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

TELEVISION

‘X’ Marks Super Bowl Spot: The big bucks spent by Fox to air Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and the victorious Green Bay Packers paid off for at least one of the network’s prime-time series when Fox drew nearly 17 million households (an impressive 29% share of viewing homes) to its post-game broadcast of “The X-Files.” That marked the series’ highest national ratings to date, surpassing the previous benchmark set just a couple of weeks ago when 19% of homes tuned in on Jan. 12. The big game itself drew a whopping 42 million households nationally (a 65% share). Locally, KTTV-TV Channel 11 also had plenty to celebrate as early returns indicated that 71% of local TV-viewing households were tuned in to the game, giving Los Angeles a higher rating than any other market except Milwaukee. “The X-Files” also fared better locally than nationally, drawing a 40% share of the local TV market for KTTV.

TV Festival Lineup: It only aired twice before CBS pulled it temporarily because of poor ratings, but the drama “EZ Streets” still has drawn enough notice to land a coveted Saturday night spot at the Museum of Television & Radio’s 1997 William S. Paley Television Festival, March 4-15 at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood. And “EZ Streets,” whose panel convenes March 8 at 6 p.m., isn’t the only low-rated show on the schedule: Steven Bochco’s “Murder One”--which ABC plans to convert to a miniseries instead of a weekly drama in an attempt to draw more viewers--takes the 9:30 p.m. berth on March 8. In fact, the only current bona fide “hit” included in this year’s festival is ABC’s “The Drew Carey Show,” on for March 12. The rest of the schedule: a reunion of Canadian comic troupe “SCTV,” including Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, Catherine O’Hara, Dave Thomas and Martin Short, on March 4; the game shows “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” on March 5; Tracey Ullman’s HBO series “Tracey Takes On . . .” on March 6; the 1994 PBS miniseries “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City” on March 7; “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” the show that brought Paul Reubens to fame, March 10; 1957’s “Playhouse 90: The Comedian,” starring Mickey Rooney, March 13; ABC’s transplanted Comedy Central series “Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” March 14; and the Fox series “Millennium” March 15. Along with creators and writers, such series stars as Reubens, Rooney, Ullman, Carey, Maher and Lance Hendriksen (“Millennium”) are scheduled to attend. Tickets to each panel are $15 and are available through the museum or Theatix.

MOVIES

DiCaprio to Wear ‘Iron Mask’: Leonardo DiCaprio, John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons and Gerard Depardieu will star in the swashbuckling adventure “The Man in the Iron Mask” for United Artists. Oscar-winning screenwriter Randall Wallace (“Braveheart”) will do the screenplay and make his directorial debut with the action-adventure based on the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas.

Eye Surgery: CBS will join the other networks making wholesale scheduling changes in March, introducing new shows while benching such veteran series as “Murphy Brown” and “Dave’s World” until the May sweeps. Beginning March 3, the network’s revised Monday comedy block will be “Cosby,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Cybill” and “Ink.” After a Monday preview, the aforementioned “EZ Streets” will return Wednesdays along with two new shows: “Feds,” a drama about federal prosecutors starring Blair Brown and Adrian Pasdar (formerly of Fox’s “Profit”), and the comedy “Temporarily Yours,” featuring Debi Mazar, which will follow “The Nanny” while “Pearl” goes on hiatus. Larry Hagman’s new show, “Orleans,” is being pulled for February but will come back on Fridays in late March paired with “JAG” and “Nash Bridges.” The newsmagazine “Coast to Coast” also disappears but will return this summer.

‘Beavis & Butt-head’ Spinoff: “Beavis & Butt-head” fans take note: MTV will premiere a new half-hour animated sitcom described as a spinoff of “B&B;” on March 3. “Daria,” centering on the intellectually challenged duo’s “smart kid” friend, 16-year-old Daria Morgendorffer, will air Monday nights at 10:30. Mike Judge, the “Beavis & Butt-head” creator who has a new animated series on Fox, “King of the Hill,” is not involved in “Daria” although a network spokeswoman said he has given his blessing to the project.

POP/ROCK

So Long, KSCA: Are you sad over the loss of KSCA-FM (101.9), which is soon to change its format from adult alternative to Spanish-language? Then join station personnel at West Hollywood’s Troubadour nightclub in bidding a “Farewell to FM 101.9” on Feb. 5. Those on the bill so far for the free show, which starts at 8 p.m., include the Young Dubliners, Da Da, Boxing Ghandis, Lowen and Navarro, Jeremy Toback, Peter Himmelman and Venice.

QUICK TAKES

Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals on Monday named actress Julia Roberts and actor-director Mel Gibson as the 1997 recipients of its “Woman and Man of the Year” awards. Students select people who have made a “lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment” as well as “those the students would like to meet and hang out with for the day.” . . . Richard Carlson, who has weathered big cuts in federal funding as president of the Corp. for Public Broadcasting since 1992, has notified members that he will exit by June 30, saying he is ready for a career change. He has not announced his future plans. . . . Memorial services for Lawrence Austin, proprietor of the Silent Movie theater in Los Angeles, will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Austin was shot in a holdup at the theater Jan. 17. In lieu of flowers, Austin’s family asks that donations to help with the cost of burial expenses be sent to the Silent Movie Showcase, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036. . . . Charlton Heston and Carol Burnett will read “Love Letters” Feb. 19 at the reopened Coronet Theatre. Tickets are $50; proceeds will benefit the Playwrights Kitchen Ensemble’s free Monday night Reading series.