‘Two Girls and a Guy’ and an Editing Room

At this rate, count on a future James Toback film to get 15 passes before the Motion Pictures Assn. of America ratings board. The writer-director says he had to take his 1978 directorial debut, “Fingers,” before the MPAA appeals body 13 times to get the film’s rating changed from an X to an R. Toback’s new film, “Two Girls and a Guy” (opening Friday), reportedly took 14 trips to the editing room to get the film’s rating changed from NC-17 to R--the designation contractually required by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as a two-timing actor whose girlfriends (Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner) discover each other’s existence. All the editing was over one particular scene--a dimly lighted encounter in which Downey and Graham, though almost fully clothed, engage in a sexual practice that is outlawed in some states. “Sexual obsession and sexual duplicity are being completely ignored in American movies today,” Toback lamented to The Times after one of many unsuccessful appearances before the ratings board. “You don’t have movies made about sex. Not that every movie should be that. But should no movie be that?” Depends on who you ask. Some would argue that most Hollywood films are about either sexual obsession or sexual duplicity.

Two Networks Shoot for the Moon

Fans of the true-life tale of Apollo 13, you have a problem next Sunday. As ABC airs “Apollo 13,” the gut-twisting film about the ill-fated mission, HBO will show Part 8 of its 12-hour miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon,” an episode titled “We Interrupt This Program,” which deals with . . Apollo 13. Both projects are from Imagine Entertainment, with Tom Hanks starring in the former and producing the latter. It looks like a Close Encounter of the Counter-Programming Kind, but both networks deny engineering a space jam. ABC says it purchased the hit film three years ago and always had it booked for the first Sunday of the May 1998 sweeps. “We don’t counter-program HBO--they’re only in 30% of [U.S. households],” an ABC executive sniffed. HBO maintained that it had its date secured since January. Brian Grazer, who runs Imagine Entertainment with partner (and “Apollo 13” director) Ron Howard, called the clash “funny and ironic.” “ABC is taking advantage of the appetite we’ve created. They never miss an opportunity--and I guess they shouldn’t.” But, he added, “Tom and I feel like it’s OK. ‘Apollo 13’ is very personal to me, Ron and Tom. It will probably affect the ratings, but the audience will be experiencing a story about the space program. That’s what we care about.” HBO, meanwhile, is taking the high ground. Its Apollo 13 episode focuses on the media coverage surrounding the mission, and the inside of the capsule is never shown. “For those who watch ‘Apollo 13’ on ABC, we’d hope their curiosity is peaked and they join us for the later episodes of ‘From the Earth to the Moon.’ ” HBO also notes that the episode will repeat on April 29, 30 and May 2.

They May Be Country, but They’re No Fools

It’s no coincidence that three high-profile country stars--George Strait, Faith Hill and Randy Travis--will release new albums Tuesday on the eve of the annual Academy of Country Music Awards show at the Universal Amphitheatre. The event, which will be telecast by CBS, is expected to be seen by some 40 million viewers, and the artists and their record companies are hoping that appearances on the show will kick-start sales of Strait’s “One Step at a Time,” Hill’s “Faith” and Travis’ “You and You Alone.” All three singers will perform singles from the albums on Wednesday’s show. In addition, Travis will present an award with actress Cybill Shepherd, and Strait and Hill are both nominated in four categories. Last year, after Strait won two awards, he released his album “Carrying Your Love With Me” the following week--and watched it debut at No. 1 on the pop chart. And Hill and husband Tim McGraw debuted a duet, “It’s Your Love,” that was a No. 1 country hit and is nominated in four categories this year. “It’s the same as with the Grammys,” says Scott Levin, director of marketing for the Musicland Group, the nation’s largest record retailer. “People go out and buy [albums by] the winning artists--particularly if there’s a surprise winner.”

--Compiled by Times staff writers and contributors