Thursday, September 3 KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER (NBC, 10-11 p.m.). Repeat of an excellent drama about four irresponsible college students who refuse to take the blame when their car kills a pedestrian. Robert Ryan and Phyllis Avery star as parents of one student. Color.
Friday, September 4 SUMMER OLYMPICS TRIALS (ABC, 7:30-8:30 p.m.). Wrestling from the World's Fair Singer Bowl; and diving from Astoria, L.I.
BURKE'S LAW (ABC, 8:30-9:30 p.m.). Swedish Maid Zsa Zsa Gabor is Detective Amos Burke's prime suspect in tonight's episode of this tongue-in-cheek murder series. Others in the cast are Lizabeth Scott, Paul Lynde and John Saxon.
Saturday, September 5 ABC'S WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS (ABC, 5-6:30 p.m.). First national telecast of the Hambletonian, the Kentucky Derby of trotting, now in its 39th year and worth $150,000 in prize money. Also, Japanese baseball championships.
NBC SPORTS SPECIAL (NBC, 5:30-6 p.m.). Bud Palmer hosts a preview of the N.C.A.A. football season.
Sunday, September 6 DISCOVERY (ABC, 1-1:30 p.m.). This excellent show for older children starts its fall season with a look at some of the artists and scientists who have made the most significant contributions to man's development.
ISSUES & ANSWERS (ABC, 1:30-2 p.m.). Guest is Walter Carey, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Monday, September 7 VACATION PLAYHOUSE (CBS, 8:30-9:30 p.m.). An hour of comedy sketches, improvisations and musical numbers with Comedian Orson Bean, four young actors called the Beanbaggers, and the Serendipity Singers.
Tuesday, September 8 HOLLYWOOD: THE GREAT STARS (CBS, 10-11 p.m.). A nostalgic look at Hollywood's legendary figures, narrated by Henry Fonda. Included are scenes with Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, John Garfield. Repeat.
RECORDS
Opera
PUCCINI: LA BOHEME (2 LPs; Angel).
As Mimi, which she has sung at La Scala, Mirella Freni, 29, an Italian lyric soprano of talent and beauty, can hold her own with Tebaldi, De los Angeles and Moffo. Her voice is easy and focused, but her particular strength as the little seamstress is her touching youthfulness. Tenor Ni colai Gedda is equally melodious and moving as her lover. Thomas Schippers conducts the Rome Opera House Orches tra and Chorus impetuously but artfully.
BIZET: CARMEN (3 LPs; RCA Victor).
At the beginning, Soprano Leontyne Price sounds outsized, more like Lilith than a simple gypsy, but the opera soon rises to her voltage. Tenor Franco Corelli manages a convincing disintegration as Don Jose, and Baritone Robert Merrill's Escamillo exudes male vanity. Mirella Freni makes a sweet-voiced Micaela. Conductor Herbert von Karajan colors the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra sensuously, generally keeping the tempos down and the temperature up; the smugglers' quintet reaches a high pitch of excitement.
Every man, of course, must choose his own Carmen. While Price's voice has an earthy authority and musky beauty, her sexiness, is somehow impersonal and incantatory. Victoria de los Angeles (with Sir Thomas Beecham, on Angel) is more vivacious and brilliant. Scheduled soon to make her recorded debut in the role: Maria Callas.