CHANNEL VISION : FARM AID: A LIMITED CROP

A periodic report on TV and cable music programs of special interest. Program: “The Best of Farm Aid: An American Event.”

Airtimes: Premiered at 10 p.m. Saturday on Home Box Office. Repeated at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday. Also Feb. 17, 20, 23, 25 and 28.

Performers and songs: Willie Nelson (“On the Road Again), Bob Dylan (“Trust Yourself,” “Maggie’s Farm”), Neil Young (“Heart of Gold”), John Cougar Mellencamp (“Pink Houses”), Loretta Lynn (“Coal Miner’s Daughter”), others.

Comments: Farm Aid--last September’s benefit at the University of Illinois football stadium to rally support for financially troubled U.S. farmers--was an even more satisfying concert than the Live Aid shows last summer. That’s because Live Aid, in its understandable desire to raise funds, focused purely on superstar rockers, paying little attention to the quality of the artists. Farm Aid broadened the superstar concept to include country and pop figures, but also reached out to some highly acclaimed, though less commercially potent artists, as well as some mavericks.

While this hourlong program should please mainstream audiences who are interested in seeing the superstars do their trademark numbers, it fails to convey the spirit of the day because of the absence of the other artists (from Randy Newman and Rickie Lee Jones to X and Lone Justice) who gave the day a special seasoning and a historical edge. Even John Fogerty--whose Farm Aid appearance was his first public concert in 12 years--is not included. Of the performances shown, Dylan’s--which comes at the end--is the most notable, as he rebounds from his dazed Live Aid stint with a stirring intensity.

Program: “Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers in Arms’ Concert.”

Airtimes: Final showings on Showtime will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday and 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

Songs: “Money for Nothing,” “Walk of Life,” “Sultans of Swing,” “So Far Away,” “Brothers in Arms,” “So Far Away,” others.

Comments: Mark Knopfler, the leader of the British band whose “Brothers in Arms” album spent two months at the top of the U.S. sales charts last year, is an unusually expressive, though also relatively conservative, guitarist, and his band reflects his restrained demeanor on stage. You don’t, in short, get a lot more entertainment or information by watching Dire Straits than you do by simply listening to the group’s records. About the only concession to flash in the concert--taped last summer in London--is Knopfler’s headband. Interview or other documentary material would have helped greatly.