New ‘Jane Eyre,’ Torre Film Top Packed Movie Weekend

It’s another big movie weekend with a cable flick on New York Yankee manager Joe Torre, a family drama directed by Goldie Hawn, a romance from the pen of Barbara Taylor Bradford and a new adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s haunting “Jane Eyre.”

Paul Sorvino stars in Showtime’s “Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way,” Friday at 9 p.m. Sorvino plays the New York Yankees manager who won the 1996 World Series while his brother (Robert Loggia) was in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant.

Hawn makes her directorial debut with the nostalgic TNT drama “Hope,” Sunday at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. Jena Malone (“Bastard Out of Carolina”) plays a 13-year-old girl living in a small Southern town in 1962.

Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds are Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester in A&E;’s adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s landmark 1847 novel “Jane Eyre,” Sunday at 5 and 9 p.m.

Victoria Principal and Adrian Pasdar star in CBS’ “Love in Another Town,” Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. The romance, based on Bradford’s novel, finds Principal a newly divorced 40ish woman who falls for a much younger man. The only problem is he’s married.

Today

Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! The Sci-Fi Channel is presenting a “Lost in Space Marathon,” from noon to midnight. The 12-hour festival features 10 episodes from the 1965-68 CBS series that were chosen by viewers, interviews with the cast and a sneak preview of the upcoming film version.

Jaclyn Smith and Pierce Brosnan are the hosts of the Lifetime documentary “Voices of Hope . . . Finding the Cures for Breast and Ovarian Cancer,” at 8 p.m.

Friday

NBC premieres Dick Wolf’s (“Law & Order”) latest series, “Players,” at 8 p.m. on Channel 4. Ice-T, Costas Mandylor and Frank John Hughes star is this lighthearted caper series about three parolees working for the FBI.

PBS’ “The National Desk,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 28, explores “The Politics of Medicine.” Morton Kondracke reports.

NBC’s terrific “Homicide: Life on the Street” begins its sixth season at 10 p.m. on Channel 4.

Saturday

Bob Costas, Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker are on deck as announcers of NBC’s coverage of the 1997 World Series, which begins in Miami at 4:30 p.m. on Channel 4. Game 2 is set for Sunday at 4 p.m.

Comedy Central’s “From Left Field: The World Series Special,” at 10 p.m., looks at what it takes to get to the World Series. Steve White hosts.

Gregory Smith and Shelley Duvall star in Showtime’s kids’ fantasy “Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework,” at 7 p.m.

Matthew Modine and Mary-Louise Parker star in “The Maker,” at 8 p.m. The HBO drama deals with a criminal who turns his younger brother into his accomplice.

Patrick Dempsy and Brigitte Bako headline the Movie Channel’s prison thriller “The Escape,” at 9 p.m.

Sunday

Whoopi Goldberg, LL Cool J and the Wayans Brothers are among the stars who will be encouraging kids to volunteer on Nickelodeon’s “Big Help-a-thon,” at 10 a.m. The seven-hour live event, telecast from Pacific Park in Santa Monica, encourages kids to pledge their time to volunteer in their communities. Mike O’Malley hosts.

The TBS’ documentary “Twin Stories,” at 6 p.m., looks at three sets of twins--including sisters who are reunited after being separated at birth.

PBS’ “Nature” explores the ecology of the Grand Canyon, at 8 p.m. on Channel 28.

E! Entertainment Television presents its latest documentary, “Gilda Radner: The E! True Hollywood Story,” at 8 p.m.

The History Channel’s “Hitler’s Henchman,” at 10 p.m., is a six-part exploration of the six men who earned Hitler’s trust. The series continues through Oct. 23.

Kristy Swanson and Jeremy London star in ABC’s “Bad to the Bone,” a drama about greed and murder, at 9 p.m. on Channel 7.

PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre” reprises the acclaimed 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 28. Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds (“Jane Eyre”) star.