TODAY’S NEWS, TOMORROW’S TELEVISION : Lassie comes home again; Norman Bates checks into a hotel, and Pam Dawber deals

SERIES

Audrey Landers has joined the cast of ABC’s “One Life to Live” as Charlette Hesser, the spoiled daughter of drug kingpin Thom Christopher, in a role created especially for her. Beside former soap roles and TV guest spots, Landers is a recording star in Europe, where she has 10 gold and two platinum records.

MCA TV has renewed “The New Lassie” for its second season of syndication. The half-hour series stars the seventh generation of the original Lassie dog from the 1943 film, “Lassie Come Home.” Production has begun on 24 new episodes for fall.

The USA Network is hoping to cash in on the success of Tom Hanks by acquiring the TV sitcom “Bosom Buddies,” starring Hanks and Peter Scolari as guys in drag, from Paramount Television. The series began in 1980 on ABC, and was picked up for a season by NBC after ABC canceled it in 1982. USA cannot air “Bosom Buddies,” however, until current syndication rights end in the summer of 1992.

“Divorce Court” and “The Smurfs,” however, are coming to USA this fall. USA has acquired about 900 episodes of “Divorce Court,” the daily television drama starring retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William B. Keene, and 195 episodes of NBC’s animated “Smurfs.” Both shows will air weekday mornings, with “The Smurfs” also showing afternoons and Sundays.

Margot Kidder will be the host for The Discovery Channel’s new anthology show, “Best of the BBC,” featuring some of the most highly acclaimed multipart series produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Featured programs include the 12-part series “America” and the six-part “The Making of a Continent.” The new series debuts Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.

MINISERIES

Walter Cronkite has agreed to host and narrate “Dinosaur,” a new four-part documentary series on dinosaurs co-produced by the Arts & Entertainment Network for 1991. Told as an historical detective story, the family series will use animation to tell of men and women from the 19th century onward who built a complete picture of the dinosaur starting with the original discovery of a single tooth.

MOVIES

Edward Asner and Ray Sharkey began production in Portland this month on the NBC movie, “Cops and Robbers.” The two-hour crime drama, based on the true story of the $25 million Boston Depositors Trust Bank robbery, casts Sharkey as the police captain who masterminded the heist and Asner as the police superintendent who brings Sharkey to justice.

Donna Mills will star as “The World’s Oldest Living Bridesmaid,” a CBS romantic comedy in which Mills plays a high-powered attorney who falls in love with Brian Wimmer, her young male secretary and a “China Beach” regular. Ann Magnuson plays Mills’ best friend. The movie does not have a premiere date.

Production began this month at the Bates Motel in Universal Studios Florida on “Psycho IV: The Beginning,” a Showtime movie starring Anthony Perkins and written by original “Psycho” screenwriter Joseph Stefano. Mum’s the word on the “Psycho” prequel, as all cast and crew members have been sworn to secrecy and multiple endings may be shot to safeguard the true ending. Henry Thomas, Olivia Hussey and C.C.H. Pounder co-star.

NEW DEALS

CBS Entertainment has signed an agreement with Pam Dawber to develop a half-hour comedy series and several made-for-TV movies. Dawber, whose last sitcom was “My Sister Sam” on CBS from 1986 to 1988, is now working on “Face of Fear,” a CBS movie for next season co-starring Lee Horsley as a psychic who assists the police in finding a serial killer.

Lorne Michaels, creator and executive producer of “Saturday Night Live,” has signed an exclusive four-year agreement to develop new programs for the NBC Television Network. The contract also keeps Michaels at the helm of “SNL” through 1991, including a “Best of Saturday Night Live” special for Halloween Night, Oct. 31.

SPORTS

Todd Christensen, a former All-Pro tight end with the Los Angeles Raiders, has been named an analyst and reporter for NBC Sports. Beginning this season, Christensen will serve as color analyst on NBC’s coverage of National Football League games.

AWARDS

Mark Goodson, the producer of such TV quiz shows as “What’s My Line, “To Tell the Truth” and “The Price is Right,” has been voted an Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement for Daytime Television by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The award will be presented Thursday afternoon during the Daytime Emmy Awards telecast on ABC.