TURN ON, TUNE IN OR MISS OUT : Demi, Sissy and Cher star in an HBO trilogy on abortion; TNT offers a football documentary

Sunday

“Everything to Gain” / 9 p.m. CBS

Now that Danielle Steel is ending her long-term production deal with NBC, CBS has everything to gain by making movies based on the bestsellers of Barbara Taylor Bradford. In this melodrama, Sean Young (“No Way Out”) plays a woman whose husband (Charles Shaughnessy of “The Nanny”) and two children are murdered during a robbery. Can she go on without them? And will she fall for the cop (Jack Scalia) investigating the killings? Take a wild guess.

****

“Sudden Terror: The Hijacking of School Bus 17” / 9 p.m. ABC

If this movie wasn’t based on a true story, one could decry it as a knockoff of “Speed.” Maria Conchita Alonso plays a plucky driver whose bus carrying eight youngsters is commandeered by a hijacker (Michael Paul Chan) leading police on a 25-mile chase. Pop quiz, hotshots: You’re driving on the expressways of Florida with time running out. What do you do?

****

“Masterpiece Theatre” / 9 p.m. KCET. Concludes Monday at 9 p.m.

The PBS series launches its 26th season with a four-hour treatment of “Moll Flanders.” Promising an adaptation more faithful to the bawdy Daniel Defoe novel than the 1995 feature film with Robin Wright, this two-night version was written by Andrew Davies, whose first-rate credits include “Middlemarch” and the Emmy-nominated “Pride and Prejudice.” In the course of this story, Moll (played by British actress Alex Kingston) has five husbands, not to mention a life of debauchery.

****

“If These Walls Could Talk” / 9 p.m. HBO

The premise of this dramatic trilogy is simple. Three residents living in the same house in different decades grapple with the issue of abortion. Demi Moore plays a recently widowed nurse in the 1950s. Sissy Spacek is a mother of four in 1974. Cher, who directs her segment set in 1996, counsels a patient (Anne Heche) who is pregnant by her married professor (Craig T. Nelson).

****

Tuesday

“D.C. Follies” / 5 and 9:05 p.m. AMC

From “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “The Great McGinty” to “Bob Roberts” and “Dave,” there have been many movies made about politics. This hourlong documentary culls clips from 13 such films, then juxtaposes them with news footage and vintage campaign commercials of Harry Truman, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower and others. Host Robert Klein also looks at actors-turned-politicians.

****

“NYPD Blue” / 10 p.m. ABC

Everyone has their favorite cop show. For some, it’s “Law & Order.” For others, it’s “Homicide.” And then there are those who prefer this gritty hour. In the fourth-season opener, squad members deal with a corpse stuffed into a trunk and dragged into the precinct. Meanwhile, Simone (Jimmy Smits) plans a surprise for Russell (Kim Delaney) and Sipowicz (Emmy winner Dennis Franz) is preoccupied with his baby’s health.

Wednesday

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

As a follow-up to their first confrontation in Connecticut, President Clinton and Bob Dole will face the nation again, this time in San Diego. The telecast will preempt some regularly scheduled programming.

Friday

“Football America” / 5, 7 and 9 p.m. TNT

A love for the game at the grass-roots level comes through in this two-hour documentary from NFL Films. The production tells the stories of people and players across the country, including a 60-year-old semi-pro who began his career in 1956 at Whittier College and a working mother who coaches a junior college team with her husband, the head coach.

Saturday

World Series / 4:30 p.m. Fox

Fox moves up to the big leagues with its first-time coverage of the fall classic. Game 1 in the best-of-seven series will be played at the stadium of the American League champion, where Joe Buck, Bob Brenly and Tim McCarver report.