MORNING REPORT - News from May 30, 2000

TELEVISION/MOVIES

Making His Day: In honor of Clint Eastwood’s 70th birthday on Wednesday, Turner Classic Movies is offering a four-movie festival of some of the actor-director-producer’s westerns. The featured movies are: “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966) at 5 p.m., one of the spaghetti westerns that brought Eastwood international fame, in which he stars with Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef as they seek a hidden fortune during the Civil War; “Two Mules for Sister Sara” (1970), 8 p.m., in which Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine team up to tell the story of a drifter who helps a nun through rough territory; “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976), 10 p.m., with Eastwood directing and starring in the story of a peaceful farmer who turns vigilante when soldiers murder his family; and “Pale Rider” (1985), 12:30 a.m., directed by and starring Eastwood, in the story of a mysterious avenger who helps the innocent citizens of a corrupt gold-mining town.

In the Works: “Action,” the acerbic Hollywood satire canceled by Fox last fall, will begin running on the FX network June 20. The cable channel will show the eight episodes broadcast by Fox plus five unseen episodes, with the series to follow “Son of the Beach,” the “Baywatch” spoof produced by Howard Stern. . . . Production has begun on “Armistead Maupin’s Further Tales of the City,” continuing the adventures of Mary Ann Singleton and other residents of Mrs. Madrigal’s mythic apartment house in San Francisco. It is scheduled for Showtime in 2001. . . . Showtime will also introduce a new series later this year, “The Chris Isaak Show.” Produced by Viacom Productions, the show has received a 17-episode commitment and promises an irreverent look at the world of rock music. The series will be executive produced and written by Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning writers-producers Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider (“Northern Exposure”).

LEGAL FILE

Tommy Lee Jailed: Rock musician Tommy Lee, 37, has been jailed for violating parole in a domestic violence case by drinking alcohol. A Malibu judge on Friday ordered the former Motley Crue drummer to spend five days in the Los Angeles County Jail and return to court Wednesday. The court was told of the violation May 8, and Lee’s wife, Pamela Anderson, was called to a hearing Thursday to testify that Lee had been drinking, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathryn Solorzano. Besides the jail stint, Lee had his probation extended to May 26, 2003, and was ordered to enroll in Alcoholics Anonymous and to submit to random drug testing.

Piano Blues: An art dealer has sued the New York Academy of Art in an attempt to get back the piano he says John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave him in 1979. Sam Green, a member of the academy’s board and a longtime friend of Lennon’s, said in court papers that he loaned the 9-foot-long Baldwin concert grand to the academy in 1988 for use at special events. The piano was “to be redelivered to [Green] on demand,” the papers say. Margot Gordon, a board member and former vice president of the academy, said that Green “didn’t lend the piano, he gave it. He told me himself: ‘I gave the piano to the academy.’ ” She added that the piano later was sold. Green apparently asked for the piano back after he received a call from a California dealer offering to sell him the instrument for $100,000. Attorney Mahendra Ramgopal said Green is suing to get his piano or $1.6 million, the price that was asked for another Lennon piano in Europe during an Internet auction.

AWARDS

McCartney ‘Chuffed’: Paul McCartney was honored in London last week with the first Fellowship of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. Elton John, Elvis Costello, Dave Stewart, the Pet Shop Boys and the legendary Leiber and Stoller led the music industry audience in a standing ovation at the annual Ivor Novello Awards, and a clearly moved McCartney said: “I’m so proud and chuffed [delighted] to be part of this tradition of songwriting and to be in this room with such company. This is one of the best awards I’ve ever had.”

Junior Achievements: In a first-ever film coup for Los Angeles youth, 11 Los Angeles inner-city junior high school students have received the Scholastic Art & Writing Award. The students, who attend the after-school program at Hathaway Children and Family Service Center in downtown Los Angeles, won the silver medal for their original writing, directing, acting and producing of “Melvin the Mind Reader,” a 10-minute original movie created with the sponsorship of the Artists Rights Foundation.

POP/ROCK

Stone Pony Resurrected: The “House that Bruce built” is up and running again. The Stone Pony, the legendary Jersey Shore rock club that launched such musical acts as Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny and others, reopened in Asbury Park over the weekend. The storied nightclub, which first opened in 1974, had been in disrepair since late 1998. “Greetings from Asbury Park!” New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman said before cutting a ribbon Saturday night, a reference to the title of Springsteen’s first album.

ARTS

Setting a Record: California’s special arts license plate, also known as Coastline, is a hit with drivers. California Arts Council director Bruce Hessenius reported last week that since its introduction in September 1994, the arts plate has become the most popular of all eight specialty license plates, with more than 64,000 sold. “The arts license plate is a vibrant, eye-catching icon that identifies the spirit of California through artistic vision,” Hessenius said. Created by California artist Wayne Thiebaud, the arts plate was the first in the nation intended solely for the benefit of arts and arts education. Since 1996, $1.8 million from sale of the plates has been awarded to the agency’s Local Arts Education Partnership Program.