Worth Noting on TV

WEDNESDAY

Picket Fences (CBS, 9-10 p.m.): This is the last chance for fans to catch the critically acclaimed but sometimes bizarre antics of those folks in Rome, Wis. Though the finale of the canceled series has already aired, CBS recently dusted off several episodes that were already in the can; in this last first-run episode, a meaningless tragedy has Jimmy pondering the transience of life.

THURSDAY

Peter Jennings Reporting (ABC, 10-11 p.m.): "Never Say Die: How the Tobacco Companies Keep on Winning" focuses on the astounding legal successes of the tobacco companies. The program features original research on the use of tobacco by children and an interview with presidential hopeful Bob Dole. The report probes the question, "How can the tobacco companies continue to not just survive, but prosper, when so many of their customers do not," executive producer Thomas Yellin told TV Guide.

World of Discovery (ABC, 8-9 p.m.): James Brolin hosts "Last Charge of the Rhino," a sobering look at efforts to save the black rhinoceros, which has been hunted to the brink of extinction by its only enemy: man. In a sad irony, the rhino's main form of defense, its horn, is what makes it valuable to poachers, who have decimated about 95 percent of the black rhino population since 1970. Efforts to save these gentle creatures include moving them to Australia and dehorning them - rendering them worthless to poachers, but denuding them of their main means of protection.

FRIDAY

Citizens '96 (PBS, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.): This election-year program takes a look at the political catch-phrase "family values." The documentary interviews citizens from Rockford, Ill. (which mirrors national statistics on racial population, income, and unemployment), on the role of family today. In an effort to be all-encompassing, the show skims the surface of difficult issues, but one fact emerges: Few of those interviewed welcome government intervention in their family life.

Please check local listings for these programs.