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TELEVISIONFools for Love: Emmy-winner Dennis Franz, who...

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TELEVISION

Fools for Love: Emmy-winner Dennis Franz, who plays Andy Sipowicz on ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” married his longtime housemate Joanie Zeck in Carmel on April Fool’s Day--13 years to the day after they first met in a restaurant. It was the first marriage for Franz, 50, the second for Zeck, 47. “NYPD Blue” executive producer Steven Bochco and Jimmy Smits, who plays Franz’s on-screen partner, were among the 100 people who attended the outdoor ceremony on Saturday. Franz wore a traditional tuxedo; the bride arrived in a horse-drawn carriage.

Gingrich on TV: Here’s how coverage of House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s speech on Friday night is shaping up: NBC will cover but will not carry the address live. Instead, NBC will use excerpts from the speech, marking 100 days of efforts to implement the GOP’s “contract with America,” on its “Dateline” program later that night. But “NBC Nightly News” with Tom Brokaw will broadcast out of Washington on Thursday and Friday nights as the 100-day period ends. CBS said it will carry the half-hour address inside a one-hour special report on Congress. ABC has yet to announce plans. As for cable outlets, CNN said it will cover Gingrich’s speech as well as the Democratic response after it. CSPAN and CNBC will also carry the speech and the response.

Let the Concert Run: Singer Carly Simon taped a concert this weekend in New York City to air exclusively on Lifetime television next month. Simon’s hits, including “Anticipation” and the Oscar-winning song “Let the River Run” (from the movie “Working Girl”) as well as new songs from her recent album “Letters Never Sent,” will be featured in the concert set to air May 21. Simon began a nationwide tour in early March.

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Detour From the Info Highway: The television industry need not worry that it will lose its viewers to the information superhighway, according to a new Roper survey co-sponsored by the Network Television Assn. and the National Assn. of Broadcasters. The study found that viewing patterns of people who describe themselves as “very interested” in the new technology (12%) are similar to those of the general population, with 86% of the first group watching a major broadcast network or local station in a typical week, compared to 87% of the general public.

JAZZ

Coffee Tunes: Jazz and coffee--two historically compatible products--will become even more closely connected as the result of a new alliance between Starbucks Coffee and Blue Note Records. The companies have simultaneously released a CD compilation of “Blue Note Jazz” with a new Blue Note Blend coffee, described as “a smooth, spirited complement to the improvisational quality of soulful jazz.” The CD, which features 13 classic tracks from Nat Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and others, is available to Starbucks’ in-store and catalogue customers, with four similar CDs per year scheduled for release during the next five years. The music will also be heard in Starbucks’ more than 520 retail locations.

POP/ROCK

Remembering Eazy-E: A memorial service for rapper Eric (Eazy-E) Wright will be held Thursday at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles at 11 a.m. The 31-year-old “grandfather of gangsta rap” died recently of AIDS. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the First AME’s FAME Operation, AIDS. Wright, who was a Compton native, is survived by his wife Tomika, their son and six children by other women. Wright co-founded the group N.W.A.

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Belated Grammy: Etta James didn’t make it to the Grammy ceremony on March 1, so her record label, Private Music, surprised her with the award at the House of Blues last week while she was performing. After 40 years in the music business, James won a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance for her album “Mystery Lady.” James, 57, said she made the album to please her mother, Dorothy, who has long lamented her daughter’s decision to sing rock and blues.

QUICK TAKES

Britain’s Royal Ballet will dance five performances of artistic director Anthony Dowell’s production of “Swan Lake,” accompanied by a live symphony orchestra, at the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion July 6-9. Tickets go on sale May 21. . . . Real-life engaged couple Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson will star as husband and wife in “Gulliver’s Travels,” a four-hour NBC miniseries based on the classic adventure novel by Jonathan Swift. Planned for the 1995-96 season, the program will feature special effects from Jim Henson Productions. . . . Real-life husband and wife Ed Harris and Amy Madigan are set to star in a new adaptation of Zane Grey’s Western “Riders of the Purple Sage” for TNT. The couple will also co-produce the project, which will film this summer and air in 1996. . . . Gary Sinise stars as Harry S. Truman in the HBO movie “Truman,” which began filming during the weekend in Independence, Mo., Truman’s birthplace. . . . Pat Corley, who plays the bartender Phil on CBS’ “Murphy Brown,” spent last week in Tarzana Medical Center with a staph infection. His doctors said that he is in good condition and is expected to recover soon. . . . Singer Suzanne Vega and her record producer, Mitchell Froom, were married in March. The couple has an 8-month-old daughter, Ruby. . . . Pia Zadora and former hotelier Meshulam Riklis are officially divorced after 18 years of marriage.

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