Madeline is up to more mischief in new Family Channel episode

The mischievous Madeline returns in “Madeline’s Rescue,” a new animated special for the Family Channel, starring the red-haired French heroine of Ludwig Bemelmans’ classic children’s stories.

In the latest installment, narrated by Christopher Plummer, a stray dog saves Madeline after she falls into the Seine. The dog comes to live with Madeline at the boarding school she attends, only to be booted out after the school’s trustees get wind that there is an animal on the premises. The special is the fourth in a series of six “Madeline” shows; the first episode will be rebroadcast immediately after “Madeline’s Rescue.”

“Madeline’s Rescue,” Thursday 6-6:30 p.m.; “Madeline,” 6:30-7 p.m. the Family Channel. For 3- to 11-year-olds.

MORE KIDS SHOWS

The Children’s Miracle Network Telethon (today 5 a.m.-3 p.m. KCAL, KEYT, KFMB) aids the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. For parents.

Back-to-back animated fairy tales on Nickelodeon (today 2-4 p.m.) prove that everybody can live happily ever after: The Brave Little Tailor tells the story of a common man’s rise to king; The Wren and the Bear is about a feud between animals; Bearskin is about a brave, noble soldier, and The Four Accomplished Brothers tells of a quartet who must battle evil and rescue a kingdom. For 5- to 11-year-olds.

In All the Kids Do It (Tuesday 5:05-6 a.m. Showtime), a young athlete’s dream of going to the Olympics is shattered when he is involved in a drunk-driving accident. For ages 10 and up.

Monty Python member Michael Palin narrates “Jack and the Beanstalk” (Tuesday 7:30-8 p.m. Showtime), part of Showtime’s We All Have Tales series. Dave Stewart, of the rock band the Eurythmics, provides musical accompaniment to the animated story. For all ages.

An episode of Frontline, “Children of the Night” (Tuesday 9-10 p.m. KCET; 10-11 p.m. KOCE) reports on runaway boys in San Francisco who band together to survive life on the streets. For parents.

Safe Speech, Free Speech and the University (Thursday 8-9 p.m. KCET) addresses the issue of free speech on college campuses, where the distinctions between discussion, expression and hate rhetoric have become blurred. Fred Friendly, Edwin Meese and others provide the panel discussion. For ages 16 and up.

Sacajawea (Saturday 6-6:30 a.m. KNBC) tells the true story of the young Native Amerian girl who lead the Lewis and Clark expedition in America’s earlier days. For 5- to 12-year-olds.

Leeza Gibbons hosts Growing Up Together (Saturdays 9:30-10 a.m. Lifetime), a new parenting series that focuses on babies and children up to 5 years old. For parents.

Walter Matthau, Tatum O’Neal and Vic Morrow star in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears (Saturday 4-6 p.m. KCOP) about a no-luck little league team whose surprise secret weapon is a girl with a mean fastball. For ages 9 and up.

Those who have forgotten what happens to little children who tell lies should tune into Pinocchio (Saturday 4-5 p.m. the Disney Channel), a version of the classic fantasy in which Danny Kaye plays the kind puppeteer Gepetto and Sandy Duncan plays his mischievous long-nosed puppet. For ages 6 and up.

If it’s June, it must be time for programs with a summer-camp theme. In The Wilder Summer (Saturday 2-3 p.m. Nickelodeon), first-time camper Charlie Wilder falls in love. In The Day My Kid Went Punk (Saturday 3-4 p.m. Nickelodeon), a camp counselor changes his look for the worse. For 6- to 12-year-olds.