No Monkeying Around

HEALTH WATCH TV cheese whiz Aaron Spelling is recuperating at home after the successful radiation treatment of a lesion in his throat, his publicist said Friday. It's not clear when the lesion was discovered or whether it was cancerous. According to the statement, the 78-year-old, pipe-smoking ''Charmed'' producer ''has been working from home while recuperating and thanks everyone for their good wishes. He looks forward to returning to his normal work schedule in the next few weeks, and hopes this will be an inspiration to others in similar situations.''...

Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh failed to show at a video shoot last Tuesday, and no one in the group seemed to know where he was. Turns out he had checked himself into a psychiatric hospital. The band has not said why or even where Welsh is hospitalized, but it has found a temporary replacement, Scott Shriner, who will accompany the ''Hash Pipe'' rockers on a North American and European tour scheduled to begin September 11 in San Jose, California.

REEL DEALS Christina Ricci, 21, plans to make her directing debut with ''Speed Queen.'' She'll also star in the movie as a woman on a cross-country crime spree. Ricci has already produced two vehicles for herself, the upcoming features ''Prozac Nation'' and ''Pumpkin.''...

Ready for Charles Bukowski: The Cartoon? The late author's tales of drunken gutter life will be the basis of ''The Way the Dead Love,'' the debut feature from Global Tantrum, a division of Klasky Csupo, the animation house better known for such Nickelodeon series as ''Rugrats'' and ''The Wild Thornberrys.''

LEGAL BRIEFS On Thursday, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed Richard Hatch's claim of false arrest against the Middletown, R.I., police, even though the child abuse charge they arrested him on was later dropped. However, the court allowed the ''Survivor'' winner's suit over violation of privacy to proceed; that claim stems from authorities' release of Hatch's mug shot and his 9-year-old son's statement to the National Enquirer....

Former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts was arrested in Florida on Saturday for allegedly assaulting his wife. He was charged with domestic battery for allegedly punching Donna Betts in the face while she was driving. Free on $2,000 bail, Betts claimed he didn't know how she received her injuries. Betts has a previous domestic battery conviction from earlier this year, and in 1996, he was charged with allegedly putting a gun to his wife's head. She said he was using cocaine at the time, and the charges were dropped when the couple agreed to go to rehab....

Comedian A.J. Johnson was arrested Saturday for tossing a glass at a patron at Caroline's comedy club in New York, cutting the woman's finger. According to witnesses, Johnson, known for his work on ''Malcolm and Eddie'' and ''Martin,'' took the stage at 2 a.m. without any prepared material, announced he was drunk, and hurled insults and obscenities at the woman before hurling the glass.

IT ISN'T ME Shaggy would like to set the record straight about a couple things. First, the horndog persona of his music isn't his true self. ''It's what people like -- no one's interested in the normal guy,'' he says. ''But it's an act I put on, man. In my early stages I was into chicks, and I do love chicks. But who could be Shaggy 24 hours a day? That's a lot of chicks. Now I'm 33. I'm into one-on-one relationships.'' Second, he wants to assure you that his testicles were not shot off during his Gulf War stint in the Marines. ''''It's all in good working condition,'' he says. ''Anyway I had my kids after being in the Gulf, and I got two of them.''