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

POP/ROCK

Putting On a Show: The House of Blues franchise is getting around. First it erected a temporary nightclub at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Now it’s headed for the Jan. 26 Super Bowl, where HOB Entertainment is putting together the halftime show, featuring--who else?--the Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi and John Goodman) along with “Godfather of Soul” James Brown and the band ZZ Top. All will perform on a large stage surrounded by four three-story video screens showing art projections evoking the club’s interior--including folk art, House of Blues logos and photos of such blues legends as Muddy Waters. And because Super Bowl XXXI is in the enclosed New Orleans Superdome instead of the usual open-air stadium, HOB Vice President of Tours and Talent Kevin Morrow promises stunts, pyrotechnics and lighting akin to that of a full-blown rock show. Oh, and it’s all for a good cause, too: Halftime show sponsor Oscar Mayer has donated $100,000 to the International House of Blues Foundation, a charity that promotes racial harmony through music and art education in public schools. . . . In other Super Bowl entertainment news, Luther Vandross will kick things off with his version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

TELEVISION

Oh, Those Ratings: Buoyed by a plum spot on TV’s best-rated night plus a massive promotional campaign including commercials instructing viewers how to pronounce star Tea Leoni’s name, the NBC premiere Thursday of the former ABC series “The Naked Truth” drew an estimated 29.9 million viewers, posting NBC’s best ratings for a mid-season series debut since 1990’s short-lived “Grand.” . . . “Sunset Beach,” Aaron Spelling’s new daytime soap opera, improved NBC’s ratings in its time period for the show’s premiere week (Jan. 6-10), according to figures issued by Nielsen Media Research. The serial was watched by an average 1.25 million women age 18-49, the key demographic in daytime. . . . ABC’s new late-night show, “Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” also got off to a good start last week, when the transplanted “Comedy Central” program was watched by a nightly average of 3.5 million viewers. The 12:05 a.m. show trailed NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” nationally but beat Letterman in Los Angeles.

Government Review: The TV industry formally asked the Federal Communications Commission Friday to review the new age-based system for rating shows’ sexual and violent content to determine whether it meets Congress’ objective of informing parents about specific programs’ suitability for children. The FCC will take comments from critics and others by, among other means, posting the ratings plan on its main home page on the Internet next week. If it finds the TV industry’s ratings unsuitable, the FCC can appoint an independent board that would create a new system. However, the government cannot require its use.

MOVIES

Cross-Town Dates: College students nationwide will be able to take part in a question-and-answer session with two-time Academy Award-winning director Milos Forman during the first outing of a new monthly “Master Director Series” being held Tuesday at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse. The 6:30 p.m. program, hosted by former Times’ film critic Charles Champlin, will be broadcast live via satellite to 20 college campuses nationwide by Network Event Theater. Then on Wednesday, Forman moves over to USC to discuss his latest film, “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” at 7 p.m. in the Annenberg School Auditorium. Among those scheduled to take part are Alan Isaacman, the real-life lawyer who argued Flynt’s Supreme Court case against the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Seating at both free events is limited.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Cannes Material?: Another Hollywood legend is being honored at Cannes, but this time the legend is not from the film world. It’s a classical music ensemble: the Hollywood String Quartet, which receives the Lifetime Achievement Award Monday at the Cannes Classical Awards, voted by an international panel of record reviewers. The Hollywood String Quartet was founded in 1947 by Felix Slatkin, a conductor and violinist at 20th Century Fox (and the father of noted conductor Leonard Slatkin), to provide an opportunity for studio musicians who longed to play chamber music. It also included Slatkin’s wife, cellist Eleanor Aller, violinist Paul Shure and violist Paul Robyn, who was replaced in 1954 by Alvin Dinkin. The quartet disbanded in 1961, but has lately been rediscovered, thanks to careful remastering of its recordings on the Testament label. Shure, the quartet’s only surviving member, who is now concertmaster of the Ventura Chamber Orchestra, will accept the award.

QUICK TAKES

Oscar-winning filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (“Rashomon,” “Ran”) has directed his first work for Japanese television: a sentimental ad for a yogurt drink. Kurosawa, 86, first tasted the drink when he was 9 and has based the computer-animated ad on his memory of a boyhood romance, a company spokesman said. The spot opens with the title “First Love,” followed by Kurosawa’s name. . . . Actor Christopher Reeve, paralyzed in a 1995 horseback-riding accident, was hospitalized Thursday for a blood clot behind his left knee but was expected to be released in a few days.