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

TELEVISION

‘Frasier’ Tops ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’

The Emmy Awards have a new king.

With wins for guest actor, picture editing and sound mixing, “Frasier” became the most-honored prime-time series in Emmy history when the first of this year’s honors were handed out Saturday night. That brought the NBC comedy’s total to 30, one more than “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

“Frasier,” starring Kelsey Grammer in a role he first played on “Cheers,” could pick up two more Sunday night when the rest of the Emmys are handed out on NBC.

*

MOVIES

Toronto Honors ‘Magdalene Sisters’

The Toronto International Film Festival gave a top award to the controversial “The Magdalene Sisters,” a movie denounced by Catholic groups for its portrait of life in an Irish religious institution.

The film was given the festival’s Discovery Award, a prize for first-or second-time directors voted on by the approximately 750 journalists at the event.

In other awards announced Sunday, the German-New Zealand co-production “The Whale Rider” won the festival’s People’s Choice Award, and David Cronenberg’s “Spider” was named best Canadian feature.

*

THE ARTS

NEA to Name 154 Grant Winners

The National Endowment for the Arts will announce today the awarding of 154 grants totaling $4.5 million to arts organizations nationwide through the agency’s Challenge America: Community Arts Development program.

The funding includes grants of $10,000 each to eight California organizations: Arts Council Silicon Valley in San Jose; Merced Regional Arts Council; the Mission Neighborhood Centers and the Oberlin Dance Collective of San Francisco; Riverside Arts Council; Sonora’s Stage 3 Theatre Company; Three-Forests Interpretive Assn. in Tollhouse; and the Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation.

The community-based initiative was created by former NEA chairman Bill Ivey, a Bill Clinton appointee who stepped down last September. Through the program, Ivey was able to win the embattled federal arts agency, long a target for conservatives in Congress because of its perceived support of “obscene” art, its first increases in eight years. A 1997 bill to eliminate all NEA funding failed by a single vote.

In July, the House agreed to increase the NEA’s budget by $11.5 million, to $127.5 million for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Of that increase, $10 million is earmarked for Challenge America. The measure is pending approval by the Senate; an NEA spokeswoman said a vote may be delayed past Oct. 1 because of the Senate’s preoccupation with national security matters.

*

Museum Gets Deadline to Meet Fire Code

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has been in violation of city fire codes since 1995 but has failed to install the equipment deemed necessary to protect the paintings, sculptures, books and other work stored in its two-acre basement, city officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The museum has been granted two variances since the first citation was issued but was denied a third in June and must deliver an expedited plan next week for making the improvements. More than half of the basement has no sprinklers or other fire-suppression system, according to a fire-inspection report obtained by the Inquirer.

Museum officials acknowledged the shortcomings downstairs but stressed that the building does not pose a threat to visitors. City officials concurred, which is why the building has not been shut down.

*

Lyric Opera’s Radio Broadcasts Suspended

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has suspended its local and nationally syndicated radio broadcasts for the 2002-03 season because of a lack of funding.

To date, only one corporation has committed to sponsoring the broadcasts, which have been carried live in the Chicago area since 1973 and on stations elsewhere in the country since 1977, including, at times, KMZT-FM (105.1) locally.

William Mason, the Lyric’s general director, blamed the lack of funding on the sagging economy, adding that the loss of sponsorship is “extremely distressing.” He said both American Airlines and United Airlines cited financial losses in explaining why they would be unable to continue sponsoring the broadcasts.

*

QUICK TAKES

Denzel Washington will be honored by American Cinematheque at its annual benefit dinner Dec. 5 at the Beverly Hilton.... The San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, which opens Thursday, will present lifetime achievement awards to actors Dennis Hopper, Jessica Lange and Bob Hoskins.... Advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, owner of one of the world’s largest modern art collections, is re-opening his gallery in London’s County Hall. In a jab at his new neighbors, he vowed to debut exhibitions from artists turned down by the Tate Modern.... Ken Burns will receive a career achievement award at the International Documentary Assn.’s 18th annual awards ceremony Dec. 13.... “David Bowie: Sound + Vision,” a screening series at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills that chronicles the singer’s career, has been extended through Nov. 1.... Even Home & Garden TV is getting into the matchmaking game: Premiering Sept. 30 is “Love by Design,” a series in which a woman selects one of three eligible bachelors based solely on how he’s decorated his home, then gets to redecorate it before they have their first date.