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

TELEVISION

Ripa’s Book Picks: Short on ‘Reality’

So much for lifting the mind-set of the American populace.

“Regis and Kelly” co-host Kelly Ripa, who kicked off her new book club with Kate White’s “If Looks Could Kill,” acknowledges that her selection process is a far cry from Oprah Winfrey’s. In the words of co-host Regis Philbin, she’s a proponent of “beach trash”--page-turners that don’t overtax the brain, USA Today reports.

“I hate books that make me feel stupid, which I guess knocks off 50% of all books out there,” Ripa quipped after her show Monday. “People like escapist programming and escapist literature. There’s too much reality in the world today.”

And how did she decide that White’s book would be the first “Ripa’s Book Club” selection?

“I always judge a book by its cover, and with this one, I thought, ‘This looks interesting.’” White sent Ripa chocolates after her novel sold out, virtually overnight, in bookstores across the nation.

Cable Sidesteps Saudi Image Campaign

At least nine national cable networks turned down a lucrative and controversial ad campaign from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, according to Electronic Media Online.

Saudi Arabia, which plans to spend more than $10 million on the campaign with the tag line “The People of Saudi Arabia--Allies Against Terrorism,” is seeking to improve its image. In one spota “misquote” from Secretary of State Colin Powell linking the Saudis with terrorism appears, which then dissolves into the correct quote. Another uses a misquote/correct quote dissolve from President Bush. The latter was shown during Fox Sports Net’s broadcast of the Kings hockey game Monday night.

But among those who have passed on the effort are A&E;, AMC, Bravo, the History Channel, Lifetime, USA Network and the Weather Channel. Some of the deals were worth $300,000 to $400,000.

ABC Reportedly Suspends Snyderman

Dr. Nancy Snyderman, medical correspondent for ABC News, has been suspended for a week without pay after making a Tylenol radio commercial in January, according to the New York Daily News.

A network spokesman declined to comment, saying that personnel matters should be kept private. But ABC News has a long-standing policy prohibiting employees from endorsing products or performing in paid advertisements.

Acknowledging her mistake, Snyderman asked McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals--makers of the product--to pull the commercial as soon as possible and it did.

Nachman: A Cure for MSNBC’s Ills?

Third-place cable news network MSNBC has hired Jerry Nachman, former editor of the New York Post and most recently an L.A.-based staff writer on NBC’s “UC: Undercover,” as vice president and editor in chief. He’ll also host an afternoon analysis show.

Nachman, who is relocating back to New York, said he’ll help the channel figure out what it wants to be.

“They’ve got an identity crisis,” he said. “They’ve been flanked and they’re working very hard on locating where in that vast middle they need to be, between the conventional orthodoxy of CNN on one side and that brash pinball machine called Fox, of which I’m a big fan.”

Separately, CNN said its “NewsNight with Aaron Brown” edged out Fox News Channel’s “On the Record With Greta Van Susteren” in April, with an average 961,000 viewers to 900,000 for Van Susteren, who was formerly at CNN and had been beating Brown after her show launched in February.

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POP/ROCK

TLC Duo Won’t Add a Third Member

The remaining members of the Grammy-winning R&B; group TLC--Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins--plan to release a fourth album and continue performing. But they won’t replace Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, who died in a car crash in Honduras last week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

“As for Lisa being replaced--never,” Thomas said, “you can’t replace a TLC girl. The chemistry we have is something God gave us. You can’t put that together.”

TLC, the top-selling female group of all time, began working on its latest album last summer. Lopes wasn’t scheduled to be featured on each song, so her death shouldn’t affect the album’s release, Thomas said.

“The last couple of albums, Lisa was only on like three songs, and she’s on a few songs on this one,” Thomas said. “So music-wise, it’s the same.”

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QUICK TAKES

CNN’s Larry King is celebrating his 45th anniversary in broadcasting today, having done what his reps calculate as more than 40,000 interviews in the course of his radio and TV career...., DreamWorks will be bringing the classic CBS cop series “Hawaii Five-O” to the big screen, Variety reports.... A Creed concert scheduled at Staples Center on May 19 has been canceled because the band’s frontman, Scott Stapp, sustained injuries in a car accident. Refunds are available at point of purchase.... Deborah Norville, who has anchored “Inside Edition” since 1995, has signed on for three more years.... Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond” will replace Mark Addy in the CBS biopic about comic great Jackie Gleason....HBO says eight episodes of “Oz” in production will be the last of the prison drama series. They’ll be shown in early 2003.