A Bronx tale of brothers; ‘Love’ can skip centuries; taking ‘Pelham’ one more time; discussing the sexes

Sunday

“Blind Faith” / 8 p.m. Showtime

Racial tension is at the core of this cable movie about African American brothers in the 1950s. One is a police captain (Charles S. Dutton) in the Bronx; the other is a criminal attorney (Courtney B. Vance) defending his nephew, who is accused of murdering a white youth. Kadeem Hardison and Lonette McKee co-star.

****

“The Love Letter” / 9 p.m. CBS

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott star in this “Hallmark Hall of Fame” movie melding romance, the Civil War and the barrier of time. Based on a story by Jack Finney (“Time and Again”), the drama, directed by Dan Curtis (“The Winds of War”), centers on a missive that brings together modern-day Scotty and Lizzie, a woman of the 1860s. By using vintage ink, pen and stamps, Scotty sets up a magical correspondence, with their improbable relationship evolving into a love story that transcends time.

****

“The Lake” / 9 p.m. NBC

Yasmine Bleeth ventures into “X-Files” terrain in this made-for-TV thriller. The former “Baywatch” beauty plays Jackie, a nurse who learns about strange developments in her once-peaceful hometown. While caring for the dying, alcoholic father she left years earlier, Jackie witnesses his miraculous recovery, then discovers there are others who have undergone a surprising switch in personality. The pivotal factor: a lake outside town.

****

“The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” / 9 p.m. ABC

It would be impossible to improve on the 1974 pulse-pounding feature film in which a ruthless Robert Shaw and three colleagues hijacked a New York City subway train, demanding that $1 million be delivered within one hour in exchange for hostages. In this remake, transit chief Edward James Olmos matches wits with baddie Vincent D’Onofrio, who ironically played a character pushed between subway trains earlier this season on a suspenseful “Homicide.”

Monday

“The Human Sexes” / 6 and 9 p.m. TLC

From Desmond Morris, the renowned zoologist and author who gave us “The Human Animal” in 1995, comes a three-night, six-hour miniseries about gender differences around the world. That means lots of talk about dating, mating and creating as Morris demonstrates ancient patterns of behavior that exist to this day. The first program, “Different but Equal,” examines how early distribution of labor shaped our bodies, faces and senses--as well as our brains.

****

“Three” / 9 p.m. WB

On a scale of 1 to 10, this new action series merits a, uh, 3. It’s a lackluster hour co-produced by MTV about the exploits of a master thief (Edward Atterton), a con artist (Julie Bowen) and a hacker (Bumper Robinson). The leads aren’t very captivating, and neither is the premise, which finds the trio working for a high-level government agency. In the premiere, the triumvirate pursue a villain who sells a service for criminals called “the ultimate escape.”

****

“The American Experience” / 9 p.m. KCET

“Mr. Miami Beach” tells the story of Carl Graham Fisher, a self-made millionaire who in 1925 turned 1,000 acres of Florida swampland into an American Riviera. Fisher, a natural promoter obsessed with speed and fast living, also founded the Indianapolis Speedway. Ultimately undone by drink, bad luck and natural disaster, Fisher “embodied the early 20th century notion that anything is possible,” says producer Mark Davis.

Wednesday

“Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy” / 9 p.m. KCET

As screenwriter, producer or director of more than 50 films yielding six Oscars, the wry Wilder is the stuff of Hollywood legend. Equally adept at drama (“Double Indemnity,” “The Lost Weekend,” “Sunset Blvd.”), farce (“Some Like It Hot”) and cynicism (“The Apartment”), he worked in journalism and publicity before breaking into films in 1929. Narrated by Walter Matthau, this “American Masters” profile features interviews with Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, writer Robert Towne and the man himself.