TV & RADIO’Buddies’ Postponed: One week before...

TV & RADIO

‘Buddies’ Postponed: One week before its scheduled premiere, “Buddies,” ABC’s much-promoted new situation comedy from the producers of “Home Improvement,” has been pulled for a retooling. The program was set to premiere Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. following “Home Improvement,” but Wind Dancer Productions said producers “decided to reshoot the pilot,” indicating that the original wasn’t up to snuff. The program, starring Dave Chappelle and Jim Breuer, will now “continue to be developed” for ABC’s fall schedule.

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Desi Nominees: “New York Undercover’s” Michael DeLorenzo, “Chicago Hope’s” Hector Elizondo, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s” Alfonso Ribeiro, “NYPD Blue’s” Jimmy Smits, and Lorenzo Lamas of the syndicated series “Renegade” will vie for best English-language TV actors at the fifth annual Desi Awards, recognizing Hispanic performers and projects in the TV, film and music worlds. The awards will be held here May 1 at the Palace Theatre. Other nominees announced Tuesday included TV actresses Lily Melgar (“General Hospital”), Rita Moreno (“The Cosby Mysteries”), Theresa Saldana (“The Commish”), Liz Torres (“The John Larroquette Show”) and Daphne Zuniga (“Melrose Place”).

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Selena Comments Defended: Radio station representatives have dismissed the criticisms leveled at Los Angeles talk-show hosts Bill Handel (KFI-AM) and Joe Crummey (KMPC-AM) by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for “deriding Mexican Americans, their culture and their music” with “insensitive” remarks after the March 31 shooting death of tejano singing star Selena. KMPC spokesman Bill Lennert said that Crummey “did not ridicule the Hispanic community” and insisted that Crummey’s comments “on the differences between the two cultures and how they can be unaware of each other’s media stars” were “misinterpreted.” Lennert also noted that KMPC’s Xavier Hermosillo “took Joe to task” and that the pair appeared together on Hermosillo’s show. David Hall, KFI’s program director, noted that “Handel has made it very clear on the air that he’s not a great fan of popular music of any kind from any culture. The last group he was a fan of was Simon & Garfunkel. . . . (So) the fact that he doesn’t recognize a Latina singer is not at all surprising.”

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Televised Selena Show: A concert by Selena and her band Los Dinos taped Feb. 26 at the Houston Rodeo’s “Tejano Day,” a month before her death, will air on KMEX Channel 34 on April 23 at 9 p.m., as part of a two-hour special also featuring musician Emilio Navaira.

POP/ROCK

The Hole Truth: The America Online computer network had suspended the discussion area devoted to Courtney Love’s rock band Hole, due to threats of physical violence exchanged by two participants and numerous other violations of the service’s official standards prohibiting profane and abusive language. But AOL spokeswoman Margaret Ryan said that the Hole “folder”--always a site for freewheeling banter and sniping, including posts from Love herself under various pseudonyms--was reopened Tuesday after the offending messages were removed. The accounts of the two people who threatened each other have been terminated.

DANCE

Bolshoi Goes to Court: Legal proceedings began Tuesday for 14 Bolshoi performers taken to court by the famed Moscow theater after a protest last month caused a ballet to be canceled for the first time in the venue’s 219-year history. The Bolshoi contends that the protest--held after the resignation of longtime artistic director Yuri Grigorovich--was an illegal strike, and if the judge agrees, the performers--who include prima ballerina Natalia Bessmertnova, Grigorovich’s wife--could be fired. Attorneys for the 14 dancers and musicians said they will prove the protest was not a strike, but a spontaneous outburst caused by “a negative moral atmosphere” they blamed on the Bolshoi’s administration.

QUICK TAKES

Tickets sales are brisk for “The Pocahontas Summer Spectacular at the El Capitan Theatre,” a June 16-Aug. 20 premiere showing of Disney’s new animated feature, accompanied by a live stage show featuring various Disney characters. Los Angeles moviegoers bought 23,000 tickets on Sunday and Monday, but there are more left, since the El Capitan--which seats more than 1,000--will host six showings each day. Tickets are $10, $15 and $25. . . . Cable’s Black Entertainment Television will profile controversial rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg in “Snoop: Straight From the Dogpound,” a half-hour special airing Thursday at 3:30 p.m. . . . Rush Limbaugh was named Talk Show Host of the Year on Monday by the Boston-based National Assn. of Radio Talk Shows. . . . Actress Elizabeth Montgomery is recuperating in an undisclosed Los Angeles hospital after undergoing a “successful” surgery to remove a small malignant tumor in her colon.