Art and Entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press

MOVIES

Costner’s Princess?: Princess Diana was considering starring opposite Kevin Costner in a sequel to his hit 1992 film “The Bodyguard,” according to the January issue of Premiere magazine. In the story, the actor-director reluctantly confirmed that the project had been discussed and that Diana was interested. “Diana and I talked on the phone about the level of sophistication and dignity that the part would have,” Costner said, adding that the script, set in Hong Kong, was being “tailored for her” and dealt with a romance between a bodyguard and a princess. Jim Wilson, Costner’s producing partner, told the magazine that he was also involved in the plans for Diana to try her hand at acting, but that there was no time frame set for the film. And although sources told the Associated Press Tuesday that Diana and Costner had discussed the role for over a year, Diana’s office, responding to the Premiere article, issued a statement Tuesday saying that “no such negotiations ever took place.” Diana was killed Aug. 30 in a Paris car crash.

RADIO

New Sound: KIBB-FM (100.3) unveils its “fresh adult contemporary sound” at 7 tonight but it is essentially a format without a name. KIBB, which has been an urban dance station, says it will target the 25- to 49-year-old female audience with adult hit music from artists such as War, Gloria Estefan, Tiara, Marvin Gaye, Heat Wave, the Isley Brothers, Delfonics, Toni Braxton and Baby Face.

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‘Almost Acoustic’ Lineup?: KROQ-FM (106.7) won’t announce the lineup for its annual “Almost Acoustic Christmas” concerts until Thursday, but among those expected, sources say, are David Bowie, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Everclear, Chumbawamba, Smash Mouth and Third Eye Blind. The latter two have already included the show--scheduled for Dec. 5 and 6 at Universal Amphitheatre--in their tour schedules.

TELEVISION

Tube Notes: At least two networks are playing the Friday night shuffle, with ABC altering its “TGIF” lineup beginning Dec. 5 with installments of “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” airing at both 8 and 9 p.m., “Boy Meets World” running at 8:30 p.m., and “Teen Angel” moving back to 9:30 p.m. Over at CBS, a new Friday schedule takes effect Jan. 9, with the Bill Cosby-hosted “Kids Say the Darndest Things” airing at 8 p.m., followed by “The Gregory Hines Show” at 8:30 p.m., “Family Matters” at 9 p.m. and “Step by Step” at 9:30 p.m. The Fox network, meanwhile, is also expected to alter its Friday schedule in January, with “Beyond Belief,” a reality series that aired last summer, likely to slide into the 8 p.m. time slot currently housing the already canceled series “The Visitor.” At the WB network, meanwhile, four series--”Alright Already,” “Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher,” “Unhappily Ever After” and “The Tom Show,” starring Tom Arnold--have all be picked up, thus securing the WB’s entire schedule for the rest of the season.

ART

Second Time Around: An exhibition that drew gushing reviews at Washington’s National Gallery of Art seven years ago is getting a second look, with critics now complaining that the museum failed to note that some of the paintings had been looted by the Nazis from Jews in France. Among the 84 paintings in the show, “The Passionate Eye,” were at least four--by Alfred Sisley, Camille Corot, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet--that art historians have identified as having been seized by the Nazis around the time of World War II and later purchased by the late industrialist Emil G. Buhrle, believed to be the largest Swiss buyer of looted art. Critics include Sidney Clearfield, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith, who has asked the gallery to republish its exhibition catalog to give the former Jewish owners “their rightful place in history.” The gallery--noting that the nine-week show was “a temporary loan exhibition”--issued a statement saying it “makes all reasonable efforts to assure itself that it exhibits works of art that have been properly exported from their country of origin and have no legal claims regarding ownership pending against them.”

QUICK TAKES

Gladys Knight and the Pips will receive the 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, Feb. 26 in New York. Those receiving the foundation’s Pioneer Awards include the O’Jays, the Five Satins, “Screamin’ ” Jay Hawkins and Kim Weston. . . . Spanish-language radio station KKHJ-AM (930) debuted an all-news format Tuesday, making the former talk station Southern California’s only all-news outlet broadcasting in Spanish. . . . “The CBS Evening News With Dan Rather” had its best Nielsen ratings numbers in nearly two years last week, drawing 17% of the available audience, tying the 17% share of “NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw.” ABC’s “World News Tonight With Peter Jennings,” which has lost some viewers this year, attracted a 16% audience share. . . . The hit “South Park” characters will appear on NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on Thursday, one day after the animated series’ original Thanksgiving episode airs on Comedy Central tonight at 10. . . . Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner will be at the Westside Pavilion Barnes & Noble tonight from 7:30 to 8:30 to sign their new “2000 Year Old Man” book and CD. . . . “Starship Troopers” star Patrick Muldoon chats online today at 5 p.m. at https://www.et.msn.com. . . . Helped by positive critical reviews, HBO’s “Don King: Only in America” topped all four networks in homes with HBO in its debut Saturday night.