TODAY’S NEWS, TOMORROW’S TELEVISION : In the works: an ecological series and movies with Cybill Shepard, Mary Tyler Moore and Joan Rivers

SERIES

Having problems with your planet? Don’t worry, “The Elite” are on their way. In response to Earth Day 1990, the first environmentally themed entertainment series is being developed for TV. “The Elite,” starring Gil Gerard and Joanna Pacula, is a two-hour telefilm/pilot under development by Paramount Network Television for CBS. There is no air date. Tiffany Lamb, Stewart Finlay-McLennan, Clayton Rohner and Robert Knepper co-star.

TBS will present the first live telecast of a National Geographic “Explorer” episode on May 13, when Bob Ballard’s unmanned imaging sled and robotic submarine photographs two warships that sank in Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Ballard earlier discovered the R.M.S. Titanic and German battleship Bismarck in two other “Explorer” expeditions. This excursion will be presented live to more than 250,000 U.S. and Canadian students via a two-way hook-up at participating museums and other sites.

MOVIES

Patrick Duffy (“Dallas”) and William Devane (“Knots Landing”) will star in NBC’s thriller “Murder C.O.D.,” now shooting in Hollywood for next season. In the story, Duffy portrays an ambitious police commissioner in the pursuit of a cunning serial killer, played by Devane, who murders for money.

Peter Strauss kidnaps the 20-year-old daughter of Robert Urich and buries her alive in the CBS movie “83 Hours ‘Til Dawn.” Strauss demands a $1 million ransom, leaving Urich with 83 hours to match wits with the deviate captor. The movie, now shooting in Los Angeles, does not have an air date.

Cybill Shepherd is filming in Thailand this month for the TNT cable movie “Which Way Home.” The story is about a courageous nurse who sets out with five young orphans on an epic journey from a Thai refugee camp to freedom in Australia shortly after the fall of Saigon. She is assisted in her flight by Australian actor John Waters, who is fighting to save his boat from repossession. The TV movie is slated to air in November.

Mary Tyler Moore will star in the NBC movie “Thanksgiving Day,” a black comedy about a family that comes together after the patriarch drops dead in the Thanksgiving turkey. The family must then cope with his funeral, their neighbors, their bills and-worst of all-each other. Also for NBC, Keshia Knight-Pulliam from “The Cosby Show” will star in the movie “Selma, Lord, Selma,” a drama about the civil-rights movement as seen through the eyes of two black girls. Both movies are scheduled for the 1990-91 season.

Joan Rivers plays a spoiled housewife who suspects that her recently retired husband wants her dead when accidents keep happening all around her in “Bad Times in Beverly Hills.” The movie, airing May 23 on CBS, stars Alex Rocco as Rivers’ husband, plus Morgan Fairchild, David Ogden Stiers, Telma Hopkins and Meshach Taylor.

Emmy-winner Rue McClanahan of “The Golden Girls” will star in “To My Daughter,” an NBC movie about a mother of three who unexpectedly loses her eldest and favorite daughter and then faces the difficult task of rebuilding her relationships with her surviving children. The movie is set to air next season.

Jasmine Guy and Anna Maria Horsford will star in the NBC movie “A Killer Among Us” for the 1990-91 season. The drama involves a female juror who, horrified to see a man convicted for a crime he did not commit, tries track down the real killer-only to find herself in a game of cat and mouse.

Nancy Allen and Vanity will star in Lifetime’s first made-for-TV movie, “Memories of Murder,” scheduled for July. Lou Gossett Jr., and Sara Gilbert will star together in the September movie “Sudie and Simpson.” Lori Singer will play the lead role in “Storm and Sorrow,” a Lifetime movie for November.

The murder of teen Michelle Avila and the circumstances leading to the arrest, trial and conviction of her two closest friends is the subject of a two-hour TV movie Lorimar Television is producing for CBS. The 17-year-old girl from Arleta, Calif., was drowned in a remote mountain creek in the Angeles National Forest in 1985.

SPECIALS

Walter Cronkite, Patti LaBelle, Candice Bergen and Jacques d’Amboise are some of the celebrities who will join Sesame Street’s regular cloth-covered cast in the musical special “Sing! Sesame Street Celebrates Joe Raposo and His Music.” Raposo, a multi-award-winning composer for film and TV, wrote at least 1,000 songs for “Sesame Street,” including its theme song, “Bein’ Green” and “Sing!” The tribute is scheduled to air on PBS May 16.

Americans will pick their favorite professional athletes for the “First All-Star Pro Sports Awards,” airing live on ABC Monday, June 25, from the Universal Amphitheatre. The awards show will honor the people’s choice for Athlete of the Year in auto racing, baseball, basketball, boxing, football, golf, ice hockey, horse racing and tennis.

VIDEO

The Discovery Channel has formally entered the home video market to bring the best of its documentary programming to consumers. The cable channel will package its home videos and sell them through promotional spots on the network.