NEWS & NOTES\Letterman blasts portrayal in HBO pic about TV tussle.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

David Letterman keeps blasting a Home Box Office movie about the late-night TV wars.

"The clips I saw were just so discouraging," Letterman said of HBO's "The Late Shift," starring John Michael Higgins as Letterman and Daniel Roebuck as Jay Leno. "Either the guy's playing me as a circus chimp on methadone, or he's playing me exactly as I am. If he's got me right on the money, that's it, pack the bags, good night everybody."

During a telephone interview to promote his latest prime-time special on CBS, Letterman derided the HBO movie, which debuts Saturday.

"The guy playing me has got red hair. I'm thinking: What, there's no video tape of me available? We've done 2,000 shows," he said sarcastically. "There's one scene that supposedly shows me relaxing at home on the weekend, wearing a sweater and throwing softballs at an archery target. It's like 'Dave's a little simple, here's a little game he invented.' "

The film "is the single biggest waste of film since my wedding photos," said the divorced Letterman. "Maybe I could understand it if Jay and I were both dead."

Comments denied: Norman Korpi, the openly gay roommate from the "Real World's" first season, denied comments in a story that he has tried to exploit a past relationship with former TV talk-show host Charles Perez.

In "The Real World Reunion Special," which debuted on MTV Saturday, producers used clips of Korpi and Perez together in illustrating Korpi's open homosexuality. The New York Daily News story focused on MTV's decision to include Perez - who has become a TV personality since his 1992 "Real World" appearances - in the special.

Korpi said the footage is a matter of record that can't be changed.

He also clarified that the clips in question were taped at a pro-choice rally in Washington, D.C. An MTV spokesperson told the Daily News last week that the footage was taped at a gay rights rally.

Korpi denies stories from Perez associates that he attempted to use their past relationship to gain media attention, or employment. In fact, Korpi says he and Perez remained social friends long after "The Real World" finished taping, meeting to walk their dogs and getting together to watch "The Real World" episodes.