JERRY LEWIS’ TELETHON, ONE MORE TIME

If it’s Labor Day weekend, it must be time for another Jerry Lewis telethon on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. The 21st annual event begins Sunday at 6 p.m. and continues until 4 p.m. Monday.

The fund-raising program will be broadcast on Channels 11, 39, 42 and 6 (the latter in the Santa Barbara area).

Lewis again will be joined by Ed McMahon to host the national portions of the telethon from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Chad Everett and Leigh Taylor-Young will head up the local portions, which will originate at the Marina Beach Hotel in Marina del Rey.

Elsewhere, former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown and would-be governor Tom Bradley will be interviewed on local public affairs shows Sunday. Brown will be the guest on “Newsmakers” at 5 p.m. (Channel 2), and Mayor Bradley of Los Angeles, who is running for California’s top elected office against Republican incumbent George Deukmejian, will appear on “Channel 4 News Conference” at 10 a.m.

Here are other weekend programs.

TODAY: Satire gets an outing on prime-time TV when NBC broadcasts “Spitting Image: Down and Out at the White House,” a two-part comedy hosted by David Frost and featuring puppets caricaturing President Reagan, Sen. Edward Kennedy, Dustin Hoffman, former President Richard Nixon and other famous Americans, 9:30 p.m. (4)(36)(39). The second installment will be shown next Saturday.

“Friday at Sunset” turns up on Saturday as host Howard Stevens presents a music video about Pico Boulevard, 10:30 p.m. (2). . . .

“Salt of the Earth,” a controversial 1953 film about striking mine workers in New Mexico, will be shown at 11 p.m. (28), preceded at 10 p.m. by “A Crime to Fit the Punishment,” a documentary about the making of the movie.

SUNDAY: “Sunday Morning” reports on missing children and profiles orchestra leader Peter Duchin, 8 a.m. (2)(8). . . .

University of California President David Gardner, Harvard University President Derek Bok and Oberlin College President Frederick Starr discuss higher education on “Meet the Press,” 9:30 a.m. (36)(39) and 10:30 a.m. (4). . . .

Sen. Daniel Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) discuss children living in poverty on “Capitol Journal,” 10:30 a.m. (28). . . .

“The McLaughlin Group” debates current affairs at 11 a.m. (4). . . .

“This Week With David Brinkley” looks at the airline industry with Donald Engen, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration; Frank Boorman, former chairman of Eastern Airlines; Alfred Kahn, former chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, and Morten Beyer, an airline industry consultant, 11:30 a.m. (7)(3)(10)(42).

“Free-4-All” debates whether the National Guard should be sent overseas, noon (4). . . .

The Victor Awards, a charity event in which show business personalities honor top athletes, will be shown at 2:30 p.m. (4), with Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Dawson, George Peppard and Sammy Davis Jr. among those in attendance. . . .

“One on Every Corner” looks at New York City’s Greek coffee shops and the people who run them, 3 p.m. (28). . . .

“At Issue” focuses on the debate over imposing sanctions on South Africa, 4 p.m. (2). . . .

The problems involved in caring for the elderly are examined on “Face the Nation,” with guests Elaine Brody of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center, Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), Dr. Robert Butler and Paul Willging of the American Health Care Assn., 4:30 p.m. (2)(8). . . .

In a repeat broadcast, “60 Minutes” questions the reliability of lie detectors, profiles singer Ruben Blades and reports on a combat school for civilians, 7 p.m. (2)(8).

Jean Carn and Johnnie Taylor host the eighth annual Rhythm & Blues Awards from Las Vegas, with Deniece Williams and Janet Jackson among the performers, 8 p.m. (9). . . .

Charles Laughton won an Academy Award for his performance in “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” screening at 11 p.m. (28).