TELEVISIONFirst SAG Awards: For those who thrive...

TELEVISION

First SAG Awards: For those who thrive on star-studded awards shows, yet another small screen event is coming along next year. The inaugural “Screen Actors Guild Awards,” a two-hour program featuring 12 acting categories in movies and television, plus a special Lifetime Achievement Award, will be held Feb. 25 in Los Angeles. The program will be televised on NBC, airing live on the East Coast and tape delayed in the West. Winners will be voted on by their peers--the guild’s approximately 78,000 members. Nominations will be announced Jan. 19.

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Animated ‘Mask’: CBS has ordered 13 episodes of a new animated Saturday morning series based on Jim Carrey’s summer hit movie, “The Mask.” Mike Richardson, who created the film for New Line Cinema, will be an executive producer for the series, and will introduce new characters to the movie’s basic story line. The animation will be done by Film Roman, the studio responsible for “The Simpsons,” “Garfield” and “The Critic.”

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Program Notes: Fox has ordered nine more installments of its super-hero show “M.A.N.T.I.S.,” giving the Friday night Carl Lumbly drama a full-season commitment of 22 episodes despite its standing as one of prime time’s five lowest-rated series. The announcement was made Thursday, three days after Fox executives met with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who had criticized the network for canceling four series with predominantly black casts last season. . . . NBC, meanwhile, said it will switch time slots for two of its lowest-rated programs. Beginning Oct. 22, “Empty Nest” will air Saturdays at 8 p.m., with “Something Wilder” following at 8:30 p.m. . . . And on ABC, Tuesday night’s second-season premiere of “NYPD Blue” drew about 16.2 million households--the critically acclaimed show’s best showing yet.

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POP/ROCK

The Lennon Collection: Yoko Ono on Thursday presented a major collection representing highlights of the late John Lennon’s career and life to the nascent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The items, on renewable loan, include original handwritten Beatles and solo career lyrics, Lennon’s lime-green “Sgt. Pepper” uniform, and items from Lennon’s youth. The museum opens in Cleveland next September.

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Singing for Rights: Comedian Richard Pryor will host the “Countdown to Eternity: A Civil Rights Festival Benefit,” on Saturday at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee headquarters, 10950 S. Central Ave. Singer Michael McDonald will headline the 10 a.m.-8 p.m. concert, which is sponsored by the House of Blues and also includes Fishbone, War, MC Lyte, Solomon Burke with a 17-piece orchestra, Nona Gaye, Des’ree, the Watts Prophets and the Charlie Musselwhite Band. TV’s “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and poet Maya Angelou are among others scheduled for the event, which will take place on a large outdoor stage with a connected video wall presenting archival footage of 1960s civil rights struggles.

THE ARTS

Big Top Record: Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil broke its all-time one-day ticket sale record on Tuesday when the troupe sold a whopping 8,975 tickets for “Alegria” at the Santa Monica Pier. The record tops sales for all Cirque productions worldwide.

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Eye-Catchers: Highlights from Sotheby’s upcoming New York sales are on view through Saturday at the auction house’s Beverly Hills showroom. The star of the show is Amedeo Modigliani’s “Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne,” a 1919 painting of the Italian artist’s mistress. Sotheby’s hasn’t released an official estimate of the work, but it is expected to sell for more than $5 million. Another eye-catcher is Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s painting “I . . . I’m Sorry,” estimated at $2 million to $2.5 million.

LEGAL FILE

Real Case for Falk: New York prosecutors have taken on the case of “Columbo” star Peter Falk’s 90-year-old mother, Madeline. The prosecutors are seeking criminal forfeiture of the assets of Alfonso P. Cacace, whom they say stole more than $3 million in money, bonds, jewelry, antiques and furniture from Mrs. Falk. The chain of events began in 1992, when Peter Falk put his mother in a nursing home because of her failing health. But three months later, prosecutors say, Cacace arranged to have Mrs. Falk discharged from the home without Falk’s knowledge. A neighbor later reported that Mrs. Falk’s antiques were missing and movers were packing crates inside her apartment. Cacace’s lawyer said the allegations “are motivated by resentment” because Cacace “cared for Mrs. Falk in the absence of her family members.”

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‘Fantasia’ Fight: Walt Disney Co. raked in $350 million from home video sales of its classic “Fantasia” while the Philadelphia Orchestra, which recorded the score, never got “one red cent,” the orchestra’s lawyer told a federal jury in Philadelphia Wednesday. The orchestra is suing Disney for at least 10% of the video’s gross, or $35 million. It got a flat fee of $2,500 for its performance in 1939. Disney lawyers have argued that the orchestra, which did receive royalties on the sale of the separate movie soundtrack, was a hired performer with no right of ownership in the film.

QUICK TAKES

Actor-comedian Steve Martin will be the guest deejay on today’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” from 9 a.m.-noon on radio station KCRW-FM (89.9). . . . Six Flags Magic Mountain today begins running its wooden roller coaster, Psyclone, backward as part of its three-weekend Halloween “Fright Fest.” . . . Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey was released from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Wednesday following Oct. 6 colon surgery.