TODAY’S NEWS, TOMORROW’S TELEVISION : Two ABC series win Western awards; PBS engages in ghostwriting

The “Requiem For a Hero” episode of ABC’s “Young Riders” and “Cougar: Ghost of the Rockies,” the premiere presentation of “ABC’s World of Discovery,” have been named winners of 1991 Western Heritage Awards. The awards will be presented March 16 during ceremonies at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.

Emmy-winning actress Barbara Babcock of “Hill Street Blues” fame will guest on an upcoming episode of NBC’s comedy series “Wings,” as the ex-con mom of Joe and Brian Hackett (Timothy Daly and Steven Weber).

James Earl Jones hosts and narrates “Portrait of Castro’s Cuba,” airing April 7 at 4 p.m. on TBS. The two-hour documentary will focus on the island’s poor economic conditions.

Peter O’Toole plays an evil tyrant who becomes the guardian of a young heiress in “The Dark Angel,” a British thriller airing March 21 on PBS’ “Mystery!” series. Jane Lapotaire and Tim Woodward co-star.

Scheduled for PBS this fall is “Ghostwriter,” a reality-based, contemporary mystery-adventure series featuring a cast of youngsters who plot their way out of jeopardy and mysteries with the help of a secret teammate--a “Ghost” who can only communicate in print.

Throughout the year, the Arts & Entertainment Network is presenting vintage programs from the long-running series “Hallmark Hall of Fame.” Upcoming dramas include: “Lamp at Midnight,” “Victoria Regina,” “Give Us Barabbas!” and “Elizabeth the Queen.”

Scott Bakula, star of NBC’s “Quantum Leap,” has been honored by the Hollywood Radio and Television Society as its International Man/Woman of the Year in Broadcasting for 1990. The award will be presented to Bakula next month at a dinner at the Beverly Hilton.

Kevin Costner fans take note: ABC is presenting his hit 1988 film “Bull Durham” Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. In the rollicking, ribald comedy--which certainly will be edited for TV--Costner dances, not with wolves, but with Susan Sarandon to the strains of the Dominoes’ “60-Minute Man.”

Terrell Anthony, late of the daytime dramas “The Guiding Light” and “All My Children,” has been signed to NBC’s “Another World” to play a guy named Joe who knows about Kathleen’s whereabouts since her supposed death in a plane crash.

Stoney Jackson and Daniel Hugh Kelly are in Dade County, Fla., filming NBC’s newaction-adventure-fantasy series, “The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage.”

Produced by Stephen J. Cannell (“Wiseguy”), the series will premiere this seasonwith a two-hour pilot and continue with weekly one-hour episodes.

Award-winning actress Jill Clayburgh is set to star in “Life Lines,” NBC’sdrama based on the late actress Jill Ireland’s book about her battle with cancerand her discovery her adopted son is a drug addict.

“Life Lines” will be telecast later this season.