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

POP/ROCK

Patti’s Return: Rocker Patti Smith, whose first album since 1988, “Gone Again,” hits stores on June 18, will make her first U.S. television appearance in 18 years when she shows up this weekend on Fox TV’s “Saturday Night Special.” Smith will perform the album’s title track and also give a poetry reading. The new album includes 10 new songs, plus a cover version of Bob Dylan’s “Wicked Messenger.” Later this month, Smith will release a poetry book, “The Coral Sea,” dedicated to her friend, the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. And she is scheduled to appear on CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” on June 19.

*

Live Compilation: Live performances of Joan Osborne’s “St. Teresa,” the Indigo Girls’ “Reunion,” Bruce Hornsby’s “Valley Road” and John Hiatt’s “Cry Love” are among the tracks on “Live From the Music Hall Vol. 2,” culled from in-studio segments aired on L.A. adult alternative radio station KSCA-FM (101.9). The CD--a limited edition of 10,000 that will be sold only at the Burbank Virgin Megastore beginning Saturday--is the second in a planned twice-yearly series, with half the proceeds benefiting the Surfrider Foundation’s campaign for clean oceans and beaches.

TV/RADIO

Kagan Back on KFI: Talk-show host Marilyn Kagan is returning to KFI-AM (640). Kagan, who gave up her regular weeknight slot on KFI last November to devote more time to her KCAL-TV Channel 9 talk show (which was later canceled), will host the Saturday and Sunday 9 p.m.-midnight shift, starting this weekend. “The Scott and Casey Show,” which previously aired in that slot, will move to 6-9 p.m., replacing host Gino Michellini.

*

‘About Books’: Cable’s C-SPAN on Saturday will debut “About Books,” a five-hour weekend programming block devoted to books, authors and the publishing industry. The new series will air weekly in two parts, Saturdays from 6-9 p.m. (with a repeat from 9 p.m.-midnight) and Sundays from 9-11 p.m. (repeating 11 p.m.-1 a.m.). “About Books’ ” programming will include top authors speaking about their latest books to audiences in cities across the country, interviews with publishing industry executives, bestseller lists, literary criticism, tours of famous libraries and bookstores around the country, call-ins with various authors, and segments from book publishing industry conventions and meetings.

*

‘Mad’ for Fox: Fox has ordered 25 new episodes of its Saturday night sketch comedy series, “Mad TV,” for the fall season. That’s an increase over the 19 episodes produced this season. A Fox executive said the fate of Roseanne’s “Saturday Night Special,” which this week finishes its trial run in “Mad TV’s” time slot, is still to be determined. . . . In other Fox news, the network has finally picked a new title for its comedy “Too Something.” About 16,500 viewers entered a promotional contest asking for suggested new names; the winner, Jeri Dobson of Greensboro, N.C., will appear in the opening credits of the show when it returns to the schedule on May 26 as “New York Daze.”

THE ARTS

Parade of Masks Canceled: The Craft and Folk Art Museum has canceled this year’s Festival of Masks, an annual parade and family arts festival celebrating cultures from around the world, because of planned construction at Hancock Park, the festival’s longtime site. The construction, a county improvement project involving a rejuvenation of the grounds surrounding the L.A. County Museum of Art and the George C. Page Museum, is slated to start late this summer and run through the fall, displacing the 24-year-old festival, which is held annually in October. However, the Festival of Masks will return in 1997, a museum spokeswoman said.

*

SCR, Ahmanson Additions: South Coast Repertory has announced three more plays, all revivals, for 1996-97. Added to the Mainstage season are John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation” (Oct. 11-Nov. 17) and Alan Ayckbourn’s “How the Other Half Loves” (May 23-June 29, 1997). On the Second Stage, Harold Pinter’s “Old Times” will take the April 15-May 18 slot. . . . Meanwhile, a revival of a mid-’20s Hungarian farce “The Play’s the Thing,” by Ferenc Molnar, will be staged by Tom Moore as the third production of the 1996-97 Ahmanson Theatre season, April 30-June 15, 1997.

QUICK TAKES

Advance ticket sales have reached $1 million for Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame Summer Spectacular,” which opens June 21 at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theater. In what is certainly a good indication for future box-office sales, “Hunchback” hit the $1-million mark after less than three weeks of sales, faster than either 1994’s “The Lion King” or last year’s “Pocahontas.” . . . Oscar winner Jodie Foster will host “Reel Women: The Untold Story,” a CD-ROM documenting “the previously untold story of women in film,” from the silent, talkies and modern eras. The release is planned for the end of this year.