Howard Stern

On TV today, "Today" moves into its new glass fishbowl, Howard Stern officially kicks off his new TV show, and Russia and Saudi Arabia go on the attack -- against Brazil and the Netherlands, respectively, in today's televised World Cup soccer games.* "Today" (7-9 a.m., Channel 2) -- Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric move into Studio 1-A, the designation for their street-level, glass-lined new digs at Rockefeller Center. Only time will tell whether this new look, and the visual and aural access it provides to passers-by, will be a clear asset or a major pane.

Here's a new form of TV programming for you: the docu-entertainment special.That's what Fox is calling its "Rolling Stone '93: The Year in Review," which airs at 9 tonight on WBFF (Channel 45).Actually, only the label is new. The format is basically the same one folks like Barbara Walters have been using forever. With apologies to the Fox executives who get paid for coming up with terms like "docu-entertainment special," what we really have here are celebrity interviews.But while the format isn't new, the celebrities for the most part are hot, hot, hot. And they generally have interesting things to say -- even though their segments are more like expanded sound bites than full-blown interviews.

Beer festival The lowdown -- Diehard beer lovers and milder fans interested in sampling new suds will come together this weekend at the Belgian Beer Festival. Held at Max's Taphouse, the event includes more than 50 drafts and 100 bottled beers. Drafts range from $3 to $9, and bottles are $5-$50. You can also indulge in authentic Belgian food. If you go -- The festival is 11 a.m.-2 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday at Max's Taphouse, 737 S. Broadway. For more information, call 410-675-6297 or go to maxs.

Not sure how you feel about the ubiquitous Howard Stern? Take a look at E! tonight; you'll not go away unaffected."The Nanny" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Could the Woman With the Most Irritating Voice In the World have had an African-American mother? That's what guest star Telma Hopkins tries to tell Fran. CBS."Battle of the Sexes on Ice" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- The never-ending parade of ice-skating on TV continues, this time pitting the guys (Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Paul Wylie and Kurt Browning)

While listening to the newest Oriole, Rafael Palmeiro, at his Camden Yards news conference yesterday, I kept thinking about Howard Stern.That's right -- Howard Stern, the radio shock jock.Stern and Palmeiro have nothing in common except for one thing. Both are making a ton of money -- Stern as a $4 million a year broadcaster-author, Palmeiro as the possessor of a new, five-year, $30.35 million contract with the Orioles.As Rafael talked about the coming season -- "I hope I can make a difference in winning something big here," he said -- I couldn't help thinking of some dialogue from Stern's radio show that morning.

Lost Highway'Soundtrack (Nothing/Interscope 90090)Should Trent Reznor ever weary of the rigors of rock and roll, he'll have no trouble finding work in Hollywood -- not if he can keep producing soundtracks as visceral and evocative as the one he created for the David Lynch film "Lost Highway." As with the album he assembled for Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," the "Lost Highway" soundtrack is less a compilation of discrete musical moments than a sort of extended mood piece, in which each element plays into the next.

Thank the gods -- it's the last night of the brutal Las Vegas week on 'America's Got Talent.' In tonight's two-hour episode, judges Howard Stern, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel will make their final decisions on which acts to advance to the next stage, the live shows in New York. The "judges' favorites" performed once again and have already filled many of the 48 total slots. Tonight, the "stand-bys" will finally have the chance to perform for the remaining spots. A few magicians are first to take the stage.

Foster care system in urgent needAn Nov. 10 editorial, "A home for every child," urged the foster care system to have a "greater sense of urgency'' in resolving the cases of foster children. Certainly, the social service staff and the volunteers who serve on the review committees have this sense. They want to get every child out of the foster care system as quickly as possible, but certain problems get in their way.There are not enough social workers hired to care for the rising number of cases.

Legal Isn't RightColumnists Carl Rowan and Ellen Goodman have strenuously advocated the appointment of Dr. Henry Foster to be surgeon general of the United States.Both writers emphasized that since abortion is legal and even though Dr. Foster had performed numerous abortions, this fact should not even be a consideration.If slavery were still legal in the United States, would these two syndicated columnists be clamoring for the appointment of a slave trader as secretary of labor?Roger R. RiceBel AirStern's MockeryI am very disappointed with the reporting in The Sun (April 7)

The corporation that hires Howard Stern, the New Yor shock-jock, got hit last week with a $600,000 fine for ''indecent'' radio broadcasts.By any standard known to law, the broadcasts were in fact indecent, and the fine was appropriate to the offense. I support the government's action.Even so, the whole affair is troubling. Let me summarize the law and the facts, and leave a judgment to readers.Under the basic Radio Act of 1927, the federal government exercises authority to license radio broadcasters.