WEEKEND TV : AIDS, ARMS CONTROL IN SPOTLIGHT

Arms control negotiations and AIDS move back to the forefront of television’s agenda this weekend.

Both “Face the Nation” and “Meet the Press” will deal with the U.S.-Soviet arms control talks. But they are scheduled opposite one another at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

“Meet the Press” (Channels 4, 36 and 39) will look at the prospect for an arms agreement with chief U.S. negotiator Max M. Kampelman and Soviet negotiator Alexi A. Obukhov.

“Face the Nation” (Channels 2 and 8) will explore similar ground with Kenneth Adelman, outgoing director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and Viktor Karpov, chief of the Arms Control Dept. for the Soviet Foreign Ministry. Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) also will be on hand for an update on the Iran- contra hearings in Congress.

As for AIDS, the lead story on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” magazine show is a report on the increase of the fatal disease among heterosexuals and the controversy over President Reagan’s AIDS committee. The program airs Sunday at 8 a.m. on Channels 2 and 8.

“Tony Brown’s Journal” picks up the AIDS theme Sunday at 10 a.m. on Channel 28.

And for the dramatically inclined, KHJ-TV Channel 9 is repeating “An Early Frost” at 8 tonight. That’s the 1985 TV movie with Aidan Quinn and Ben Gazzara about a family coping with the news that one of its members has AIDS.

Here are other weekend programs.

TODAY: George McKenna, principal of George Washington Prepatory High School, visits “Youth & the Issues,” 7:30 a.m. (9). . . .

KTTV Channel 11 begins one of its periodic “I Love Lucy” marathons at 8 a.m. This one will last for 8 hours, featuring 16 episodes of the classic comedy series. . . .

KCET Channel 28 goes country tonight with “A Prairie Home Companion” at 9 p.m., featuring Chet Atkins among the guests. Atkins turns up again at 11 p.m. in “Jethro and Friends,” which is followed at midnight by Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers on “Austin City Limits”. . . . Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” also will be seen at 7 p.m. (24) and 10 p.m. (50). . . .

The Boston Pops performs with the Big Apple Circus on “Evening at Pops,” 8 p.m. (28). . . .

“West 57th” looks at how some Californians cope with the threat of earthquakes, visits Billy Joel and reports on an Alabama lawyer who battles white-supremacy groups, 10 p.m. (2)(8).

SUNDAY: Signal Hill Police Chief Michael McCrary guests on “News Conference,” 10 a.m. (4).

“Newsmakers” is slotted at 10 a.m. (2). . . .

“At Issue” turns its spotlight on the problems of American Indians in Southern California, 10:30 a.m. (2). . . .

“The McLaughlin Group” debates current affairs at 10:30 a.m. (4). . . .

U.S. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese will appear on “This Week With David Brinkley,” 11:30 a.m. (3)(10)(42) and noon (7). . . .

“Business World” reports on tax-free municipal bonds, 11:30 a.m. (7), 12:30 p.m. (3)(42). . . .

Music lovers will want to spend the afternoon with KCET Channel 28 for consecutive programs that pay tribute to the music of Rodgers and Hart (1 p.m.), Cole Porter (2 p.m.) and George Gershwin (3 p.m.).

“Firing Line” host William F. Buckley fields questions from three conservatives who think he is too liberal, 4 p.m. (28). . . .

In a repeat broadcast, “60 Minutes” profiles Robin Williams, looks at the proliferation of lawsuits in the United States and reports on foster children who don’t want to return to their natural mother, 7 p.m. (2)(8). . . .

Patrick Cassidy, David Hemmings and Bruce A. Young star in “Three on a Match,” a TV-pilot movie about three convicts who escape from prison, 9 p.m. (4) (36) (39). . . .

“Into Thin Air,” a TV movie in which Ellen Burstyn plays the mother of a 19-year-old boy who disappears while driving from Canada to Colorado, repeats at 9:30 p.m. (2)(8).