THE ARTS

Fire Deals Blow to Ballet: Orange County’s oldest ballet company lost all of its scenery and costumes--30 years’ worth--when the Ballet Pacifica warehouse burned to the ground in Wednesday’s fire, an especially damaging blow to the scrappy troupe that had been working hard in recent years to raise its profile in the county’s arts community. Artistic director Molly Lynch called the nearly paid off warehouse the company’s “greatest asset,” saying it had contained “the history of the company.” However, she said, the company’s next production--a series of “Nutcrackers” Dec. 16-23--will go on at Laguna’s Moulton Theatre as scheduled.

Holiday Program Cut Back: The annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, a free Christmas Eve performance by several music and dance groups at the Music Center that’s televised on KCET, will be reduced from the usual 12 hours to three this year because of county budget woes. The program, which had lost all its county funding in earlier budget deliberations, got a last-minute reprieve when the Board of Supervisors awarded it $90,000 (still down from the usual $140,000) from a special Cable TV Franchise Fund. But because the Music Center had already scheduled a Dec. 23 performance of “The Nutcracker” in the county program’s absence, a new stage cannot be erected in time to begin the Dec. 24 performance at 9 a.m. as in previous years. The program will now run from 7-10 p.m.

TV & RADIO

Indecency Complaint: An indecent broadcasting complaint has been filed against KLOS-FM radio’s morning duo Mark and Brian. The complaint to the FCC is from Al Westcott, the self-styled radio crusader whose complaints have resulted in $1.2 million in FCC fines against stations airing the controversial Howard Stern show. Westcott, who lives in Las Vegas, cites Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 shows called the “The Big O Olympics,” in which women callers feigned orgasms. “The Mark and Brian Show” is taped in Los Angeles and syndicated in six other markets, including Las Vegas.

New Series Rescheduled: The season premiere of CBS’ revamped “Hearts Afire” and the debut of “South of Sunset,” both preempted by fire coverage Wednesday night, will air Saturday on KCBS-TV Channel 2. “Hearts Afire” will air from 7 to 8 p.m. and “South of Sunset” from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. KNBC-TV Channel 4 and KABC-TV Channel 7 did not immediately disclose plans for when their preempted prime-time programming would air.

Lighting Up on TV: Smoking on prime-time television--common in the 1950s and ‘60s, but nearly extinguished in the early ‘70s--is back on the rise, according to a UC San Francisco study of 158 prime-time network comedies and dramas. Over a seven-week period last fall, 24% of the programs featured either actual smoking, the showing of ashtrays, billboards advertising smoking or smoke-filled rooms. Only 8% of those occurrences contained anti-smoking messages, such as when a boy’s cigarette was the suspected cause of a fire in “Crossroads.” Typical depictions of smoking included Peter Falk as the cigar-toting “Columbo,” the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” smoking a pipe in a fantasy scene, and an attorney on “L.A. Law” who smoked cigarettes because of stress.

Culture Clash Awards: The Latino comedy trio Culture Clash, which starts its new season on KTTV Channel 11 Saturday, gets two awards today, one from the City Council recognizing “exceptional pioneering efforts in the entertainment industry,” and the Margo Albert Festival of the Arts Honor for Excellence in Television from Latino cultural center Plaza de la Raza.

LEGAL FILE

Singers File Suit: Several 1960s recording artists including Sam Moore of the duo Sam and Dave, soul singer Curtis Mayfield, members of the Drifters and the Shirelles, and the estates of Jackie Wilson and Mary Wells have filed suit in Atlanta charging that their record companies, which include giants Motown and Capitol, cheated them out of $750 million in pension and health benefits. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, says dozens of record companies consistently under-reported performers’ earnings and failed to make required contributions to the musicians’ union benefits fund.

Town Won’t Sue: The tiny Oregon town of Gold’s Beach won’t sue the Oregon Natural Resources Council over its loss of more than $2 million in expected revenues from Meryl Streep’s “The River Wild” movie, as it had threatened last week. Instead, Gold’s Beach Mayor Marlyn Schafer will ask lawmakers to amend environmental laws “when there are mitigating economic considerations.” The resources council, citing environmental concerns, stopped Universal Pictures from shooting the film along a section of the protected Rogue River near the community of 1,640.