WORTH NOTING ON TV

THURSDAY American Playwrights Theater (A&E Cable Network, 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. Repeat date: Nov. 5, 3 p.m.): James Earl Jones and Mario Van Peebles in Marsha Norman's ``Third and Oak: The Pool Hall'' (see preview coming in this section tomorrow). FRIDAY Great Performances (PBS, 9-11 p.m.): The Lincoln Center Theater/Broadway version of ``Our Town,'' Thorton Wilder's classic about small-town life in Turn-of-the-Century New Hampshire - a drama constantly being staged, perhaps because the intensity and preciousness of life can be found between its mundane lines.

SUNDAY New York City Marathon (ABC, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., E.T.): The race is growing in stature all the time - and live coverage has itself become a marathon of complex engineering and production. Crocodile Dundee (ABC, 9-11 p.m.): Paul Hogan is an ``intrepid'' Australian tour guide, who finds himself dealing with the wilds of New York in the network-TV premi`ere of this popular comedy-adventure. Cross of Fire (NBC, 9-11 p.m.): First half of a two-part miniseries dramatizing the rise and fall of the Ku Klux Klan in Indianapolis during the 1920s (see preview coming in this section on Friday). Part 2 airs Monday. MONDAY Cross of Fire (NBC, 9-11p.m.): Part 2 (final).

WEDNESDAY Moyers: The Public Mind (PBS, 9-10 p.m.): ``Consuming Images,'' first in a four-part series about the role of image in public life, hosted by Bill Moyers (see preview coming in this section next Tuesday).

Please check local listings for all programs, especially on PBS.