COVER STORY : What All the Fuss Is About

THE CDS: “The Beatles Anthology” includes three double-CD sets containing home recordings, alternate studio versions, live performances and unissued songs. Vol. 1 is due Nov. 21, Vol. 2 in February and Vol. 3 in April. Vol. 1 begins with the first reunion track, “Free as a Bird,” and Vol. 2 with the second reunion, “Real Love.”

* THE ABC TELECAST: The three-part film autobiography of the Beatles’ career, spanning their days as Liverpool teen-agers to their final moments in 1970, will debut next Sunday at 9 p.m. “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” will be featured in the first episode. It continues on Nov. 22 and 23. For the first time, the Beatles will tell their own stories, in new interviews and a pastiche of John Lennon interviews.

* THE VIDEO: A nine-hour-plus version of the telecast, due in April, will feature nearly five hours not shown on ABC, including footage of the Beatles in India and in the studio working on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” It reportedly concludes with new film of the Beatles’ last-ever photo session.