In last week's Tonya and Nancy movie on NBC, Jeff Gillooly says to Harding as the cover-up unravels, "If anything happens, just stick to the story." "What story?" she responds. It's a fair question in light of the muddy methodology the networks have settled on to frame their ripped-from-the-tabloids TV movies in these litigious times. What is the story?

In both the Nancy-Tonya saga and in the Menendez movie on Fox a few weeks ago, the scripts avoided all controversy by simply showing us two versions of how things might have happened. That's a lazy, craven and unsatisfying narrative device. A point of view is a terrible thing to waste. Pick a side, boys, pick a side.

>CAUTIONARY TALES FOR KIDS

THESE ARE PARLOUS TIMES FOR THE young, as evidenced by a pair of youth-oriented programs this week. In " 'Teers in the Hood," a grim episode of The New Adventures of Captain Planet cartoon series airing Friday, May 13 on TNT (6:30 p.m. ET), TBS (7 p.m. ET) and the Cartoon Network (7:30 p.m. ET), the Planeteers go back to high school after a popular teacher is gunned down in a cross fire between two teen gangs. Stranger Danger is a news special on Nickelodeon (Tues., May 17, 8 p.m. ET) that looks at both the scary reality of and the hysteria surrounding child abduction in this country. With Linda Ellerbee serving as host, the program offers sensible tips for avoiding dangerous situations. Parents of younger children may want to seek out Smart Kids, Safe Kids, a similar tape that many video rental stores lend out free as a public service.