POP/ROCKSingles First: Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” is the...

POP/ROCK

Singles First: Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” is the first single by a female artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. The song sold 230,000 copies last week, unseating Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” which fell out of the top singles spot for the first time in five weeks despite selling 177,000 copies. Meanwhile, Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Cracked Rear View” returned to the top of the nation’s album chart, selling 167,000 copies to unseat the “Dangerous Minds” soundtrack, which sold 156,000 copies but fell to No. 2 after spending four weeks at No. 1. And the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “One Hot Minute” album debuted at No. 4, selling 138,000 copies.

TV/RADIO

Ratings One: “Murder One,” the ABC legal drama hailed by most critics as the season’s best new show, got off to a good start in the ratings. The Tuesday night premiere attracted 26% of the available viewers and was the most-watched program from 10-11 p.m. It will continue on Tuesdays for two more weeks, then move Oct. 12 to Thursdays at 10 p.m., against NBC’s powerhouse “ER.”

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Hewitt Says Goodby KFI: Conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt aired his last program on KFI-AM (640) last Sunday night. His replacement in the 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Sunday slot will be Wayne Resnick, who also hosts a Saturday night program in the same time period. A KFI spokesman said that Hewitt, who has been with the station since 1989, was leaving to prepare for an eight-part PBS series, “Searching for God in America,” produced by KCET-TV Channel 28, which will air next year. A KCET spokeswoman said Hewitt will continue on the station’s nightly “Life & Times.”

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Winning Infomercials: Fitness guru Richard Simmons and actress Victoria Principal were named best male and female infomercial presenters Wednesday at the Fourth Annual National Infomercial Marketing Assn. International Awards in Las Vegas. Principal won for her skin care spot “Principal Secret IV,” which also was named best documercial. Simmons was honored for “Farewell to Fat.” The top award, infomercial of the year, went to Jake Steinfeld and his “Body by Jake Ab & Back Plus.”

ART

Whitney Expansion: New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art has announced a $14-million expansion project, including the first galleries devoted exclusively to the museum’s renowned permanent collection of 20th-Century American art. The expansion, designed by architect Richard Gluckman and scheduled for completion in 1997, will increase the Whitney’s exhibition space by 33% by turning more of the existing facility into galleries while relocating library and staff offices to two adjacent buildings. The museum also announced a $35-million capital campaign to fund the expansion and increase the museum’s endowment. And $27 million of that $35 million has already been raised--including a $4-million “leadership gift” from L.A. collector Peter Norton.

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NEA Budget Response: National Endowment for the Arts Chairwoman Jane Alexander responded to Tuesday’s proposed House-Senate Conference Committee NEA funding bill by saying: “Stringent restrictions on content are anathema to artists . . . and ultimately may cost the American taxpayers more money as they will surely be challenged in the courts.” The compromise bill, which awaits the vote of the full House and Senate, would slash the NEA’s annual budget by 40% in fiscal 1996 (from $162 million to $99.5 million), but would allow the NEA to continue some individual fellowship grants that were earlier tagged for elimination. The bill, introduced by long-time NEA foe Sen. Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.), includes controversial language prohibiting the funding of “obscene” art and art which “denigrates a particular religion.” Helms authored earlier similar language that was ruled unconstitutional and eliminated in 1992.

MOVIES

‘Babe’ He Ain’t: New York federal court judge Kimba Wood will decide if the evil muppet pig “Spa’am” will get to ham it up on the big screen or whether he will be forever banished to the pigpen. The trial, which began this week, stems from a trademark infringement lawsuit filed this summer against muppet creators Jim Henson Productions by the Hormel Foods Corp., which produces the luncheon meat Spam. The lawsuit describes the Spa’am muppet as a “grotesque and noxious appearing wild boar” that is “evil in porcine form.” The character is featured in the movie, “Muppet Treasure Island,” scheduled for a February release.

QUICK TAKES

Thirty years of original art work from Mad magazine goes on view at Sotheby’s Beverly Hills showroom today through Saturday in anticipation of an Oct. 20 auction of the works at Sotheby’s New York. . . . Opening Nov. 29 at the New York Public Theater: “Wasp and Other Plays,” an evening of four one-act plays by Steve Martin, whose “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” was recently a big hit at the Westwood Playhouse.