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

MOVIES

Score One for Hemp: “The People vs. Larry Flynt” star Woody Harrelson has won a round in his fight to legalize industrial hemp production in Kentucky. A district judge ruled there Thursday that a state law fails to differentiate between hemp and one of its byproducts--marijuana--and therefore is unconstitutionally vague and broad. Federal bans are aimed at plant parts that contain psychoactive THC, the judge said, but not at parts useful in making fiber and other products. He said state lawmakers tried wrongly to regulate a legal product by including hemp in the definition of marijuana. However, the judge said Harrelson still must face trial on whether hemp seeds he planted were capable of germinating and producing THC. Harrelson, a partner in a California company that makes clothes and other products from imported hemp, had challenged the Kentucky law in June by planting four hemp seeds, which led to his being charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

More on Woody: The parents of 21 fifth-graders in Kentucky pulled their kids out of class Wednesday at a small-town elementary school where Harrelson was scheduled to speak. As it turned out, Harrelson, who had been invited to talk about his efforts to legalize hemp, didn’t show up for the session because of his filming schedule. But the parents, citing his roles as a murderer in “Natural Born Killers” and as a pornographer in “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” said they remain concerned that he is not an appropriate speaker.

Animation Showcase: Just in case there wasn’t enough going on at Sundance already, Christine Panushka, associate dean of animation arts at Valencia’s CalArts, has selected 24 artists and filmmakers from 12 countries to create new experimental animation for “Absolut Panushka,” a 12-week on-line animation festival that debuted at Sundance Thursday. Billed as the first time that experimental animation has been exhibited on the Internet, the festival, sponsored by Absolut Vodka, can be accessed through April 7 at www.absolutvodka.com.

TELEVISION

Rat Pack Screenings: A tape of the only known performance of Rat Packers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. together on TV has been given to the Museum of Television & Radio. The show, a benefit for the Dismas halfway house in St. Louis in 1965, was televised at the time via closed-circuit to a group of theaters where ticket buyers watched it on screen. It has not been seen publicly since, and only recently was discovered in an office at Dismas House, which is still operating. The Museum of Television & Radio’s branch in Beverly Hills will begin screenings of the tape on April 18.

Eye on Programming: CBS anchor Paula Zahn will host “Fast Forward,” a weekly series revisiting past newsmakers, on the network’s forthcoming 24-hour cable network, “CBS Eye on People,” which launches March 31. Other programs scheduled for the new network include “48 Hours Later,” with anchor Dan Rather revisiting his favorite news stories; “Video Zoo,” a collection of animal stories; “Public Eye,” investigative consumer reporting; and “60 Minutes More,” which will update three past “60 Minutes” reports linked by a common theme. Meanwhile, Zahn, who has been on maternity leave since the birth on New Year’s Day of her third child, returns this weekend to anchoring the Saturday “CBS Evening News.”

POP/ROCK

Extending Hendrix’s Legacy: The late Jimi Hendrix’s father and sister, who recently assumed control of the famed guitarist’s recordings, are planning new releases and a new record label in an effort to “preserve Jimi’s music as he intended.” Details are to be disclosed Tuesday during a press conference at Universal CityWalk’s Hard Rock Cafe.

QUICK TAKES

Need a date? Kato Kaelin may be looking for you. The figure from the O.J. Simpson trial is going on the syndicated game show “BZZZ!” to look for a love-match. He tapes the show on Saturday and the episode should air sometime around Valentine’s Day (“BZZZ!” is seen locally on KTLA-TV Channel 5, weekdays at 7 p.m.). . . . The L.A. Film Teachers Assn. honored producer-writer Martha Williamson (CBS’ “Touched by an Angel” and “Promised Land”) and director Joe Sargent (Showtime’s “Mandella and DeKlerk” and HBO’s “Miss Evers’ Boys”) at the Sportsmen’s Lodge on Thursday with its Edward R. Murrow Responsibility in Television Award. Edward James Olmos received the group’s Jean Renoir Film Award. . . . The 13th annual S.T.A.G.E. (Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event), billed as the oldest annual AIDS benefit in the world, will salute Cole Porter at the Luckman Theatre on the Cal State L.A. campus March 14-16. Among the celebrities scheduled to perform are Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, Joanna Gleason, Tim Curry, Davis Gaines, Dorian Harewood, Joley Fisher and Michael Jeter. . . . KCOP-TV Channel 13 has added a Spanish simulcast audio feed to its weekday newscasts at 3:30 and 10 p.m.