HOLLYWOOD - Top Stories Late-night shows are preparing to return on the air this week, though hosts are finding it hard to bring laughter back into people's living rooms. Rosemary Keenan, a spokeswoman for the Late Show with David Letterman said it would resume taping Monday at the Ed Sullivan Theater, but had no details on their guest lineup. On the same night, CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn will be taped in Los Angeles, but it will not include its comic monologue and will eliminate its satirical "in the news" segment, Keenan said. On Tuesday, Conan O'Brien's Late Night will be taped in New York's Rockefeller Center, and NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno will be taped in Los Angeles. The New York City Opera opened its season four days late Saturday, playing romantic tragedy and light comedy in hopes of distracting their audience from Tuesday's nightmare. According to The Associated Press, Paul Kellogg, the company's general director, told audiences he hoped that music would provide a "catharsis" for many and encouraged audiences to follow Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's advice on resuming normal schedules once again. The audience paused for a minute of silence before each performance, and sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a display of unity. Deaths
Maverick Hollywood producer, Samuel Z. Arkoff, known for his low-budget cult movies, died of natural causes at the Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., on Sunday, Reuters reported. He was 83. Among his best-known movies were the Michael Caine thriller Dressed To Kill, The Amityville Horror, I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf, and the Beach Blanket series. A son and daughter, Donna Arkoff, who is married to producer Joe Roth, survive Arkoff.
In General
A recording of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison speaking during a December 1963 broadcast of the BBC's Juke Box Jury has been presented to the British Broadcasting Corporation. A BBC spokeswoman said that although it was not broadcast quality, it would be "marvelous to have'' the tape, Reuters reported. On the show, the fab four reviewed new singles by artists including the Swinging Blue Jeans and their early hero, Elvis Presley.