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

FILM AND TELEVISION

Puerto Rican Protest: Puerto Rican activists found Wednesday night’s episode of “Law & Order” so offensive that NBC has agreed never to air it again. The episode, titled “Sunday in the Park with Jorge,” was based on last year’s Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City, after which 53 women were sexually assaulted in Central Park. “Law & Order” creator and executive producer Dick Wolf added a murder to his version. Manuel Mirabal, president of the National Puerto Rican Coalition, said portraying Latinos “as a rampaging mob will leave a lasting impression in the minds of millions of viewers and cause immeasurable damage to the image of the parade.” NBC also issued a public apology--over Wolf’s protests. Wolf said in a statement that the network had “caved in to the demands of a special-interest group.”

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Oscar for Cardiff: British cinematographer and director Jack Cardiff will receive an honorary Academy Award at the Oscar ceremonies on March 25. In announcing the award Friday, Robert Rehme, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, hailed Cardiff, 86, as “one of the greatest visual artists ever to work in film.” Cardiff’s credits as cinematographer include “Black Narcissus” (for which he won an Oscar in 1947), “The African Queen,” “War and Peace” and “Tai-Pan.” His directing stints include “Sons and Lovers,” “The Long Ships” and “Young Cassidy.”

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Bush Daughters Off-Limits: Comedy Central has ordered producers of an upcoming comedy series about the first family to remove all references to President Bush’s twin daughters. The series, by “South Park” producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone, had attracted notoriety when a proposed script leaked out with the 19-year-old girls, Jenna and Barbara, portrayed as lesbian lovers. Parker and Stone had already distanced themselves from that idea, but Comedy Central executives--who had received many complaints--told them this week the girls could not be included in their series at all. “If we felt creatively that we needed them in, we would fight it,” Parker said. “It’s just not something worth fighting.”

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Blockbuster Awards: “Chicken Run,” “Dinosaur,” “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie” and “The Emperor’s New Groove” are in the running as favorite family film in the seventh annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. The nominations, announced Friday, mostly cover motion picture acting and pop music performances, with a few video game categories as well. Competing for favorite musical group are the Backstreet Boys, Creed, Destiny’s Child, ‘N Sync and Santana. The public will be able to vote at Blockbuster stores and online beginning Tuesday, with the winners to be announced on an April 11 telecast on Fox.

ARTS

Getty Acquisition: The latest addition to the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection is “A Hare in the Forest,” a late 16th century painting by Hans Hoffmann, court painter to Rudolf II of Hapsburg, king of Hungary and Bohemia. The Getty purchased the naturalistic painting--inspired by Albrecht Durer’s renowned image of a rabbit--for $2.6 million, the top price paid in a $14.2-million auction of Renaissance art held at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday.

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Year of the Arts: The California Arts Council has announced the Year of the Arts--2001, to increase the awareness of and support for the arts in California. The arts council has partnered with several private foundations to launch a major statewide campaign to make “support for the arts as sacrosanct as the support for the ecology,” said arts council Chairman Steven Fogel. Every month, the arts council and its private partners will launch exhibitions, performances and festivals celebrating a different arts discipline.

POP/ROCK

Eminem, Again: The roiling debate about Eminem’s Grammy nominations stepped up a notch Friday as a national anti-domestic violence group launched a “No to Eminem” campaign. Asking supporters to inundate the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and CBS with protest e-mails, the Family Violence Prevention Fund is also threatening a boycott of the show’s sponsors if Eminem performs. The controversial rapper is nominated for four Grammys--including best album--and has not yet responded to an invitation to perform. “At a time when domestic violence is destroying families in every corner of our nation, it would grossly irresponsible for CBS to give Eminem time on national television to espouse violence against women,” said Esta Soler, executive director of the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

QUICK TAKES

Conductor Lorin Maazel will direct the North American auditions for a new international conducting competition at the Indiana University School of Music later this year. . . . The Los Angeles Master Chorale will hold open submissions for auditions, for the first time in a decade. Experienced singers can submit their resumes to the Master Chorale by Feb. 15.