Giancarlo Parretti, the onetime owner of MGM, who has been a fugitive for more than three years after being convicted in the U.S. of perjury and evidence tampering, has been arrested by Italian police in Orvieto, a hilltop town 70 miles north of Rome, the New York Times reported today (Tuesday). Police were acting on a request for extradition from the United States; however, he is also wanted by French authorities after being sentenced in absentia in Paris on corruption charges related to his purchase of MGM.

In hopes that amputation can save the life of the patient, executives of Planet Hollywood have closed nine of the theme-restaurant chain's 32 locations in advance of today's (Tuesday) anticipated Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Restaurants in Chicago, IL, Costa Mesa, CA, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Gurnee, IL, Houston, TX, Indianapolis, IN, Maui, HI, Miami, FL and Phoenix, AZ were summarily shut down. In a statement on Monday, company chairman and CEO Robert Earl said, "Today is the first step in our plan to position Planet Hollywood for a return to long-term profitability and healthy growth."

Universal Studios and America Online have concluded a deal calling for AOL to install kiosks at Universal's new Island of Adventure theme park in Orlando where visitors will be able to access AOL to send and receive e-mail and engage in "instant messaging" with others in the park and elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Tuesday). If successful, AOL plans to install similar kiosks in other Universal locations in Orlando and Universal City, CA, the newspaper said.

The Video Software Dealers Assn., in cooperation with the motion picture industry, has launched a campaign to enforce restrictions on the sale and rental of videos to minors. As part of the campaign, the VSDA members have begun displaying posters explaining the movie ratings system and pointing out that R-rated films will not be rented or sold to children under 17 without parental consent. Studies have previously indicated that video stores have been lax in enforcing such ratings restrictions.

Following protests by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Turner Broadcasting's World Championship Wrestling has dropped the effeminate wrestlers Lenny and Lodi, the Washington Post reported today (Tuesday). In a letter sent to Turner Network Television president Brad Siegel, GLAAD's Scott Seomen had written: "The character of Lenny is presented with the intention to incite the crowd to the most base homophobic behavior." In an interview with The Post, Seomen added, "The crowd is incited to very base homophobic behavior that's shocking but is unfortunately a reality in 1999, and the audience's reaction gives permission to viewers to do harm to gay people in a very literal way -- it's appalling." A company exec who asked not to be named told The Post that people at the company were alarmed by crowd reaction to the gay wrestlers and said that "it was not the network's intention to do any gay-bashing."

Holland Taylor, who won an Emmy for her role as the libidinous Judge Roberta Kittleson on the Practice, is complaining that ABC reedited her nude scene in last Sunday's episode. In an interview appearing in today's (Tuesday) New York Post, Taylor, who is 56, accused the network of cutting the scene because of her age. "It's one thing to show gorgeous ex-'NYPD Blue' star Jimmy Smits from the nape of his back to his naked butt because he's a gorgeous young man, " she said. "But if you see a woman over 40 who's in swell shape, people say, 'She could be my mother!' ... I think everyone was pretty disappointed with how it was cut down. ... But we're working for a corporate entity which has its own criteria. And where they draw the line, that's where the censors go." Nevertheless, The Practice turned out to be the highest-rated show Sunday night.

ABC and Warner Bros. are planning a kind of TV-Internet multimedia presentation of the Nov. 17 episode of The Drew Carey Show, the companies said Monday. The episode, titled "Drew-Cam, " revolves around Carey's character being used to sell merchandise on the Internet for the department store that he works for. TV viewers who switch on their computers and access the Web during the telecast will be able to watch the Carey character delivering his sales spiel on at least three internet sites during the entire length of the show: <http://www.WinLoud.com>, <http://www.WarnerBros.com> and <http://www.ABC.com>.

The long-delayed reunion of Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper is set to occur on Oct. 18 in New York, when filming begins on an ABC-TV movie, Mary & Rhoda, syndicated columnist Liz Smith reported today, citing Moore. "I am very happy with this script. We all are, " Moore told Smith. "That was the big concern. That the writing be superior." The columnist observed that the movie "might evolve into a series if all goes well."

Internet experts have expressed skepticism that last weekend's NetAid Webcast drew anything close to the predicted one billion viewers. As of late Monday organizers of the event had still not released figures on the number of "hits" that the NetAid Web site had received. Today's (Tuesday) New York Post pointed out that fans even failed to show up for the live performances at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Despite a lineup that included U2's Bono, Puff Daddy, Sting, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Page and Mary J. Blige fewer than half the seats at the 53, 000-seat stadium were filled, and by the time the final song was performed by Bono and Wyclef Jean, only about 13, 000 remained. Meanwhile, Turner Broadcasting's TNT channel said Monday that it will preempt regular programming on Wednesday to show highlights of the NetAid event.

Prodding the television industry to become more creative in its use of its digital spectrum, FCC chairman Bill Kennard suggested that part of it be used to transmit high-speed digital information to personal computers. Meeting with reporters at a technology conference, the New Millennium Summit, in Baton Rouge LA on Monday, Kennard suggested that broadcasters consider mixed use of the spectrum, reserving most or all of it during primetime to transmit HDTV programs, then switching to broadband PC services and multicast programming during the rest of the day.

Saturday's National League playoff game between the New York Mets and the Arizona Diamondbacks appeared to represent a big comeback for the sport among TV viewers in New York. The game, carried by WPIX-TV, drew a 14.3 rating and a 35 share, the highest rating for a baseball game on the New York station since 1988.

The online newsletter Shoptalk, aimed at the broadcasting profession, is running the following item in today's (Tuesday) issue: "Put these items together, and let your imagination figure out what happened: a). Skycam9: A camera on a rooftop in downtown Eugene, Oregon that is controlled from a local TV station; b). Hilton Hotel: Across the Street from Skycam9; c). Videotape: A medium used for recording visual images; d). Help wanted: Four positions open at a local TV station <http://kezi.com/jobs.shtml>."