Critic's Choice

TELEVISION

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (TNT, Dec. 7, 8 p.m. EST). Charlton ("Moses") Heston tackles another larger-than-life hero, Sir Thomas More, in a new production of Robert Bolt's drama on Ted Turner's cable channel.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (PBS, Dec. 8,

9 p.m. on most stations). Step aside, Basil Rathbone; for fans of PBS's Mystery series, Jeremy Brett has become the definitive Sherlock. Here he re- solves one of Holmes' most famous cases.

ROOTS: THE GIFT (ABC, Dec. 11, 9 p.m. EST). Christmas on the plantation with Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) and other personages re-created from TV's legendary mini-series.

MOVIES

MISSISSIPPI BURNING. As G-men investigating racially motivated murders, Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe become entrenched in the civil rights movement. From the black community's frightened silence to the local lawmen's self-righteous denials, director Alan Parker has powerfully reimagined a time and place.

OLIVER & COMPANY. Dickens with a twist: the sprightly tale of an orphan cat named Oliver, a gang of raffish dogs and a pampered poodle with Bette Midler's voice. A jaunty love song to New York City, and the best Disney cartoon feature since Walt died.

SCROOGED. The very meanest executive in the whole TV business (think of it!) finally gets the Christmas spirit. In this amiable, slapdash comedy, Bill Murray is a sleazy delight. God bless him, everyone.

BOOKS

PRIVATE VIEW: INSIDE BARYSHNIKOV'S AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE by John Fraser (Bantam; $30). One season (1986-87) in the life of a great dance company. The text and grainy candid photographs by Eve Arnold beat with life and explode with candor.

PARTING THE WATERS: AMERICA IN THE KING YEARS, 1954-1963 by Taylor Branch (Simon & Schuster; $24.95). The first half of a two-volume biography as social history puts Martin Luther King Jr. at the center of the American revolution in race relations that began with sit-ins and Freedom Rides and ended with President Lyndon B. Johnson maneuvering a stalled civil rights bill through Congress.

THE HIGH ROAD by Edna O'Brien (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; $18.95). The Irish author made her reputation writing about headstrong girls dashing toward the flame of maturity; her tenth novel portrays women who have come out on the other side, badly burned.