Morning Report - News from Jan. 25, 2002

TELEVISION

Saralegui, Mac Featured in Paley Festival

A Spanish-language program will be saluted for the first time at the 19th annual William S. Paley Television Festival at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills, which announced the lineup for the Feb. 26-March 12 event Thursday.

“Cristina,” the Univision talk show hosted by Cristina Saralegui that ended a 12-year run last month, will open the festival, which features question-and-answer sessions between the creative team and the audience.

Other programs to be featured in the festival: “Futurama,” “The Bernie Mac Show,” “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “Queer as Folk,” “Undeclared,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Scrubs,” “Six Feet Under,” “Alias” and “The King of Queens.” There also will be salutes to comedian Martin Short and the late humorist Fred Allen.

Tickets go on sale to museum members on Feb. 2 and to the general public on Feb. 8.

‘Spin City’s’ Ruck Battling Kidney Failure

After winning the best actor Golden Globe for the series “Spin City,” Charlie Sheen wound up his speech on Sunday with the words: “Oh, and Alan Ruck, this one is for you.”

He was referring to his co-star in the show, who has been hospitalized in New York since Dec. 23, fighting a strep infection that resulted in kidney failure. The 45-year-old actor has played the mayor’s chief of staff, Stuart Bondek, since the inception of the series.

ABC said the actor is expected to make a full recovery after a lengthy rehabilitation period.

TV Movie Planned on New York’s Giuliani

Five Mile River Films, a company that has produced TV movies on Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus, is now planning one on former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose leadership after the Sept. 11 attack elevated him to near-sainthood in some quarters.

The company bought the screen rights to “Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City,” by Andrew Kirtzman, for an undisclosed price. Co-producers Lorenzo Minoli and Russell Kagan expect to have the movie ready for broadcast later this year and then plan to release it around the world.

“He’s very famous in Europe,” Minoli said of Giuliani.

Gayheart Settles Wrongful-Death Suit

Actress Rebecca Gayheart, whose car struck and killed a 9-year-old boy last year, has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the boy’s parents. Details of the out-of-court settlement were not disclosed. The parents had sought medical, hospital, funeral and other expenses, including loss of future earnings.

Jorge Cruz and Silvia Martinez sued the former “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress in August, after her Jeep hit and killed their son, Jorge Cruz Jr., in Hollywood on June 13. He died the next day from severe head injuries.

In November, Gayheart, 29, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. She was sentenced to three years’ probation and was ordered to produce a safe-driving video.

THE ARTS

Holocaust Exhibit Provokes Controversy

Two months before its March 17 opening at New York City’s Jewish Museum, “Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art” has generated debate--and outrage--after the publication of its catalog.

Among the works featured in the show are a depiction of a concentration camp built from Lego blocks; a piece in which the artist inserted a photo of himself (holding a can of Diet Coke) into a picture of concentration camp survivors; and a work titled “Giftgas Giftset,” featuring canisters of gas stamped with Tiffany, Chanel and Hermes labels.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper of Los Angeles’ Simon Wiesenthal Center maintains that such works don’t belong in a Jewish museum. “It’s not a censorship issue,” he said. “Our job is to protect and stand by the victims of the Holocaust. Let some other cultural organization put this exhibit forward.”

Joan Rosenbaum, the museum’s director, insists the works are “anti-Nazi”--a view with which the show’s curator, Norman Kleeblatt, concurs. In the Lego piece, for example, the artist meant to show that “the building blocks for societal good can be turned into the building blocks for societal evil,” he explained.

POP/ROCK

Clash Photo Chosen Best of Rock ‘n’ Roll

A photo of Clash bassist Paul Simonon smashing his guitar on stage was picked on Thursday as the most perfect rock ‘n’ roll photo of all time.

The famous 1979 shot, taken by Pennie Smith in New York, topped a poll of music writers and 18 of the world’s leading photographers conducted by Q magazine. The Clash used it on the cover of the “London Calling” album.

“It’s a classic picture because it captures the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll moment--total loss of control,” said Paul Noyer, editor of the Q photo edition.

Terry O’Neil’s highly stylized 1974 picture of David Bowie came in second, and Jim Marshall’s 1966 picture of the Beatles in San Francisco was third.

QUICK TAKES

Director Arthur Hiller (“Love Story,” “Plaza Suite”) has been voted the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.... The Oct. 20 Concert for New York City, a benefit for victims of the Sept. 11 attack, is being released on video and DVD on Tuesday. Proceeds will benefit the Robin Hood Relief Fund.... Roger Deakins (“The Man Who Wasn’t There”), Bruno Delbonnel (“Amelie”), Andrew Lesnie (“The Lord of the Rings”), Don McAlpine (“Moulin Rouge”) and John Schwartzman (“Pearl Harbor”) will vie for the American Society of Cinematographers’ feature film award, to be given out at the group’s annual award dinner Feb. 17 at the Century Plaza.

Elaine Dutka