Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

MOVIES

Slater’s Apology: A spokesman for actor Christian Slater on Friday issued the actor’s first response to his arrest Monday after a scuffle with police, saying that Slater “deeply regrets the events which occurred on the morning of Aug. 11 and is taking actions to ensure that this kind of thing will not happen again.” The statement did not elaborate on what that would be. The two-paragraph statement concluded: “Notwithstanding the inaccuracy and sensationalism of many of the reports and rumors surrounding this incident, he is not going to comment any further at this time, except to thank his family, friends and fans for their continued support during this difficult period.” Slater is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 2 in West Los Angeles on assault charges. His arrest followed what police called a biting incident and subsequent altercation with officers at a fashionable Westside high-rise.

TELEVISION

Late-Night Update: “Vibe,” the new late-night talk show from producer Quincy Jones, appears to be losing ground in its second week, while “The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show,” late-night’s other new entry, is holding fairly steady. Between Monday and Thursday, “Vibe” attracted 4% of the available audience in Los Angeles, as opposed to an average 10% last week. Wayans’ show, meanwhile, drew 12% of the local audience, the same amount as last week. Both new shows are still being beaten soundly in L.A. during their second half-hour by NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” while CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” is running between Wayans and Vibe locally. Both shows have dropped a bit nationally, however, with “Vibe” drawing 5% of viewers in 38 major markets this week (versus 7% last week), as opposed to Wayans’ 8% in those same areas (9% last week).

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Inclusive Programming: The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is proclaiming a record 30 gay characters will be featured on network series this fall. In addition to returning gay and lesbian characters on series such as ABC’s “Ellen” and “Spin City” and Fox’s “Melrose Place,” four new ones will be introduced in the fall, GLAAD says: Bill Brochtrup as a receptionist on ABC’s “Total Security”; Wallace Langham, who will come out of the closet on NBC’s “Veronica’s Closet”; Patrick Bristow as a celibate bisexual on UPN’s “Head Over Heels”; and Karime Prince as a “flamboyantly fierce HIV-positive black gay youth” on Fox’s “413 Hope Street.” GLAAD spokeswoman Chastity Bono called the “historic number” of new gay characters a signal of “America’s increasing appreciation of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community as part of their own lives.” GLAAD will monitor the characters throughout the TV season with “an up-to-date scoreboard of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters” that will be posted on the organization’s web site, at https://www.glaad.org.

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Golden CableACE Nominees: HBO, MTV, Nickelodeon, Showtime and the USA Network have been nominated for the cable industry’s highest honor, the Golden CableACE Award, which recognizes “a special project or program that distinguishes cable communications through its unique contribution to the viewing public.” The nominated programs are HBO’s “Faces of Addiction,” three hourlong specials about substance abuse; MTV’s “Choose or Lose ‘96,” which devoted more than 100 hours of air time to the presidential campaign and related issues; Nickelodeon’s “The Big Help,” an effort to increase volunteerism among youth that culminated with more than 92 million hours of pledged volunteer time; Showtime’s “Hidden in America,” a film on hunger and the working poor, and related charity efforts; and USA’s “It Just Takes One,” part of the network’s “Erase the Hate” campaign against racism. The winner will be announced during the 19th annual CableACE Awards, airing Nov. 15 on TNT.

STAGE

Headed to Bosnia: Shadow Klan, a teen theater company based at the Actors’ Gang Theater in Hollywood, was the only U.S. group chosen to attend the 18th Days of the Youth Theatre festival in Bosnia. Five teens--Mario Larrazabal, Alfredo Teutla, Odette Matarico, Eduardo Regalado and Fiona Schneider--will join 19 other international theater groups at the Aug. 29-Sept. 2 festival. The teens’ work--commenting on social dilemmas confronting local youth, ranging from immigration to gangs--will be performed Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Los Angeles’ 24th Street Theatre, 1117 W. 24th St. Tickets are $15 and proceeds will go toward the trip.

QUICK TAKES

Emmy-award winning investigative reporter Terri Merryman will join KCAL-TV Channel 9 as an anchor and reporter on Sept. 2. Merryman most recently was host of “SoulMates,” a news interview show on the Nashville Network. Station management has not yet determined which newscast she will anchor. . . . ABC scored a split decision ratings-wise with its replay of the Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight Thursday, which, with 11.4 million viewers, scored the network’s highest rating in that time period since May. However, it still ranked behind NBC’s “ER” and CBS’ “48 Hours.” . . . Joe Benson has left his 3-8 p.m. slot at KLOS-FM (95.5) to join KCBS-FM (“Arrow” 93.1), where he will handle the 6-10 a.m. shift starting Monday. KLOS, meanwhile, will temporarily bring in well-known deejay Jim Ladd in the 6-9 p.m. slot next week. . . . KABC-TV Channel 7 plans to bring back “Eye on L.A.” in January. Hosts for the weekly Sunday evening show have not yet been named.