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

POP/ROCK

Babs’ Political Moves: In a get-out-the-vote effort, Barbra Streisand will make an unprecedented public foray on Monday with a half-hour, live interactive Internet chat at 6 p.m. (on America Online, keyword: AOL Live, or https://www.aol.com). Streisand, a longtime supporter of President Clinton, called next Tuesday’s polling “one of the most important elections in the history of this country. . . . I feel the American people recently have shown greater objectivity and common sense than either the politicians or the pundits, and we can rely on their wisdom . . . at the ballot box.” Meanwhile, with Hollywood’s elite nodding their approval, Streisand unleashed a venomous torrent Saturday when she introduced Clinton at an L.A. fund-raising dinner. Streisand--who urged Democrats to vote en masse to “stop this attempted coup on our government”--said she was shocked by the “unethical tactics being used against this president.” When Clinton took the lectern, he chuckled, saying: “It’s so hard when people hold back,” then paused before saying, “Thanks.”

TV & RADIO

The Return of Art Bell: Syndicated radio host Art Bell, whose “Coast to Coast” program airs here on KABC-AM (790) from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., has announced that he will return to live shows on Wednesday night. But he left his listeners in the dark as to what “threatening” family crisis forced him to say he was terminating the show on Oct. 13 (repeats and guest hosts had been airing in the meantime). In a fast on-air update Friday, Bell said “the situation has improved to some degree,” allowing for his return. Bell, whose show deals with the paranormal and conspiracy theories, insisted that the temporary departure was “not any kind of hoax or stunt . . . nor a [contract] negotiation tactic for more money.”

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Garth Times 3: Country star Garth Brooks will be a busy man Nov. 18 when NBC broadcasts his latest TV special in three different live versions, for the Eastern, Mountain and Pacific time zones. The special, which airs live here at 8 p.m., will originate at the NBC Studios in Burbank, and will include an interactive session in which Brooks will take satellite questions from viewers.

QUICK TAKES

David Hockney’s just concluded exhibition, “Looking at Landscape/Being in Landscape,” featuring a 24 1/2-foot-wide panoramic painting of the Grand Canyon, brought in a record 18,000 viewers during its six-week run at L.A. Louver in Venice, more than twice the attendance of any previous exhibition at the gallery, owner Peter Goulds said. . . . The AFI Film Festival will pay tribute to actor and former AFI trustee Donald Sutherland tonight at 7 at Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica. AFI Director Jean Firstenberg called Sutherland (“Ordinary People,” “Without Limits”) “an extraordinary actor . . . who accepts challenges and seeks to find the depths of the character he is portraying.” . . . Saxophonist Joshua Redman, who performs at the Henry Fonda Theater on Friday, will teach a two-hour, public master class at the USC School of Music tonight at 7. . . . NBC’s Thursday night Christina Applegate comedy, “Jesse,” the season’s highest-rated new series, has been picked up for the remainder of the 1998-99 season. . . . Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic “Saving Private Ryan” and Robert Duvall’s “The Apostle” have received the third annual Lloyd C. Douglas Spiritual Quest Awards, honoring films that depict “the Judeo-Christian values of care, compassion and transforming love.” In addition, Charles Champlin, former film critic and arts editor of the Los Angeles Times, received a Spiritual Quest Lifetime Achievement Award. . . . NBC has reportedly canceled the Saturday night Bo Derek series, “Wind on Water,” after just two low-rated telecasts.