin’ oldies” in favor of a new “Hot 92.3” with the slogan “Old School and Today’s R&B.;”

Roy Laughlin, co-president of the L.A. market for station owner Clear Channel, says the blend will be about 70% oldies (such as Barry White, Marvin Gaye and Funkadelic) and 30% current hit artists (such as Alicia Keys, Jill Scott and Brian McKnight).

The station, which made the change late Thursday afternoon, will continue without advertising or regular deejays for several days and introduce new air staff over the course of the next few months.

Mega holdovers include Theo (afternoons), Sean Andre (evenings) and George Lopez, though the comedian has lost his morning drive-time slot. He will host a Saturday countdown show. Smokey Robinson’s “Mega Dedications” will move from weekday evenings to Sunday mornings.

The station spent considerable time and money promoting Lopez, a longtime fixture on the comedy scene, who took over the morning show from John London last November. Since then, the comedian--who KCMG hoped would help build on its following in the Latino community--has improved the ratings in that time slot for the 25-to-54-year-old demographic from 20th to 13th.

Meanwhile, Laughlin shoots down a rumor that Clear Channel’s KBIG-FM (104.3) will shift from soft pop to a hard “active rock” sound.

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Animal Planet Targeted by Animal Rights Group

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals displayed buckets of dead animals outside the Bethesda, Md., headquarters of Discovery Communications. The move was part of a protest against a new TV series, “That’s My Baby,” that, it contends, encourages people to obtain pets from a breeder rather than from animal shelters.

The show, which is due to premiere on Discovery’s Animal Planet in 2002, follows all members of the animal kingdom, from cats and dogs to horses and whales, through pregnancy and birth.

“The show and the series tout the miracle of birth, in this case with dogs,” Lisa Lange, PETA’s director of policy and communications, told The Times. “There’s no way to responsibly breed a cat or dog while we have to euthanize 12 million of them in shelters each year.”

Annie Howell, vice president of communications for Discovery USA Networks, denies that the show promotes irresponsible breeding.

“We have public service announcements--from the American Humane Assn., the Humane Society of the U.S. and the American Kennel Club--in regular rotation promoting adopting shelter animals, plus an additional one running on ‘That’s My Baby,”’ she told The Times.

“And the show highlights the pregnancies of animals already pregnant. PETA’s display of dead animals--in front of a deli, no less--was repulsive to us and to people in the community. While they’re welcome to voice their views, that was a bit of a harsh statement and didn’t help make their point.”

No amount of PSAs can undo the harm done by the channel, says Lange, who defends the tactics of her group.

“Because of the overpopulation crisis, shelter workers and animal welfare organizations have to see dead bodies everyday,” she says.

“If Animal Planet is going to exacerbate this hidden problem, they should have to see it, too.”

MOVIES

Immune Disorder No Joke, Mom Says

The mother of a boy confined to a bubble because of an immune deficiency disorder is sending letters to newspapers nationwide asking that they boycott “Bubble Boy”--a spoof of a lovesick teenager confined to a plastic bubble.

The film, directed by Blair Hayes and distributed by Disney’s Touchstone division, is scheduled for release on Aug. 24

“Despite the pro-forma disclaimer ... stating that any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental, my son David was the real and only ‘bubble boy,”’ Carol Ann Demaret said in her letter, written on the stationery of the Immune Deficiency Foundation, which is also campaigning against the film.

“The notion of making a comedy about a life-threatening disease is, in and of itself, a travesty.”

Demaret’s son David Vetter succumbed to the disease at age 12, in 1984. His life was portrayed by John Travolta in the 1976 telefilm “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.” In the Disney movie, Jake Gyllenhal plays the “bubble boy” who chases after the love of his life after he hears she’s marrying someone else.

Dr. E. Richard Stiehm of UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital also voiced criticism in a letter to Disney CEO Michael Eisner: “Would you make a comedy movie about a child with HIV? I think not,” he said. “Please do not allow the company to proceed with this tasteless and offensive project.”

Though there was no official comment from Disney, one highly placed executive told The Times: “The bubble is a setup for the picture--and there is no malicious intent at any point in the making of or release of this movie.”

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‘Apes’ Ending Recycled, Director Charges

Director Kevin Smith (“Dogma”) says the “surprise” ending of Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” should come as no surprise to anyone who has read his 3-year-old “Jay and Silent Bob” comic books. To prove his point, he features a comic-book image bearing a close resemblance to the “Apes” finale on his Viewaskew Web site.

“My jaw hit the ground when I saw that scene,” Smith told the New York Post. “I think I got robbed and I’m talking with my lawyers about possibly suing.”

Burton denied that his vision took root in another genre.

“I have not seen the image and anybody that knows me knows I do not read comic books,” the director said. “And I especially wouldn’t read anything that was created by Kevin Smith.”

According to USA Today, Burton once rejected a script Smith wrote for a new “Superman” film.

QUICK TAKES

As Mariah Carey recovers from the “physical and emotional breakdown” that left her hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic for two weeks, her label, Virgin Records, said it will push back the release of her new album, “Glitter,” to Sept. 11, three weeks later than its original street date. The release of her movie of the same name was also delayed to Sept. 21. ... Singer Bobby Brown, accompanied by his wife Whitney Houston, was rushed to a New Jersey hospital early Thursday morning for treatment of a seizure. Nancy Seltzer, Houston’s publicist, blamed the attack on intense heat and a hectic recording schedule.