A love of the world of movies...

A love of the world of movies permeates the crackling excitement of F/X (KCOP Sunday at 6 p.m.), giving dimension to this savvy thriller about a Manhattan special-effects man (Bryan Brown) who’s been hired to stage a fake assassination of a Mafia kingpin (Jerry Orbach). Brian Dennehy co-stars as a redoubtable cop.

The lively 1984 Runaway (KTLA Sunday at 6 p.m.), a Michael Crichton science-fact adventure, stars Tom Selleck and imagines the worst kind of handgun, one that shoots micro-electric bullets that are all but impossible to dodge.

Ricochet (KNBC Sunday at 9 p.m.), an unrelentingly suspenseful 1991 hard-action thiller, stars Denzel Washington as an assistant D.A. with a seemingly brilliant future until hit man John Lithgow is released from prison. He begins a no-holds-barred campaign of revenge for the eight years he’s been imprisoned. Watch for nifty commentary on how TV has made the assistant D.A. a star--and also fueled the ex-con’s hatred.

Peter Hyams’ 1986 Running Scared (KTLA Monday at 8 p.m.) stars Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as undercover Chicago cops dreaming of opening a bar in Key West but waylaid by plenty of exploits in the Windy City. Crystal and Hines have exceptional rapport.

There are some misfires but also some funny stuff and a refreshing taste of self-mockery in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (KTLA Tuesday at 8 p.m.), Keenen Ivory Wayans’ 1988 satire of the early ‘70s blaxploitation films, with their natty, super-masculine heroes, flamboyant pimps and drug czars.

The biggest sack of defensive lineman Dennis Byrd’s life gave birth to the 1994 TV movie Rise & Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story (KTTV Tuesday at 8 p.m.). Peter Berg stars convincingly as Byrd, the New York Jets player who broke his neck in a collision with a teammate during a 1992 game. He goes from an affable, gung-ho jock to a tenacious fighter with metal screws holding his head straight.