NEWS LITE : `SEX' SERIES HAS ACTRESS NERVOUS.

Sarah Jessica Parker is worried about how TV viewers will respond to her racy new HBO series ``Sex and the City,'' which follows a sex columnist's search into what makes urban women tick - in bed.

``I'm slightly nervous,'' Parker says in the June 5 Entertainment Weekly. ``I don't know if people will find it saucy and smart or if they're going to say, well, this is just completely inappropriate. Who are these dirty awful people who would pollute our airwaves?''

Parker, the 33-year-old wife of ``Godzilla'' star Matthew Broderick, plays a writer who fills her column with the exploits and romantic disasters of people she meets and three sophisticated New York friends who talk frankly about every aspect of their sex lives.

Bush drops by Yale for 50-year reunion

Ivy Leaguer George Bush returned to Yale University for his 50th class reunion, where the former president viewed a commemorative portrait and posed for photos with his alma mater's mascot, a large, slobbering bulldog.

About 200 school chums from the Class of '48 honored Bush with the portrait in the University Commons Dining Hall. The painting by Ronald Sherr shows Bush in an overcoat and red tie outside the White House.

``He didn't have much to work with, but he did a very good job on it,'' Bush said with a smile. Later Friday he posed for a class photo with the Yale mascot.

His 7-foot-tall portrait hangs near those of other distinguished alumni, including the nation's 27th president, William Howard Taft. President Clinton and Gerald Ford are other Yale alumni to occupy the White House.

Bahamas wedding for Cindy reported

Supermodel Cindy Crawford has married her longtime friend Rande Gerber in the Bahamas, a Bahamas newspaper reported Saturday.

Crawford and Gerber were wed Friday, the Nassau Tribune reported.

``It's the wedding,'' a security guard told a news photographer Friday after barring him from walking down Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island, off Nassau, the Bahamian capital.

Located on Cabbage Beach is the exclusive Ocean Club resort, where Crawford used to visit with her former husband, movie star Richard Gere. The guard said they had government permission to fence off the usually public beach in front of the resort.

Bahamian police and private security guards hid in bushes Friday and stopped people from entering the property.

Crawford's publicist Annette Wolf did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Gerber, a onetime model and owner of the celebrity bars The Whiskey in New York, and Skybar in Los Angeles, reportedly rallied to Crawford's side when her first marriage broke down a couple of years ago.

Time magazine animated in artistic salute

Pablo Picasso, Frank Sinatra, James Joyce - all artists recognized for their contributions to 20th century culture. But Bart Simpson?

The cartoon hellion of the popular television sitcom ``The Simpsons'' is among the 20 artists and entertainers who most influenced life in the 20th century, according to Time magazine.

The magazine's criterion in making these choices was not so much greatness as influence.

``Our pell-mell 20th century wasted no time in sounding its characteristic theme in the arts. That theme was change,'' says executive editor Christopher Porterfield.

Two weeks after his death, Sinatra appears as a singer for the century who defined American pop with guts, loving, brawling and acting his way through life.

Picasso was both a master and a protean monster, with a hand in every art movement of the century, Time said.

And in a far more rarefied sphere, Joyce revolutionized fiction, bridging the gap between literature and reality.

And then there's Bart Simpson.

The magazine justified the offbeat choice by explaining that the cartoon character embodies a century of popular culture. An underachiever who prevails despite a lack of book smarts, Bart Simpson is an adorable brat for the ages whose qualities of character can be found in everyone from Chekhov to Lenny Bruce, Time insists.

Artist Al Hirschfeld created the magazine's June 8 cover, which features caricatures of some of the 20 personalities, including Picasso, comedian Lucille Ball, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and songwriter Bob Dylan.

Trumpeter Louis Armstrong is cited for his dazzling virtuosity which, coupled with an innovative singing style, made him the source of an original American sound. Marlon Brando changed acting with his raw honesty and brooding seduction, Time said.

Dancer Martha Graham's choreography both amazed and horrified audiences, pulling them into modern dance with techniques now taught around the world. Oprah Winfrey's compassionate, intimate style changed the television talk-show format, the magazine said.

And Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, had a profound influence on children with such characters as Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

Time's list is completed with soul singer Aretha Franklin, poet T.S. Eliot, The Beatles, designer Coco Chanel, actor Charlie Chaplin, the architect Le Corbusier, the musical team of Rodgers & Hammerstein and the composer Igor Stravinsky.

Time's ``People of the Century'' is a two-year project with CBS News featuring television broadcasts and magazine issues celebrating the lives and legacies of 100 people. CBS will air a program on the personalities Thursday.

The choices were made in consultation with public figures, academics, journalists, political analysts and other experts.

DiCaprio, `Titanic' win MTV awards

SANTA MONICA - Leonardo DiCaprio, Neve Campbell and a giant cockroach won 1998 MTV Movie Awards on Saturday night as viewers of cable TV's rock-music channel picked their favorites from the big screen.

``Titanic'' was named best movie, and its co-star, DiCaprio, was honored in the best male performance category. Campbell, co-star of ``Scream 2,'' won for best female performance.

Will Smith's battle with a giant alien cockroach in the film ``Men in Black'' was named best fight - one of several unconventional awards categories that also included best kiss for the smooch between Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in ``The Wedding Singer.''

``Men in Black'' and ``Titanic'' received two awards each, as did ``Austin Powers; International Man of Mystery'' and ``Face/Off.''

Actor Samuel L. Jackson hosted the ceremonies.

Nominations were chosen through a national poll of MTV viewers who cast votes by telephone, computer or at a participating music store.

The winners in the awards ceremony, to be broadcast Thursday:

MOVIE: ``Titanic.''

MALE PERFORMANCE: Leonardo DiCaprio, ``Titanic.''

FEMALE PERFORMANCE: Neve Campbell, ``Scream 2.''

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Heather Graham, ``Boogie Nights.''

VILLAIN: Mike Myers, ``Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.''

SONG FROM A MOVIE: ``Men in Black,'' Will Smith, from ``Men in Black.''

COMEDIC PERFORMANCE: Jim Carrey, ``Liar, Liar.''

ON-SCREEN DUO: John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, ``Face/Off.''

KISS: Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, ``The Wedding Singer.''

ACTION SEQUENCE: Speedboat chase, ``Face/Off.''

FIGHT: Will Smith and a giant cockroach, ``Men in Black.''

DANCE SEQUENCE: Mike Myers and Londoners, ``Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.''

NEW FILMMAKER: Peter Cattaneo, ``The Full Monty.''

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Actor Clint Howard (``Apollo 13'').

News Lite is compiled from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1) Time magazine's June 8 issue salutes artistic pioneers such as Lucille Ball, Steven Spielberg, Bob Dylan and Pablo Picasso.

Time Magazine

(2) PARKER

(3) Leonardo DiCaprio, with Kate Winslet in ``Titanic,'' won the 1998 MTV Movie Award for best male performance for his role in the epic film.

(4) no caption (Bart Simpson)