TURN ON, TUNE IN OR MISS OUT : On the ‘Frontline’ with Clinton and Dole (after their debate); taking the 30-year ‘Trek’ on UPN

Sunday / Presidential Debate. 6 p.m. CBS, NBC, ABC, KCET, C-SPAN, CNN

The broadcast and cable networks will carry live coverage of the first televised faceoff between President Clinton and Republican nominee Bob Dole from Hartford, Conn. Reform Party candidate Ross Perot is expected to be excluded unless he can force his way into the proceedings.

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“Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond” / 8 p.m. UPN

Trekker alert. Cast members and other entertainers beam up for the 30th anniversary of the sci-fi franchise. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is honorary chair for the two-hour special featuring appearances by Ted Danson, Quincy Jones and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, widow of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry. The program is produced by George Stevens Jr., a recent Emmy winner for “Kennedy Center Honors.”

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“Her Desperate Choice” / 8 p.m. Lifetime

Viewers who know Faith Ford only as perky Corky Sherwood of “Murphy Brown” are in for a pleasant surprise. In this new movie, Ford turns in an understated performance as Jody Murdoch, a mother charged with kidnapping while protecting her daughter (Hanna Hall) from a father suspected of sexual abuse. As a fugitive forced to change her identity, Jody eventually settles in a small town where she falls for a nice guy played by Kyle Secor of “Homicide: Life on the Street.” One drawback: The film plays like a rehash of last year’s NBC film about a father who took his child under similar circumstances.

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“The American Experience” / 8 p.m. KCET. Concludes Monday at 8 p.m.

The PBS series opens its ninth season with “TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt,” a two-part, four-hour biography of the nation’s 26th president. Setting out to broaden the historical record, the documentary views Roosevelt as more than the man who charged up San Juan Hill with his Rough Riders in 1898. For producer David Grubin (“FDR,” “LBJ”), the exuberant, larger-than-life figure “was a man of tremendous political ability who also was terribly haunted by his own darkness.”

Tuesday

“Murder at My Door” / 8 p.m. Fox

Judith Light, whose post-”Who’s the Boss?” career has included a handful of TV movies, appears in her first for Fox. Here, she plays Irene McNair, a guilt-ridden mother who lost a son in a fire and helped her husband (R.H. Thomson) battle alcoholism. Life gets more complicated when Irene’s troubled son (Johnny Galecki) is suspected of killing a neighbor’s daughter, throwing the family’s fragile stability into disarray.

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“Frontline” / 9 p.m. KCET

Television’s best documentary series kicks off its 15th season with “The Choice ‘96,” a dual portrait of the men vying for control of the White House. The two-hour PBS program profiling incumbent Bill Clinton and challenger Bob Dole focuses on their mentors, spiritual beliefs and experiences with wives and friends, as well as past victories and defeats.

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“Without Pity: A Film About Abilities” / 10:30 p.m. HBO

Christopher Reeve is an ideal choice as host of this “America Undercover” documentary about the disabled. Reeve, who was paralyzed last year in a horse riding accident, narrates the hour that includes profiles of Americans struggling for independence.

Thursday

“Murder One” / 9 p.m. ABC

Last season, this engrossing yet ratings challenged legal drama narrowly avoided the executioner’s song as it covered a single murder trial under the guidance of attorney Ted Hoffman (Daniel Benzali). This year, producer Steven Bochco has replaced the soft-spoken Benzali with Anthony LaPaglia, who plays James Wyler, a hotshot lawyer who quits his job as a prosecutor to defend a woman (Missy Crider) accused of assassinating California’s governor.

Saturday

“Adam Sandler: What the Hell Happened to Me?” / 10:30 p.m. HBO

Gee, Adam, that’s an easy one. You left a good gig on “Saturday Night Live” and branched out into dumb movies like “Billy Madison” and “Bulletproof.” In this “HBO Comedy Hour,” the amiable entertainer offers a mix of humor and rock.