MORNING REPORT - News from Jan. 5, 2001

POP/ROCK

Top Albums: The Beatles’ 1966 release “Revolver” was named the best rock album ever in a survey of more than 500 journalists, music executives and artists released Thursday by cable music network VH1. The Beatles took five of the top 11 spots on the 100-album list. The rest of the Top 10, in descending order: Nirvana’s “Nevermind” (1991), the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” (1966), Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” (1971), the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Are You Experienced?” (1967), the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” (1965), Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” (1974), the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” (1969), Bob Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde” (1966), and the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967). Besides the Beatles’ five, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan each nabbed four list spots, while triple entries went to Led Zeppelin, the Who, Aretha Franklin, Hendrix, Paul Simon, Prince and Michael Jackson.

TELEVISION

Australian Castaways: The “Survivor” contestants will be younger this time around, with 53-year-old Kentucky teacher-farmer Rodger Bingham and retired Virginia cop Maralyn Hershey, 51, taking on the elder statesmen roles handled last time by 60-somethings Rudy, Bebe and Sonja. In fact, among the cast of 16 contestants announced by CBS Thursday, six are in their 20s and 10 are under 35. The eight men and eight women include a personal trainer, a Harvard law student, a corrections officer, a footwear designer, two bartenders, an Army intelligence officer, a software publisher and a part-time nurse. Only one, aspiring actress Jerri Manthey, 30, resides in California. “Survivor: The Australian Outback” premieres Jan. 28 after the Super Bowl.

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Remembering the Victims: MTV will go dark for 17 1/2 hours starting at 10 p.m. Wednesday to kick off its yearlong public-service campaign “Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Discrimination.” In an effort to “show how discrimination can lead to hate and also to call on viewers to take a stand,” the cable network will, instead of regular programming, run a scroll listing names of hundreds of victims of hate crimes throughout the country. The scroll--which will begin following programming about hate crimes, including a look at the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard--will run continuously, without commercials, until 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

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Tube Notes: MSNBC host Chris Matthews will get more weekday air time starting Monday, when the cable news channel adds “The Matthews Group,” an hour of news analysis and discussion hosted by Matthews at 3 p.m., following the 2 p.m. “Hardball With Chris Matthews.” “The Matthews Group” began during the post-election coverage, when it was airing at 7 p.m. . . . Anne Heche’s seven-episode guest stint on Fox’s “Ally McBeal” begins airing Monday. She plays a client, accused of killing an ex-boyfriend, who becomes involved with Peter MacNicol’s character. . . . Also starting Monday, cable’s Bravo network will air the British comedy series “Cold Feet,” which took best series and best actor honors (for “Waking Ned Devine’s” James Nesbitt) at the recent British Comedy Awards. The series will be shown Mondays at 7 and 10 p.m. . . . ABC (along with sister cable network the Disney Channel) has secured TV broadcast rights for “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” for 10 years starting in 2004. . . . Fearing it will be left without enough new programming if the threatened writers’ strike occurs, cable’s TNT has opted not to premiere new episodes of its Wall Street drama “Bull” this month as scheduled. Instead, new episodes will return in late summer.

QUICK TAKES

Garth Brooks will perform on Sunday’s People’s Choice Awards, airing on CBS. . . . The political drama “The Contender” has won the Broadcast Film Critics Assn.’s Alan J. Pakula Award, given to a film that displays “artistic excellence while illuminating issues of great social and political importance.” . . . A former “Price Is Right” production assistant has sued Bob Barker and the show’s owners, claiming she was fired for testifying against the host in a libel lawsuit he brought against an ex-model. A spokesperson for producer Pearson Television would not immediately comment on Linda Riegert’s lawsuit. . . . “Selena Forever,” which had been scheduled to open at the Doolittle Theatre in late January, is now slated for mid-February, said producer Tom Quinn, who cited holiday delays and ongoing union negotiations. . . . Audience members at tonight’s L.A. Philharmonic performance at the Music Center will be invited to a free post-concert champagne toast to welcome back music director Esa-Pekka Salonen after a year’s absence from the podium. . . . Former “Melrose Place” and “Ally McBeal” star Courtney Thorne-Smith has separated from genetic scientist Andrew Conrad, her husband of seven months, the actress’ publicist said Thursday. In a case of unfortunate timing, an In Style Weddings magazine currently on newsstands features a cover story on Thorne-Smith’s June 2 nuptials.