Menu of New Movies Runs From Thriller to Fact-Based

This weekend’s new movies include a thriller starring Linda Hamilton of “The Terminator” fame, a drama exploring the friendship between two widows and a rip-roaring western adventure.

Hamilton, Jeff Fahey and Coolio star in the ABC drama “On the Line,” today at 9 p.m. on Channel 7. Hamilton plays a single mother who is transferred from the police department’s sex crimes unit to the all-male robbery-homicide division.

Kris Kristofferson and Scott Bairstow headline TNT’s latest western, “Two for Texas,” Sunday at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. They play prison escapees who join Sam Houston’s Texas volunteer army.

ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney” presents “Ruby Bridges,” Sunday at 7 p.m. on Channel 7. Lela Rochon, Michael Beach and Penelope Ann Miller star in this fact-based drama about a 6-year-old African American girl who was one of several black children to integrate the New Orleans public school system in the early 1960s.

Gena Rowlands, Linda Lavin and Richard Farnsworth star in the CBS drama “Best Friends for Life,” Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. Lavin and Rowlands play friends whose lives change after the deaths of their husbands.

Other weekend fare:

Today

Debra Messing and Adam Storke head the cast of ABC’s new series “Prey,” at 8 p.m. on Channel 7. Messing plays a scientist who stumbles upon a new species.

CNN’s Christine Amanpour hosts “The Alfred I. DuPont/Columbia University Journalism Awards,” at 10 p.m. on KCET-TV Channel 28.

Friday

ESPN kicks off coverage of the “Winter X Games,” at 5:30 p.m. The competition from Crested Butte, Colo., finds athletes from around the world participating in a variety of extreme winter competitions. Coverage of the games, which continue through Jan. 21, is split between ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.

KCET repeats “The Great War,” the acclaimed eight-hour series about World War I, at 9 p.m.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Geraldo Rivera guest on the latest installment of CBS’ “Nash Bridges,” at 10 p.m. on Channel 2.

Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows guest on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street,” at 10 p.m. on Channel 4, as a couple who shed light on a murder-suicide investigation.

Saturday

Joe Piscopo hosts TBS’ ninth annual “No Football? No Problem,” a 33-hour movie showcase that begins at 5:05 p.m. with Clint Eastwood’s “Magnum Force.”

The Spice Girls headline their first pay-per-view show, “Spice Girls in Concert--Wild!,” at 6 p.m.

HBO presents boxing from Atlantic City, N.J., beginning at 6:45 p.m. World junior-lightweight champion Arturo Gatti faces Angel “El Diablo” Manfredy, followed by a heavyweight bout between Michael Grant and David Izon. Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and George Foreman report from ringside.

ABC’s low-rated but acclaimed series “Nothing Sacred” and “Cracker” move from Thursday to Saturday nights. “Nothing Sacred” airs at 8 p.m., followed by “Cracker” at 9.

Sunday

Fox presents the “48th Annual NHL All-Star Game” from Vancouver, at 1 p.m. on Channel 11.

Melvyn Bragg talks with “Shine” subject David Helfgott on “Bravo Profiles,” at 5 p.m on Bravo.

A&E; presents “California and the Dream Seekers,” at 5 and 9 p.m. The four-hour documentary--presented in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of California statehood--looks at the Golden State and the people who shaped it. The conclusion airs Monday.

French Stewart of “3rd Rock From the Sun” hosts the Learning Channel’s second annual “Alien Invasion Week,” which lands at 6 p.m. and concludes next Sunday at 10 a.m.

Discovery Channel offers up “The Ultimate Guide: Bears,” at 8 p.m.

NBC presents “The 55th Annual Golden Globe Awards,” at 8 p.m. on Channel 4. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. will honor its favorites in movies and television. “Titanic” leads the nominations in the features category. Shirley MacLaine is set to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre” presents the three-part romantic comedy “Reckless,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 28. Robson Green plays a young surgeon in love with an older management consultant (Francesca Annis) who is his boss’ (Michael Kitchen) wife. The series continues through Tuesday at 9 p.m.

Sherilyn Fenn and Thomas Gibson star in ABC’s psychological thriller “Nightmare Street,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 7.

Lea Thompson hosts Lifetime’s second annual “Celebrity Weddings in Style,’ at 10 p.m.

Beau Bridges, E.G. Marshall and Martha Plimpton star in the courtroom drama “The Defenders: Choice of Evils,” at 10 p.m. on Showtime. The second in a series of films based on the 1960s TV series also features James McDaniel.