MOVIES - Sept. 1, 2001

Samuel L. Jackson plays the title role in “Shaft” (tonight at 8, Showtime), director John Singleton’s shabby remake of the superior 1971 action hit.

Sylvester Stallone stars in “Get Carter” (tonight at 9, HBO), a remake of the 1971 crime drama in which a mob enforcer exacts revenge on his brother’s killers.

SPECIALS

Jerry Lewis returns as host for the annual “Muscular Dystrophy Assn. Telethon,” which begins Sunday at 6 p.m. on KCAL.

SPORTS

UCLA opens its college football season against Alabama (today at 4:45 p.m. ESPN).

SERIES

Television shows come and go, but we can always count on the return of Fox’s “Cops” and “America’s Most Wanted,” which are back for new seasons tonight at 8 and 9, respectively.

“The Nightmare Room,” a new suspense anthology based on the books by author R.L. Stine, gets a prime-time preview with back-to-back episodes starting tonight at 9 on the WB. The series starts its weekly run Sept. 15.