Weekend viewing

Sunday will find NBC and ABC vying for audiences with two shows which the networks hope will provide them with huge audiences. Only one can win -- so it will be interesting to watch the Nielsen numbers.

ABC starts airing its eight-hour version of "East of Eden" on Sunday, 8-11 p.m., then continues it on Monday and Wednesday. Meantime, at 8 p.m. on Sunday in another example of insensitivity to the needs of selective viewers, scheduled opposite the premiere of "East of Eden" (ABC) is NBC's docudrama "Kent State."

Nearly 11 years after the tragedy, NBC has seen fit to dramatize the event. Based on several book sources, including James Michener's "Kent State: What happened and Why," this three-hour fact-fiction dramatization by Gerald Green and Richard Kramer stirs up memories of the 1970 event which might be better left to heal quietly for a while longer.