John Lithgow’s act includes singing--and making children laugh

Versatile actor John Lithgow shows the kid-friendly side of his personality with “John Lithgow’s Kid-Size Concert.” In this U.S. television premiere, Lithgow combines some of his original songs with traditional favorites and invites his young friends in the audience to sing along. While not everybody may know the words to “The Runaway Pancake” and “Big Kids Scare the Heck Out of Me,” they should be charmed by Lithgow’s good humor. And besides, everybody knows “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain.”

“John Lithgow’s Kid-Size Concert,” Saturday 8:30-9 p.m. the Disney Channel. For 3- to 11-year-olds and their parents.

MORE KIDS’ SHOWS

The man, the legend, the original returns in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (today 9:15-11 a.m. and Saturday 7-9 p.m. Cinemax), the 1986 comedy about the ultimate teen-age prankster, which spurned a host of TV look-alikes. For ages 10 and up.

Nickelodeon repeats four animated fairy tales in a back-to-back dose of magic, witches and evil curses (today 2-4 p.m.). In Jorinda and Joringle, a beautiful young woman is turned into a nightingale; in Worn-Out Dancing Shoes, three princesses are magically forced to dance all night; in The Brother and Sister, a pair of siblings foil their evil stepmother, and in The Magic Heart, a hunter outwits a witch’s spell. For 5- to 11-year-olds.

An installment of Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective (Monday 12:30-1 p.m. HBO) features the pint-sized super sleuth in a case of two seemingly unrelated thefts during the town’s annual soapbox derby. For 7- to 11-year-olds.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Monday 10 a.m.-noon KCOP) is the quintessential high-school movie. For ages 14 and up. Later, tune into Meatballs (Monday 8-10 p.m. KTTV), the 1979 comedy set in summer camp. For ages 8 and up.

Professor Popper’s Problems (Tuesday 4:30-5:40 p.m. Showtime) concerns an absent-minded guy who shrinks himself down to inch-high size. Afterwards, A Homerun for Love (5:40-6:25 p.m. Showtime) is about a baseball-playing boy who fights for his life. For 8- to 13-year-olds.

In the live action/animation Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler (Friday 6-8 p.m. the Disney Channel) a young boy gets caught up in stamp collecting and ends up traveling the globe on the face of a postage stamp. For all ages.

The 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Friday 8-9:40 p.m. the Disney Channel) is the only musical the great song-writing duo ever wrote for television. Lesley Ann Warren plays Cinderella to Stuart Damon’s handsome prince. For all ages.

In a segment called “Diversity University,” By the Year 2000 (Friday 9-9:30 p.m. KCET) reports on the future of California’s higher education system by focusing on UCLA’s melting-pot student population. For ages 16 and up.

Parents always argue about which city is better, New York or Los Angeles, but in “Tinseltown & the Big Apple” (Saturday 6-6:30 a.m. KNBC), it’s the kids who discuss the relative merits of each metropolis. For 7- to 12-year-olds.

Those in the mood for a Saturday afternoon adventure should tune into Treasure Island and Ivanhoe (Saturday 2-4 p.m. Nickelodeon), back-to-back animated versions of the classic adventure books. (The film “Treasure Island” also airs today 10 a.m.-noon KTLA). For 9- to 12-year-olds.

How looney is it? The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (Saturday 7-8:20 p.m. the Disney Channel), which combines classic cartoons with new ones, is so darn looney that we’ve used the word five times in one paragraph. For all ages, with parental discretion.