Ernest hoops it up in ‘Slam Dunk’; Pepper Ann’s on a cover-up mission; how to treat your elders on PBS

Jim Varney gets plenty of help from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to play like a basketball star in Slam Dunk Ernest (ABC, Sunday at 7 p.m.). The story turns around Ernest (Varney) being snubbed by his basketball-playing co-workers until the Angel of Basketball (Abdul-Jabbar) comes to the rescue. For ages 12 and up.

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The love of children for their family elders is explored on Grandparents on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (KCET, Monday-Thursday at noon). On Wednesday’s program, Mister Rogers remembers his own childhood and his grandparents. For ages 5 and up.

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Pepper Ann is all set for yearbook picture day when--gasp--her first pimple surfaces on her face on Pepper Ann (ABC, Saturday at 7:30 a.m. on “Disney’s One Saturday Morning). She embarks on an embarrassing mission to buy pimple cream. For ages 8 to 12.

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In City Guys (NBC, Saturday at 8:30 a.m.), Chris (Scott Whyte) gets angry at his parents for forgetting his birthday. So he takes his father’s prized Ferrari without his father’s permission. When the car gets damaged in an accident, he must figure out a way to get it fixed without his parents’ knowledge. For ages 13 to 16.

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Soccer anyone? Recently arrived from Mexico, Felipe Galan, 15, (Michael Anthony Pena) struggles to fit in to his new surroundings in America in “Give and Go,” the latest installment of Nickelodeon’s Sports Theater With Shaquille O’Neal (Nickelodeon, Saturday at 9 p.m.). Obstacles are a new language and making friends with classmates. A breakthrough: a gym teacher (Charles Shaughnessy) discovers Felipe is a good soccer player and persuades him to join the school’s team, providing him with an instant “in.” For ages 6 and up.