Critics' Choice

TELEVISON

GORE VIDAL'S BILLY THE KID (TNT, May 10, 8 p.m. EDT). Turns out he wasn't such a bad kid after all. The author of Burr and Lincoln re-examines the legendary Western outlaw (Val Kilmer) in a made-for-cable movie.

RAY CHARLES IN CONCERT WITH THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET (PBS, May 12, 9 p.m. on most stations). Such Charles classics as Hit the Road Jack and What'd I Say provided the inspiration for Peter Martins' ballet A Fool for You, being presented Live from Lincoln Center.

ROE VS. WADE (NBC, May 15, 9 p.m. EDT). Background viewing for Supreme Court watchers: Holly Hunter (Broadcast News) plays the Texas woman who sued to terminate her pregnancy in this docudrama about the landmark abortion case now under review.

ART

MASTERPIECES OF IMPRESSIONISM AND POST-IMPRESSIONISM: THE ANNENBERG COLLECTION, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fifty prime paintings by artists from Van Gogh and Cezanne through Gauguin and Braque, acquired over the past four decades by publisher Walter Annenberg and his wife. May 21 through Sept. 17.

/ TIMUR AND THE PRINCELY VISION: PERSIAN ART AND CULTURE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. The reigns of the legendary warlord Timur (known as Tamerlane in the West) and his successors produced some of Islam's finest paintings, ceramics, carvings and other works, all richly sampled here. Through July 6.

MASTERWORKS OF MING AND QING PAINTING FROM THE FORBIDDEN CITY, Cleveland Museum of Art. The show's 76 treasures, lent by the Palace Museum in Beijing, consist mostly of painted scrolls from China's last two imperial dynasties (1368-1644 and 1644-1911). Through May 21.

BOOKS

COLLECTED POEMS by Philip Larkin (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; $22.50). The pre- eminent poet of his time, Larkin died in 1985 at age 63. This collection includes works previously unpublished or unavailable in book form, and documents the triumph of a poet who found his style by lowering his voice.

CITIZEN WELLES by Frank Brady (Scribner's; $24.95). Anecdote and scholarship are nicely balanced in this new biography of Orson Welles, whose roller- coaster career in stage, screen and radio covered the spectrum from classics to commercials.

THEATER

ARISTOCRATS. Brian Friel's depiction of a gilded Irish clan in decline, sensitively acted off-Broadway, is the best play on view in New York City and merits comparison with Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

IMPERIAL BELLS OF CHINA. The clang and whir of hypnotic musical instruments, the swish of dancers' 6-ft. sleeves and the rainbow splendor of ceremonial robes are explained by Gregory Peck's recorded narration in this imported spectacle now touring the U.S.

MINAMATA. The premonitory 1948 pollution tragedy in a Japanese fishing village inspired the images in this harrowing multimedia alarm at the Los Angeles Theater Center.

MOVIES

LOVERBOY. Delivering pizza in Beverly Hills offers all sorts of erotic opportunities -- and comic ones too -- in this cheeky romantic romp. Patrick Dempsey has the charm and director Joan Micklin Silver the knack to bring off a modern farce in the classic style.

SCANDAL. It's all here: the loveless romances of Christine Keeler with a Soviet spy, a Jamaican drug dealer and John Profumo, Secretary of War in Harold Macmillan's Cabinet. This express tour through swinging London plays like News of the World headlines set to early '60s rock 'n' roll.

MISS FIRECRACKER. Holly Hunter reprises her stage role as a lovelorn orphan determined to win a beauty contest. Mary Steenburgen and Alfre Woodard also shine in Beth Henley's comedy about the danger of holding on to youthful dreams and the liberating effect of letting them go.

MUSIC

LOUIS ARMSTRONG: THE HOT FIVES & HOT SEVENS, VOLUME III (Columbia). Young "Satch" at the peak of his force and creative genius. Featuring Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory and Earl Hines, these 16 digitally remastered sides from 1927 and 1928 spearhead the latest batch of releases in Columbia's outstanding Jazz Masterpieces series.

PHOEBE SNOW: SOMETHING REAL (Elektra). Real is right: ten raw and lyrical bits of musical autobiography from one of the '70s' best singer-songwriters. On the evidence, she should be flourishing in the '90s too.

MADONNA: LIKE A PRAYER (Sire). The title track is creating all the fuss, but this is a fine pop album, with a couple of the best tracks ('Til Death Do Us Part and Promise to Try) sounding as intimate as a confessional. Memorable from start to finish, and danceable throughout.