TELEVISION - Nov. 27, 1993

Sein of the Times: Jerry Seinfeld has racked up another honor--of sorts. In its latest issue due out Monday, Spy magazine has bestowed upon the popular stand-up comedian, sitcom star and best-selling author the rather dubious privilege of first place in its seventh annual ranking of the year’s worst people, places and things. Seinfeld narrowly beat out the Clintons by virtue of such misdeeds as: mating stand-up with sitcom to spawn the unwatchable mutant genre “sit-up”; saying in direct contradiction of evidence, “I just hate everything and everybody. That’s why I’m so funny,” and owning 25 pairs of sneakers, including a pair of “Air Seinfelds.” Seinfeld joins the ranks of such past top honorees as Ross Perot (1992), the New World Disorder (1991), S&L; Hell (1990), Lee Atwater (1989), Al Sharpton (1988) and Ivan Boesky (1987).

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Big Mac: Despite its long run in theaters and wide availability on cable and home video, “Home Alone” was anything but a turkey for NBC Thanksgiving night. Overnight ratings from the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed Friday that the 1990 comedy starring Macaulay Culkin was watched by as many people as were tuned into the combined competition on CBS, ABC and Fox.

* Cabaret Music, White House Style: The Clinton Administration’s second “In Performance at the White House” concert--this one celebrating “the allure and intimacy of cabaret music”--will be taped Monday to air on PBS Jan. 5. Former “Designing Women” star Dixie Carter, who sang on Broadway and in cabaret-like revues, will host the evening, which features Bobby Short, Blossom Dearie, Washington’s own Shirley Horn and Len Cariou. The Administration’s first “In Performance,” which aired in September, was devoted to the 40th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival and featured a couple of bleats from the First Saxophonist himself.

POP/ROCK

Jackson’s Further Trials Michael Jackson has even more reason to be singing the blues. A trial date has been set for the beleaguered pop singer in a lawsuit that accuses Jackson of stealing songs. Reynaud Jones, Robert Smith and Clifford Rubin claim that parts of three Jackson tunes--”The Girl Is Mine,” “Thriller” and “We Are the World”--were taken from songs they wrote and gave to Jackson for him to hear. Trial is set for Dec. 7 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, said Douglas Grimes, a lawyer for the three men. Jackson’s attorney would not comment on the lawsuit.

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Tupac Trouble: Rapper Tupac Shakur, in New York to film a PG-rated movie about basketball, also stars in an X-rated production apparently meant for private viewing, a law-enforcement source said Friday. Police searching Shakur’s hotel suite found a 20-minute videotape that shows Shakur and a young woman engaged in a sex act, said the source. Police do not know who the woman is or how old she is and are trying to find her, the source said. The New York Daily News quoted a law-enforcement source as saying the woman on the tape looks like a minor and seems to be drunk or on drugs. Police got a search warrant for Shakur’s hotel room after a 20-year-old woman complained that she was sexually attacked there by the rapper and three friends.

DANCE

ABT’s Casting Call: American Ballet Theatre is looking for boys 8-10 and girls 8-12 with several years of dancing experience to perform roles in the world premiere of the company’s “The Nutcracker” during engagements at the Orange County Performing Arts Center (Dec. 3-12) and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (Dec. 21-31). Auditions will be held Sunday at the Orange County center in Costa Mesa. Only a limited number of roles for young girls are available. For information call (714) 556-2122, Ext. 557.

MOVIES

Butts Out: Smokers will now have to go further than the lobby to indulge their habits at some movie theaters. AMC Theatres’ West Division this week announced a new entirely smoke-free policy for its 58 theaters in California, Arizona, Colorado and Washington. The new policy applies not only to the theaters themselves but to lobbies, restrooms and concession areas. A spokesman called it “a logical next step for theaters to take, given the public’s concern with the effects of second-hand smoke.”

QUICK TAKES

John McLaughlin has decided to leave his CNBC program, “McLaughlin,” when his contract expires in January. The conservative pundit said he wants to concentrate on his two other, longer running shows, the nationally syndicated “McLaughlin Group” and “John McLaughlin’s One on One.” . . . “Another World,” the NBC daytime soap opera that had been threatened with cancellation, has been picked up by the network through June, 1995. The 30-year-old show, which had lagged in the ratings last season, is up 9% in ratings this season. . . . Neil Diamond is asking his fans to bring canned food to his Dec. 16-21 concerts at the Forum. USA Harvest’s National Hunger Relief program will distribute the food at local pantries and homeless shelters. . . . Twenty-six hourlong, never-before-seen in the U.S. episodes of Britain’s “The Benny Hill Show” will be shown on cable’s Comedy Central beginning Dec. 1. The shows will air weekdays at 3 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.