WEEKEND TV : Shows Examine Modern Maladies

Environmental devastation, arthritis, educational cutbacks and homeless children make up a litany of contemporary maladies that TV will attack this weekend.

In honor of Earth Day, KCBS Channel 2 will broadcast “Planet Earth: Love It or Leave It” today at 4 p.m. This one-hour special examines the ecological problems that burden our society, including the ongoing pollution of our local water and air.

The annual “Arthritis Foundation Telethon” runs for eight hours on KCOP Channel 13 Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m. Hosted by Sarah Purcell and Mickey Gilley, the fund-raiser is designed to help the estimated 37 million Americans who suffer from the painful affliction.

At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, KNBC Channel 4 presents a documentary called “Schools Running on Empty” that details the impact statewide budget cuts are likely to have on California’s public school system. Linda Alvarez reports.

KCAL Channel 9’s “Street Shadows,” Sunday at 8 p.m., features homeless teen-agers discussing the hardships of life on the street.

And for a look back at a big problem now mostly resolved, “Reluctant Comrade,” airing at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on A&E;, retells the Cold War story of an American man who accepted an offer to work in Stalingrad in 1929 and was prevented from returning to the United States for 49 years.