POP/ROCKHeart Trouble Halts Tour: Rocker John Mellencamp...

POP/ROCK

Heart Trouble Halts Tour: Rocker John Mellencamp has canceled the remainder of his concert tour, including Tuesday and Wednesday at the Greek Theatre and Sept. 16 at Glen Helen’s Blockbuster Pavilion, after doctors diagnosed him Wednesday as having an occluded heart artery. The condition was discovered when Mellencamp, 42, underwent a hospital checkup after experiencing unusual fatigue. Mellencamp is resting at home in Bloomington, Ind., and doctors say his prognosis is good for a full recovery.

* More Cancellations: Crooner Frank Sinatra has also scratched two shows at the Greek Theatre. According to a statement, the Sept. 23 and 24 dates have been canceled so that Sinatra can return to the recording studio in order to meet a fall deadline for his upcoming album, “Duets II.”

TELEVISION

Like a Madonna: Terumi Matthews, a singer, dancer and actress whose credits include appearances on such TV shows as “Young Indiana Jones,” “Knots Landing,” “Dragnet” and “Loving,” has been cast to portray the Material Girl in “Madonna: Unauthorized,” a Fox movie planned for broadcast this fall. Dean Stockwell (“Quantum Leap,” “Married to the Mob”) also stars, playing Tony Ciccone, Madonna’s father. The film details Madonna’s personal and professional exploits during her turbulent and exciting first few years in New York.

* Network News Shifts: Brian Williams, the heir apparent to Tom Brokaw as anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” will become the network’s chief White House correspondent Nov. 14, replacing Andrea Mitchell, who will move to the newly created post of chief foreign affairs correspondent after the midterm elections. Williams, 35, attracted the attention of network bosses over the past months with his coverage of South Africa, the Middle East, the Los Angeles earthquake and Haiti, while occasionally subbing for Brokaw on “Nightly News.” He will continue to anchor the Saturday edition of “Nightly News” after his move to the White House. Mitchell, meanwhile, will cover the State Department, presidential trips, summits and international crises.

* Arts on TV: The non-profit programming service Classic Arts Showcase will air on KLCS Channel 58 tonight (8:30-11:30 p.m.), Saturday (6-9 a.m.) and Sunday (6-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m.), offering cable viewers MTV-style programming that currently goes out to 5 million backyard satellite dishes in the United States, Canada and South America. Programming consists of laser discs and archival footage offering arts documentaries, classical music, ballet and theater. The service has aired on Beverly Hills’ Channel 36 since August, and founder Lloyd E. Rigler, a longtime local arts philanthropist, is also lobbying for permanent use of an unused L.A. frequency. “Audiences are aging and dying, ticket sales are declining and there is no arts education in the schools,” Rigler said. “We want to expose the arts to the largest possible audience.”

* Catching Up With Jay and Dave: Jay Leno will take “The Tonight Show” to Las Vegas for the first time during the week of Sept. 19. Broadcasting from the MGM Grand, Leno’s scheduled guests for the week include Roseanne, Martin Short, Charlie Sheen, Brett Butler, Wayne Newton, Luther Vandross, Vince Gill and the newly crowned Miss America. . . . Former First Lady Barbara Bush, who is promoting the upcoming release of her memoirs, will guest on Tuesday’s “Late Show With David Letterman.”

MOVIES

Career Accelerates: Riding the success of his hit “Speed,” producer Mark Gordon closed a one-year pact with 20th Century Fox. On Gordon’s agenda are a sequel to “Speed,” which has grossed $115 million at U.S. box offices, and another action film under development. He is also developing “The Nightingale,” an animated movie based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, for Columbia, and just wrapped filming on “A Pyromaniac’s Love Story,” a Hollywood Pictures comedy starring Joan Plowright, William Baldwin, Sadie Frost and John Leguizamo.

QUICK TAKES

High-profile New York attorney William Kunstler makes his prime-time TV debut, playing himself on the Oct. 19 episode of “Law & Order” on NBC. He defends a character loosely based on ‘60s activist-turned-fugitive Katherine Ann Power. . . . Singer-guitarist Steve Earle, once a hot up-and-comer in the country-rock music field, has been sentenced in Nashville to a year in jail for possessing a small amount of heroin. Earle, 39, failed to appear in court for the hearing, but had earlier admitted the possession. Lawyer Lionel Barrett said his client was in a drug treatment program. . . . Time-Life Video & Television marks the 20th anniversary of TV’s “Little House on the Prairie” on Sunday with the release of a special anniversary video series.