TV REVIEWS : TWO WESTERNS FADE INTO THE SUNSET

In two TV movies tonight, CBS half-heartedly tries to revive the largely dormant Western form by draping it in modern-day clothes. Unfortunately, the plots ride off into the sunset long before the heroes do.

In “North Beach and Rawhide,” airing in hourlong installments tonight and Wednesday at 8 p.m. (Channels 2 and 8), a couple of supposedly tough teen-age brothers from San Francisco are sent to a Northern California ranch, a last-chance rehabilitation center meant to steer young men clear of prison, run by an ex-convict (William Shatner).

Since there are two brothers (Christopher Penn and Tate Donovan), you just know that one will adapt to the life of a cowpoke and one won’t, that one will come to respect and appreciate what the ex-con is trying to accomplish and the other one will mock him and commit himself to a life of crime. It’s all as pat and as mild-mannered as an after-school special for children.

Following at 9 p.m. is “Wild Horses,” in which we’re asked to care about a no-account former rodeo champion (Kenny Rogers) who selfishly walks out on his wife and three children to join a government-sponsored horse roundup. The action of the horses running through the rugged terrain of Wyoming is a lot more interesting than that of the people trying to catch them.

Along the way, Rogers’ character is supposed to come to understand that he must face up to the responsibilities of living in the present rather than dreaming of the past, that he can no longer run wild and free, as does the proud stallion he relentlessly pursues. But Rogers’ limited skills as an actor prevent this theme from being explored in anything but the broadest of strokes--about as involving as watching a city dude try to ride a bucking bronco.

There is also a plot twist regarding the roundup itself, when a new government agent arrives to supervise the proceedings. We quickly gather that he is going to be a heavy because, in his second appearance in the film, he does the unpardonable for this sort of star vehicle: He interrupts Rogers in the middle of a song.