ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

TELEVISION

Not Much ‘Action’: Fox’s risque new Hollywood satire “Action” got off to a disappointing start ratings-wise Thursday. Despite mostly positive reviews, the show’s premiere drew an estimated 8.3 million viewers at 9 p.m., dropping to 7.1 million for a second installment that aired at 9:30. By comparison, “Frasier” reruns averaged an audience of 18.7 million in the same hour, per Nielsen Media Research. “Action” was tied by UPN’s wrestling show, “WWF Smackdown!” The only good news for “Action” is that it won’t face “Frasier” on a regular basis, moving next Thursday into its regular 9:30 p.m. slot opposite a new NBC sitcom, “Stark Raving Mad.”

PEOPLE

‘True Inspiration’: The Latino Entertainment Media Institute will present actress Rita Moreno with its 1999 LEMI Vision Award on Sept. 30 at the Universal Sheraton in Universal City. Bel Hernandez, LEMI executive director, called Moreno “a true inspiration to the Latino community and to all actors regardless of ethnic origin.” Moreno, whose career spans five decades and who currently appears on HBO’s “Oz,” has garnered a 1961 Oscar for “West Side Story” as best supporting actress, a 1975 Tony for “The Ritz,” several Emmys, including for her work on “The Rockford Files,” and a 1972 Grammy for her work on the soundtrack recording of the PBS children’s series “The Electric Company.” She is also being cited for her long history of donating both time and money to educational and social causes, particularly in the Latino community. The awards ceremony caps the fifth annual Latin Heat conference--”Latino: Visions for a New Millennium”--which will be held at the hotel Sept. 29 and 30.

False Heroes: Former President Jimmy Carter is calling on makers of TV shows, movies and video games to voluntarily trim violent content he says too often makes heroes out of killers. “One thing is for there to be some voluntary restraints on television and the motion picture industry, including video games, to decrease the heroism that is ascribed to those who kill other human beings,” he said this week during a question-and-answer session at Emory University, where he has been a professor for 18 years. Hyping killers “quite often makes a hero out of whoever can shoot the machine gun most and kill more people,” Carter said. He added that he believed it would be unconstitutional for Congress to mandate such restraints.

POP/ROCK

New Latino Award Shows: In the same year that the National Academy of Recording Arts & Scienes announced the start of a separate Latin Grammy Awards, two other Latin music awards shows are being launched. Latin Style Magazine’s new Latin Music Achievement Awards will be held at the Shrine Auditorium on Oct. 14. Meanwhile tickets went on sale Friday for the Ritmo Latino Music Awards, which takes place Oct. 20 at the Universal Ampitheatre. Tickets, from $50 to $100, are available through Ticketmaster and Universal’s box office. The awards are chosen through public voting, and ballots are now available at Ritmo Latino record stores, Vons grocery stores and Red Lobster restaurants.

Select the Single: In another meeting of pop music and the Internet, Web users will be able to determine the lead radio single from Pete Townsend’s new album “Live: A Benefit for Maryville Academy,” which hits stores Tuesday. For a full week starting Monday, the album--recorded at Chicago’s House of Blues and featuring guest performers including Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder--will be posted in its entirety at https://www.musicmaker.com; songs (including new versions of both Who classics and Townsend’s solo hits) will be available individually for download, with the song attracting the most downloads to then be distributed to radio stations.

Online Too: A live Webcast of PETA’s “Party of the Century and Humanitarian Awards” at Paramount Studios--featuring performances by Paul McCartney, Sarah McLachlan, Chrissie Hynde and the B-52s, and the presentation of the first Linda McCartney Memorial Award to Pamela Anderson Lee for her work on behalf of animal rights--will air tonight at 6 p.m. at https://www.peta-online.org. The event will be broadcast in the fall on cable’s VH1.

QUICK TAKES

The Fox prime-time news magazine “Fox Files,” which was already off the air with no return date set, has let go about 30 staffers. The layoff decision, according to a Fox spokesperson, came after news executive got word that the earliest the show could be back on the air would be spring . . . Actress Helena Bonham Carter confirmed Friday that she and Kenneth Branagh have split up. “The decision was mutual and no one else was involved,” she said . . . Roma Downey of CBS’ “Touched by an Angel” is available for an online chat today from 4 to 5 p.m. at https://www.CheckOut.com/SpeakOut . . . Sunday at 8 p.m., the FX cable network will broadcast the full two-hour “Central Park in Blue: Sheryl Crow & Friends” concert held in New York earlier this week featuring Crow, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, Chrissie Hynde and the Dixie Chicks. . . . Thalia Assuras will join Russ Mitchell as co-anchor of “CBS News Saturday Morning” beginning Nov. 6. Assuras and Mitchell will also become rotating anchors of the Saturday edition of the “CBS Evening News.”