‘BADGE OF THE ASSASSIN’ MOVIE TONIGHT ON CBS

A black cop investigating the murder of two fellow officers by a black revolutionary group is the sort of dramatic premise that ought to send sparks flying. But “Badge of the Assassin,” a new TV movie airing at 9 tonight on CBS (Channels 2 and 8), chooses to play it safe and winds up the sorrier.

Maybe that’s because the film is based on a book co-authored by Robert K. Tanenbaum, the white assistant district attorney who prosecuted the murder case in New York in the mid-1970s and who also served as one of the executive producers of the movie. The story is decidedly skewed toward his character, ably played by James Woods.

Maybe it’s because CBS was uncomfortable exploring the realities of being black in America. The political motivations of the black revolutionaries get disdainfully short shrift, and the black detective (portrayed by Yaphet Kotto) brought in by Tanenbaum to handle the investigation--specifically because he is black--remains an enigma. The viewer gets no sense of whether he has any empathy for the grievances of the murderers, nor of why he chose to go the different route of working for the very governmental system they see as oppressive.

Whatever the causes, the result is a routine arrest-and-trial drama, devoid of any societal punch that it might have packed.

Meanwhile, “North and South,” the first major miniseries of the TV season, begins its 12-hour run on ABC Sunday (9 p.m., Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42). Based on the novel by John Jakes, the melodrama follows the interconnected activities of two families--one from the North, one from the South--during the years leading up to the Civil War.

It stars Patrick Swayze, James Read, Lesley-Anne Down, Kirstie Alley, Georg Stanford Brown, David Carradine and Genie Francis. The drama will continue in two-hour installments at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Nov. 10.

Here are other weekend programs.

TODAY: The bane of every student’s existence, homework, is the topic on “Teen Talk,” 8 a.m. (9). . . .

“Rockschool” covers the fundamentals of playing the drums, 2:30 p.m. (28). . . .

A new, two-part adaptation of “Pippi Longstocking” airs at 11 a.m. (7) (3) (10). . . .

U.S. medical volunteers report on health care in Nicaragua on “Presente,” 4 p.m. (28). . . .

Astronaut Jeff Hoffman tells about his first flight aboard the space shuttle on “Newton’s Apple,” 6 p.m. (28). . . .

“Headlines on Trial” debates whether doctors should have the right to refuse treatment to patients who have sued other doctors, 6:30 p.m. (4). . . .

“The Love Boat” sails to the French Riviera in a two-hour episode that stars Susan Blakely, Alexis Smith, Lisa Whelchel, Mel Ferrer and Harry Morgan, among others, 9 p.m. (7) (3) (10) (42). . . .

Bill Moyers looks at how the automobile transformed the United States on “A Walk Through the 20th Century,” 9 p.m. (28).

SUNDAY: “Sunday Morning” reports on the changing auto industry and profiles Peggy Lee, 8 a.m. (2) (8). . . .

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who plans to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate next year, will be interviewed on “Channel 4 News Conference,” 8:30 a.m. (4). . . .

King Hussein of Jordan will discuss the prospects for peace in the Middle East on “Meet the Press,” 9 a.m. (4) (36), 10 a.m. (39). . . .

“Tony Brown’s Journal” reports on the Buy Freedom Drive, an effort to help black businesses, 10 a.m. (28). . . .

President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.), President Reagan’s special emissary to that country, will be the guests on “This Week With David Brinkley,” 11:30 a.m. (7) (3) (10) (42). . . .

“Turning Points,” KCET’s new magazine series about people confronting changes in their lives, repeats at 1 p.m. (28). . . .

“Face the Nation” arrives at 1:30 p.m. (2) and 4:30 p.m. (8). . . .

Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, discusses what he sees as the similarities between Minister Louis Farrakhan and Rabbi Meier Kahane on “Newsmakers,” 2 p.m. (2). . . .

The New York City Opera’s production of “La Rondine,” starring Elizabeth Knighton, Claudette Peterson and Jon Garrison, begins at 2 p.m. (28). It will be simulcast in stereo on KUSC-FM, KCPB-FM and KSCA-FM. . . .

A film about the making of ABC’s miniseries “North and South” will air at 5 p.m. (7). . . .

“60 Minutes” reports on whether the FBI told the Senate everything it knew about former Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan during his conformation hearing in 1981 and looks at how computer technology is helping paralyzed people learn to walk again, 7 p.m. (2) (8). . . .

Ray Walston joins the cast of “Silver Spoons” as Kate’s Uncle Harry, 7:30 p.m. (4) (36) (39). . . .

“Amazing Stories” features an hourlong episode directed by its creator, Steven Spielberg, 8 p.m. (4) (36) (39). . . .

Dan Medina reports on youth gangs in Los Angeles in “Our Children: The Next Generation,” 8 p.m. (9). . . .

The 1982 film “48 HRS.,” with Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte, makes its first appearance on commercial television, 9 p.m. (4) (36) (39). . . .

“School Beat” tackles the subject of child abuse, 9:30 p.m. (9). . . .

Gene Hackman talks about his profession on “Actors on Acting,” 10 p.m. (28).