WORTH NOTING ON TV

January 26, 1995

* THURSDAY

CBS Reports: In the Killing Fields of America (CBS, 8-11 p.m.): The network is devoting a whole evening of prime time to this grim, grisly, well-intentioned look at violence in our society.

Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, and Dan Rather file reports from cities across the country - Atlanta, Denver, Washington, and other urban centers - where violence is almost taken for granted. We see Wallace, for instance, in a surgical gown at the operating table of a shooting victim in Hartford, Conn. Rather examines a Hispanic gang in an effort to find out just how the violence develops.

Positive steps are also recorded: among them a report by Bradley from East Palo Alto, Calif., where committed, tough-minded action by police has led to a dramatic decrease in violence. But that's also where officials worry that a reduction in force could mean a relapse to the old patterns.

The producers of this documentary are the husband-and-wife team of Paul and Holly Fine, whose work in the field is extensive and well-respected: In 1991 they won the Peabody Lifetime Achievement Award for ``impassioned and personal reporting spanning two decades.''

The NFL at 75: An All-Star Celebration (ABC, 9-10 p.m.): Yes, it is sort of a plug for the network's Super Bowl coverage on Sunday: On hand, for instance, will be Frank Gifford, Al Michaels, and Dan Dierdorf, ABC's ``Monday Night Football'' sportscasters who will handle Super Bowl coverage.

But after all, some 16,000 players have appeared in National Football League games since they started in the 1920s. This high-profile birthday party will air clips from memorable moments in NFL history and introduce the league's so-called All-Time Team that includes figures such as Gale Sayers, Otto Graham, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, Ray Nitschke, Deacon Jones, Jim Brown, and Lawrence Taylor.

The show's celebrity ``presenters'' and performers are headlined by Diana Ross.

Please check local listings for these programs.