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

TELEVISION

Willow Bay to Anchor Weekend CNN Show

Willow Bay, who was bounced from “Moneyline” in May when Lou Dobbs returned to CNN, finally has a new assignment: Beginning today, she’ll anchor the weekend business program “Pinnacle.”

Her first installment of the series, which airs Saturdays at 12:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3:30 p.m., will feature an interview with Gordon Bethune, chief executive of Continental Airlines. Bay, a former co-anchor of the Sunday edition of “Good Morning America” on ABC, joined CNN in 1998.

‘California Capitol Review’ Cutting Back

Television’s already meager coverage of state news coming out of Sacramento is dwindling further.

“California Capitol Review,” which has aired on public television and on cable’s California Channel, is being converted from a weekly series to a special-edition series, broadcast only when events warrant.

“We’re feeling the [economic] pinch, like everyone else,” said Jan Tilmon, vice president of content at KVIE, the Sacramento station that produces the series. “While ratings aren’t the only criteria, we do have to look at the number of people being served.”

The final installment of the weekly version is due to air this weekend on KCET-TV, KLCS-TV and KOCE-TV.

MUSIC

Greeks Back Vangelis’ Ode to Mars Mission

The Greek composer Vangelis, a longtime fan of NASA’s space program, has written a choral epic to mark the Odyssey spacecraft’s mission to Mars, where it went into orbit this week.

Performed by sopranos Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman at Athens’ Temple of Zeus on June 28, “Mythodea” was recorded for release by Sony Classics. The single concert and recording cost a hefty $7 million--half paid by Sony and half by the Greek government.

Public funding of a commercial venture became a source of national debate, according to the London newspaper the Telegraph. “Why do you all attack me?” Vangelis asked reporters at the hostile “Mythodea” press launch. “I’m a composer. I know nothing about money and commercial stuff. I just write music.”

RADIO

Limbaugh Down, but Don’t Count Him Out

Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh turned 50 in January. Half a year later, he started going deaf--a condition he shared with the public earlier this month. Though many broadcasters would consider that insurmountable, he sees it as a midlife crisis.

“A guy who turns 50 goes out and buys a red Corvette and hunts chicks to prove he’s still youthful,” Limbaugh told the Associated Press. “Mine is to still do this, basically deaf, and do it better than anybody else. Nothing’s stopped me from talking--and that’s what I get paid to do.”

Most of Limbaugh’s shows originate from a studio near his south Florida home, where an elaborate system takes calls from listeners and transcribes words onto a computer screen. Limbaugh has pledged to fulfill his contract with Premiere Radio Network, which ends in 2009.

THEATER

‘Producers’ Trying to Beat Ticket Scalpers

In an effort to get a slice of the lucrative market dominated by scalpers, producers of the Broadway hit “The Producers” are planning to set aside at least 50 premium orchestra and mezzanine seats at each performance--charging the unheard of sum of $480 a ticket.

That’s nearly five times the current cost of $100 for the best seats to the show--already a record on the Great White Way.

Withholding some of the best seats for those willing to pay that sum is a common practice at sports and rock concerts. But, according to the New York Times, this is the first time it has been used on Broadway.

The producers say the policy, to be implemented next month, is intended to take money out of the hands of scalpers and into the pockets of the people who created the show and took the financial risks.

The announcement of the policy was to have been made last month but was delayed because of the Sept. 11 attacks. Producers pledge to donate $150 from each $480 ticket to the Twin Towers Fund for several months.

QUICK TAKES

Now that the TV academy has described the mood of the Emmys as “uplifting” rather than “somber,” says a spokesman for E! Entertainment, Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa have been reinstated into the network’s pre-show coverage of the Nov. 4 event.... Bob Dylan is writing a multivolume autobiography called “Chronicles,” documenting his life and career. The first installment is due out from Simon & Schuster next year--the 157th book on the singer, according to Amazon.com.... Director Richard Linklater will conduct two Q&A; sessions after the 7:30 and 10:30 screenings tonight of his latest release, “Waking Life,” at the Nuart Theater in West L.A.