Wuhl tries hand at sports skein

GOOD MORNING: Despite the terrif numbers nabbed by NBC with its sporty Olympics, CBS' Les Moonves nixed an offer to air the Intl. Beach Volleyball Tour on Thursday nights. The offer was made to Moonves by Robert Wuhl and, of course, it was for a scene in Wuhl's upcoming HBO series "Arli$$," in which the thesp-creator-writer plays an agent for sports superstars. Moonves accepted the invite to act in the cabler and proved his thesping ability (again!). "He knew his lines better than I," says Wuhl, who pitched the invite to the CBS topper along with "Arli$$" producer Michael Tollin. They shot Moonves on the CBS parking lot -- with the web's Eye logo prominent. The latest superstar cameo for the show is 17 year-old Kobe Bryant, who joins already-set Shaquille O'Neal, Barry Bonds, etc. in a roster that's worth three-quarter billion-$."So don't talk Demi Moore fees to me," laughs Wuhl ... Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Don Mischer, who produced the magnificent opening ceremonies, is readying Aug. 4's 9 p.m. closing show; he has only one, 2 1/2-hour daytime rehearsal, following the previous night's track and field events in the stadium. The finale will be far different from the opener, "more directed to the athletes -- to entertain them," said Mischer. It will be a concert with music rooted in the South: blues, jazz, country, R&B, rock 'n' roll. The finale will bring the 10,000 athletes on the field to also be entertained by "extreme" acts as well. The event will then salute the passing of the Olympic flag to Sydney, the host for the year 2000 Olympics. Mischer says NBC and Dick Ebersol have done a great job televising the Atlanta Olympics; however, he agrees, "for the spectators on hand it has been tough, with the heat and transportation (woes)."

IT'S A MILLION DOLLARS UNDER the figure established last year -- the budget for "The Saint," that is. The shooting budget is reportedly in the 60's as the Par epic goes into its last two weeks, with a giant Moscow mansion-set explosion being shot on stages at Pinewood. David Brown, there with wife Helen Gurley (and Mace Neufeld), wings back to N.Y. Sunday to celebrate his 80th birthday. Brown, belying his age, has seven projects in various media in preparation, having just completed another feature, "Kiss the Girls" and the purchase of "Dark Debts"... Frank Mancuso celebrated his 68th birthday Thursday with family at the Four Oaks and today Kirk Kerkorian takes Mancuso on a tour of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mancuso, John Calley, Frank Davis, Larry Gleason, Mike Marcus, Jerry Rich and Jon Symes were among the MGM/UA'ers toasted by CAA at a cocktail celebration for 'em in the agency's atrium. CAA prez Richard Lovett was unexpectedly called out of town, but on hand were CAAs's Lee Gabler, Bryan Lourd, Kevin Huvane, Rick Nicita, David O'Connor, Jack Rapke, Ray Kurtzman, Fred Specktor, John Ptak, etc. ... Nicky Blair, recuped, is back from his Las Vegas eatery to celebrate his 68 th birthday tonight at Spago, with Jack Haley Jr. and Tony Curtis hosting the party. Among regulars at Nicky's Vegas boite are Kirk Kerkorian and other hotel toppers ... Spago in BevHills (in the Bistro Garden site) is not expected to open until January (a major redo). Meanwhile, a Chicago Spago bows in Nov. with Wolfgang Puck's brother Klaus seguing there from their Postrio, SanFran foodery ... The original BevHills Bistro, up the street from the Garden, gets a $2 million facelift by owners 246 LLC and Asia Pacific Co., whose corporate prez is Tony Sanders. It's skedded to reopen in Oct. with former chefs from L'Orangerie ... Meanwhile, Gerard and Virginia Ferry are once again owners of L.A.'s chef d'oeuvre restaurant, L'Orangerie. They've set Jean Marie-Konnert of Lyon and Cap Ferrat as exec chef, Christian Vanneque of Le St. Germain as manager and sous chefs Ludovic Lefebvre, Eric Damidot and Patrick Glennon. Now we know where the hungry thesps of "New York Undercover" can eat.

WHITNEY HOUSTON RECEIVES the High Hopes Award of the Children's Diabetes Foundation at the Oct. 25 Carousel of Hope Ball headed by Barbara and Marvin Davis. Houston will also perform, as will headliner Rod Stewart and the Bee-Gees; Jay Leno m.c.'s and Merv Griffin hosts at his BevHilton. Proceeds go to the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, the L.A. Chapter of the American Diabetes Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Intl. ... Today is the last day on Rodeo Drive for the street's oldest store, Carroll & Co., which after 43 years moves to a new building on Canon Drive. Dick Carroll, onetime Warner Bros. press agent, and his son John have suited presidents, movie stars (from Fred Astaire, Clark Gable and Cary Grant to Jack Lemmon, Dick Crenna, Tom Cruise and Robert Redford) and studio toppers, including Lew Wasserman, at this same site ... The Concern Foundation's 22nd block party, this time on the Paramount lot, raised $700,000 for cancer research. Allen E. Paulson was honoree ... Wales' National Theater Clwyd names its major house the Anthony Hopkins Theater July 29, with the Prince of Wales dedicating the plaque.