WEEKEND TV : JUSTICE STANDS ACCUSED IN 2 DRAMAS

Justice takes a hike in two new television dramas airing opposite one another Sunday night on CBS and NBC.

“The (legal) system is a good one,” a lawyer says in CBS’ “Blind Justice,” “but it has its flaws.”

The attorney in NBC’s “Dress Gray” is more caustic. “You realize, of course, that the law, which I represent, and justice, which is in heaven, seldom coincide.”

“Blind Justice,” which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channels 2 and 8, is a self-described “dramatization based on true events,” about a man (Tim Matheson) whose marriage, friendships, career and sanity are put through the grinder when he is mistakenly arrested for a string of robberies and plunges into an 18-month-long nightmare of defending himself.

To their credit, the film makers have not chosen the obvious way to tell this story, as a relatively simple, stark drama about the black holes in our legal system. Instead they use music, lighting and slightly mad narration by the innocent man to try to create a psychological sense of how it feels to suddenly find yourself a participant in a real-life episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

Good intentions notwithstanding, however, the approach is not entirely successful. Some of the techniques, particularly the constant use of shadows on Matheson’s face, backfire by creating uncertainty in the viewer as to his innocence, and some of the narration sounds like it was lifted from a hokey science-fiction movie.

“I felt like I was running out of things to try, and yet I knew I could never give up,” Matheson relates at one point. Viewers will be excused if they aren’t that resolute.

“Blind Justice” was written by Josephine Cummings and Richard Yalem, directed by Rod Holcomb and produced by Andrew Gottlieb.

Justice also goes awry in “Dress Gray,” a two-part movie airing Sunday and Monday at 9 p.m. on Channels 4, 36 and 39. But unlike “Blind Justice,” it’s no accident. It’s the result of a deliberate effort by the head of a fictional military academy to cover up what appears to be the homosexual rape and murder of one of his cadets.

Adapted by Gore Vidal from a novel by Lucian K. Truscott IV, the film is set during the Vietnam War and superficially serves as a metaphor for the government deception that went on there. The general in charge of the cadets (Hal Holbrook), himself a Vietnam veteran, decides to report the death as an accident--even to his commander (Lloyd Bridges)--because he’s afraid of how the “home-grown Commie demonstrators” would use the information if the truth got out.

His decision flies in the face of the sacred honor code to which the cadets have sworn allegiance, so when one of them (Alec Baldwin) gets wind of what’s going on, he resolves to decipher the murder mystery. His military future is on the line, but that’s a small price to pay for pursuing the truth--or perhaps for defending his manhood, since the dead man’s sister (Susan Hess), with whom he previously had an affair, thinks he might be the killer.

While the crime itself is unsavory, the story around it smolders enticingly under the guidance of producer-director Glenn Jordan. “Dress Gray” never catches fire, though. There are no shadings to the characters, no wavering of motivation, and Baldwin, as the hero, just doesn’t ignite sparks.

Here are other weekend programs.

TODAY: Capital punishment is debated on “Teen Talk,” 8 a.m. (9). . . .

“Newsmakers” looks at proposals to introduce drug testing in the workplace, 5:30 p.m. (2). . . . That subject also will be examined on “Sunday Morning,” 7:30 a.m. Sunday (2). . . .

Patty Duke and Elliott Gould host the 21st annual “Your Choice for the Film Awards,” honoring the top films and performers of 1985 as selected by public balloting, 7 p.m. (9). The program will repeat Sunday at 5 p.m. . . .

Pat Boone and Donna Mills host the Easter Seal telethon, 8 p.m. (8), 11 p.m. (5), which continues until 5 p.m. Sunday. . . .

Laughs abound in “W.C. Fields Straight Up,” an affectionate look at the comedian’s life and film career, 8:35 p.m. (28). . . .

Michael McKean, Stephanie Faracy and Dinah Manoff star in a new TV movie, “Classified Love,” a romantic comedy about three friends who decide to find dates by running classified ads, 9 p.m. (2).

SUNDAY: State Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), who is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. senator, will be interviewed on “Channel 4 News Conference,” 8:30 a.m. (4). . . .

President Reagan’s proposal to provide aid to the Contras in Nicaragua will be debated both on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” 9:30 a.m. (4)(36)(39), and ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley,” 11:30 a.m. (7)(3)(10)(42). . . .

KCET fills the afternoon with music, starting with “Country Memories With Willie Nelson” at 1 p.m., “Tennessee Ernie Ford’s America” at 2:30 p.m. and “Irving Berlin’s America” at 4:25 p.m. . . .

“60 Minutes” visits the South Pacific with James Michener and looks at the Israeli Air Force, 7 p.m. (2) (8). . . .

“Punky Brewster” tries to help its young viewers cope with the aftermath of the space shuttle tragedy with a special episode featuring former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 7 p.m. (4)(36)(39). . . .

“The Disney Sunday Movie” presents a new TV movie, “The Richest Cat in the World,” about a talking cat, 7 p.m. (7)(3)(10)(42). . . .

“Masterpiece Theatre” celebrates its 15th anniversary with a retrospective program, 8 p.m. (50), 9 p.m. (28) (15). . . .

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) will be the guest on “Face the Nation,” 11:30 p.m. (8), 11:45 p.m. (2).