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

TV/RADIO

In the Works: TNT announced Monday that it will include contemporary projects in addition to its usual western and historical fare on its upcoming movie slate for 1997-98. Among the projects being made for the cable channel are “Two for Texas,” about two escaped convicts-turned-heroes in Sam Houston’s Texas Volunteer Army; “Dead Ahead,” in which a successful businessman gets in trouble with organized crime by running a microbrewery; “Stand-Up Tragedy,” about a law school graduate who postpones his career to teach at an inner-city mission school; and “Glory and Honor,” starring Delroy Lindo as Matthew Henson, the forgotten partner of North Pole explorer Robert Peary. Julie Weitz, executive vice president of original programming for TNT, also said she has lined up top talent to develop projects including Goldie Hawn, Danny Glover, Michelle Pfeiffer, Denise De Novi, Michael Ritchie, Kevin Hooks and Dennis Quaid, who will make his directorial debut with “Everything That Rises,” a 1960s drama about a tragedy surrounding a Wyoming family. Weitz also confirmed that the network will produce two films based on the syndicated science-fiction series “Babylon 5,” which TNT will start airing in January. Other TNT films coming this year include “Hope,” about a teenage girl who stands up to her bigoted parents, and “Buffalo Soldiers,” which recalls the African American calvary.

Swan Songs: A spokesperson for KPFK-FM (90.7) confirmed Monday that Fred Hyatt’s final opera show--after 26 years on the station--aired Sunday afternoon. For this last, four-hour opera program, the veteran broadcaster characteristically played recorded performances by Austrian tenor Julius Patzak, two versions of John Stainer’s “The Crucifixion”--one of them from 1929 and featuring Richard Crooks and Lawrence Tibbett--and mementos of the late soprano Maria Martino. On Monday morning, Hyatt acknowledged that “massive changes” in the station’s listener-base and programming forced him out.

Talk and Laughter: Comedian Jackie Mason and celebrity divorce lawyer Raoul Felder will co-host a new PBS talk show called “Crossing the Line.” The one-hour program, billed as “hard-hitting yet humorous,” will debut April 19 on Orange County TV station KOCE at 10:30 p.m. (It is also set for PBS stations in New York, San Francisco, Denver and Atlanta.) The first show will focus on crime, while future programs will deal with food, health and the media. A KOCE spokeswoman said the station will air “five or six” episodes and “see how it goes.”

MOVIES

Facing Up to Rodman: First it was Michael Jordan upstaging Bugs Bunny in “Space Jam.” Now it’s Dennis Rodman upstaging Mr. Action himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme. If you’ve noticed the trailer for Columbia’s “Double Team,” co-starring the flamboyant Chicago Bulls forward, Van Damme and Mickey Rourke, it’s Rodman’s face that dominates the screen, not Van Damme’s. And Rourke doesn’t even make a single appearance. Is this an indication that Van Damme could be on his way out as an action star? Not so, says a spokesman for Sony Pictures. The studio’s marketing team is just playing off Rodman’s popularity at the moment and recognizing that Van Damme has a built-in audience. They expect those who come to see Van Damme in the film, which opens Friday, will come regardless of his co-stars. Rodman, they hope, will lure the rest. (And Rourke? No comment.) Both Rourke and Van Damme are big stars overseas, which may affect the international marketing campaign.

THEATER

South Coast Projects: South Coast Repertory’s 1997-98 Second Stage season will begin with an adaptation of Aristophanes’ “The Birds,” featuring the comedy trio Culture Clash, by South Coast literary manager John Glore, directed by Mark Rucker (Sept. 19-Oct. 19). The main stage season will feature a new play by Richard Greenberg, “Hurrah at Last” (April 11-May 10, 1998). Other main stage titles so far: “Pygmalion” (Sept. 6-Oct. 5), “A Christmas Carol” (Dec. 3-24), “Our Town” (Feb. 21-March 28, 1998) and “Arcadia” (May 30-June 28, 1998). The Second Stage season will include the West Coast premiere of Peter Hedges’ “Good as New” (Nov. 1-30), “La Posada Magica” (Dec. 10-24) and “What the Butler Saw” (March 7-April 5, 1998). Four titles remain unannounced.

Cast Changes: Mariette Hartley, who will fill in for Mary Beth Peil in the role of Kate in A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia” at the Coronet Theatre from April 8-20, will take over the role from the departing Peil on May 13. Charles Kimbrough, who plays Greg, will give his final performance on April 13, to be replaced by Ed Genest.

QUICK TAKES

The force will be with the cast of “3rd Rock From the Sun” when “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill plays himself in a May telecast of the NBC sitcom. . . . Actor David Carradine (“Kung Fu”) will get his star today at 11:30 a.m. on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. . . . Fox plans a four-hour miniseries based on the Dean Koontz bestseller “Intensity” for later this year, probably to air in the fall. The network acknowledged a glut of miniseries in May, when ABC, CBS and NBC have scheduled a total of seven miniseries, including “The Shining,” “The Last Don” and “Homer’s Odyssey.” . . . Former “L.A. Law” star Harry Hamlin and “Melrose Place” actress Lisa Rinna got married over the weekend. Hamlin, 44, and Rinna, 32, exchanged rings in a ceremony Saturday at the couple’s Hollywood Hills home. It was Hamlin’s third marriage, and the first for Rinna.