In addition to "Longford" and "Slings and Arrows," here are some shows you should check out this weekend.

1. “Extras,” 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO

Is it possible to burst a blood vessel from laughing too hard? Never mind, go ahead and watch the season finale of “Extras” -- it’s worth the risk. In the second season of the Ricky Gervais comedy -- and no current comedy has made me laugh out loud more often -- aspiring thespian Andy Millman actually landed a BBC sitcom, which is as cringe-inducingly bad as you might imagine. Still, this mediocre level of success gives him the chance to meet his idols, such as Robert DeNiro, who guest stars in this episode. But will the endlessly irritable Millman be able to tactfully leave the bedside of a sick child in order to hobnob with the legendary actor? Well, the good news for viewers is that Millman’s greatly lacking in tact.   

2. “The State Within,” 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, BBC America

In the first few minutes of this 6-hour thriller, a plane crashes near the heart of Washington, DC, and it emerges that a British citizen was involved. The first couple of episodes of this timely drama, which is set in the glamorous world of DC diplomacy, are extremely complicated, sometimes needlessly so, but a galvanizing performance by Jason Isaacs as the British ambassador and Sharon Gless’ turn as a feisty defense secretary should be good enough to keep you tuned in during the more convoluted patches. By the time the many story threads link up, though, "The State Within" has an unstoppable momentum that’s as good as the best of “24.” By the last installments of the 6-part drama, you should be on the edge of your seat. By the way, if you miss it on TV, “The State Within” may actually be one of those non-stop shows that’s a better experience on DVD; it comes out in that format Feb. 27.

3. “Cold Case,” 8 p.m. Sunday, WBBM-Ch. 2

What do Bob Dylan and “Battlestar Galactica” have in common? “Cold Case,” that’s what. Jamie Bamber, better known as Lee “Apollo” Adama on “Battlestar,” guest stars on this satisfying CBS drama as part of a group of former student radicals. Bamber’s character ended up dead in the ’80s in what had been classified as a gas explosion, but the "Cold Case" squad learns the blast was actually the result of a bomb. The story of how and why these former activists fell out of friendship with each other is intriguing, and eight Dylan songs form the soundtrack to the haunting episode.

4. “The Amazing Race,” 7 p.m. Sunday, WBBM-Ch. 2

Can this All-Star edition of the long-running reality series restore “TAR’s” luster? I don’t know about you, but ever since the family edition of the show, I’ve tried to stick with “TAR” but I just haven’t felt the same level of devotion. Still, the prospect of seeing Charla and Mirna in action again will tempt me back to the show, and I’ll try to put up with the fact that overexposed Rob and Amber are getting yet another shot at a million bucks. Shee-ush. 

5. “Real Time with Bill Maher,” 10 p.m. Friday, HBO

A new season of “Real Time” kicks off Friday, with former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. No one pours acidic wit all over the posturing and pretensions of politicians like Maher; if you can take the fact that his wit sometimes veers into bile, his show is usually an enjoyably cynical affair.

6. “Monk,” 8 p.m. Friday, USA

Do not adjust your set: This week’s “Monk,” a repeat from December, is a noir-ish black-and-white affair in which Monk helps a leper. Watch for a guest appearance from “Dresden Files” star Paul Blackthorne as a doctor who gently but persistently sets Monk straight on the truth about leprosy, the very idea of which causes the fussy detective psychological turmoil.

7. “Reba,” 6 p.m. Sunday, WGN-Ch. 9

Talk about a quiet ending. Thanks to a complete lack of hype from the CW, you may not even know that this long-running series is finishing up for good on Sunday. “Reba” was never anything groundbreaking, and it certainly employed its share of sitcom clichés, but sparky star Reba McEntire was always worth watching and brought real warmth to the proceedings.

What to watch and what to skip this weekend, from my colleague Allison Benedikt and myself.

Don't miss

• "Stargate SG-1," 8 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi Channel: Problem: You give birth to a beautiful baby girl, but she soon -- within hours -- is bent on dominating the entire universe through her mysterious alliance with superpowerful alien entities. Who can't relate? Vala, the delightful new regular character on "Stargate SG-1," is faced with just this problem at the start of the sci-fi drama's 10th season.

Vala's daughter, Adria, appears to be the tool of the Ori, who are fixated on dominating or killing pretty much everyone; leave it to the ingenious "Stargate" team to figure out a way to stop them until at least next week. Adria (who'll be played by "Firefly" actress Morena Baccarin in upcoming episodes) is quite the problem child, but Claudia Black, as Vala, is the best thing to happen to "Stargate SG-1" in a long time. Her character's wit, ingenuity and saucy sexiness perk up not just the show's writers but her already excellent fellow cast members as well.

Coming up Aug. 18: The 200th episode of "SG-1" promises to be a Gater's dream come true, with founding star Richard Dean Anderson and "Sex and the City's" Willie Garson guest-starring as the "SG-1" team contemplates its adventures being turned into a feature film. (Now there's an idea!)

• "Stargate Atlantis," 9 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi Channel: This "SG-1" spinoff has always had several things going for it, not least of which is David Hewlett as the supersnarky genius Rodney McKay, but it reaches a new level of quality at the start of its third season.

Guest actor Connor Trinneer of "Star Trek: Enterprise" is a wise addition to the first two episodes, and his role as a rogue member of the murderous Wraith race adds welcome depth and ambiguity to that whole plot thread. And Torri Higginson's Elizabeth Weir comes alive as Earth authorities question her leadership of the Atlantis project. Coming up Aug. 18: Anderson guests on "Atlantis" as well.

• "Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema," 9 p.m. Sunday, IFC: Yet another great original doc from IFC, this clip- and commentary-heavy look at the history of gay and lesbian film is funny, fast and, well, fabulous, especially with a stable of talking heads that includes director John Waters, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" star Heather Matarazzo and critic/cultural historian B. Ruby Rich, who coined the term "New Queer Cinema" in the early 1990s when guys such as Gus Van Sant, Don Roos, Todd Haynes and Gregg Araki were burning up the festival circuit. From Hollywood's ban on gay characters to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," the rise of the video store, AIDS and the independent film movement, "Fabulous!" connects the screen to the streets, where the rise of the gay rights movement and the emergence of a strong, yet fragmented, community has resulted in a real market for queer cinema, much to the delight of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Also on

• "2006 ESPY Awards," 8 p.m. Sunday, ESPN: Annoyed about the milquetoast Emmy nominations? Then check out the 14th annual ESPYs, hosted this year by controversial retiree Lance Armstrong, who is up against stiff competition in the best male athlete category (go LeBron!). Other nominees to watch: snowboarders Hannah Teter and Shaun White, Kobe Bryant and our own Ozzie Guillen, whose best coach/manager competitors include the Steelers' Bill Cowher, the Heat's Pat Riley and George Mason basketball coach Jim Larranaga. As for the tearjerker of the evening, the Arthur Ashe Courage Award will go to female Afghan soccer players.

Don't bother

• "Cedric the Entertainer: Taking You Higher," 9 p.m. Saturday, HBO: Cedric brings the big band, the leggy dancers and the snazzy pinstriped suit. All he forgets is the comedy. Throwing some song and dance numbers into his act can't distract from Cedric's core problem, which I will sum up by paraphrasing one of his jokes: If the networks made black dramas, "CSI" would be "CSI: Detroit." Thud.

What to watch this weekend...and by the way, I'm off next week to the Television Critics Association's annual Press Tour wingding in Los Angeles. Check back here for regular updates: all the TV dirt I can scrape up will be yours!

Don’t miss

• “Psych,” 9 p.m. Friday, USA Network: Aside from “The Dead Zone” and “Medium,” I try to avoid shows — especially “reality” shows — about psychics; I consider the recent wave of cheesy programming of that ilk to be a sorry blight on the television landscape. But so, apparently, do the producers of “Psych,” who manage to send up the trend in their clever new “psychic detective” show while also charming the socks off the viewer. The terrific James Roday stars as Santa Barbara layabout Shawn Spencer, whose cop dad trained him to be extraordinarily observant and to notice the telling details that other people routinely miss. He uses those skills to masquerade as a psychic who solves crimes, with his reluctant pal Gus (Dule Hill) in tow. Hill wears a perpetually pained expression, but his light approach matches Roday’s deft comic timing perfectly, and Roday himself is a wonderfully winning find. The supporting cast is solid as well: Corbin Bernsen is good as Spencer’s cynical dad; Don S. Davis (“Stargate SG-1”) has a meaty guest role in the premiere episode; and who knew Timothy Omundson (“Judging Amy,” “Deadwood”) had such reliable comic chops? Omundson plays a Santa Barbara detective determined to unmask Spencer, but the cheerful fake psychic is always one step ahead — just barely — of the real police investigators. In short, if you like “Monk,” you’ll probably love this show, which may actually be even more enjoyable.
• “Reno 911!,” 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Comedy Central: The return of “Chappelle’s Show” is bound to get all the hype this weekend, but, since its inception, “Reno 911!” has been one of Comedy Central’s most consistently funny series, and deserves far more credit for its inventiveness and sheer enjoyability than it receives. Sunday’s season-opener has a cameo from Carrot Top that’s actually funny, believe it or not: The cops respond to a call about the comic trashing his hotel room and throwing things out his window, but soon give up on arresting him and settle down to snack on his tossed gift baskets, amid flying furniture and televisions. There are many more solidly funny scenes, including Jim Dangle’s tryout video for Baz Luhrmann’s latest musical production and two officers, one of them African-American, getting into a fight about the white officer’s misguided interrogation strategy of “good cop, black cop.” “Reno” is, as usual, subversive, silly and consistently grin-inducing. This is the Comedy Central show to watch this weekend, trust me.

Also on:

• “Brotherhood,” 9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime: This drama, the tale of a rivalry between a pair of Irish brothers in Providence, R.I., is Showtime’s latest bid to join HBO in the ranks of top cable destinations for original programming. Its success is really a matter of whether you find the show’s pace adequate, if a bit deliberate (my spouse’s determination), or too slow and predictable (my humble estimation). The handsomely shot series concerns Michael Caffee (Jason Isaacs), an Irish gang leader who returns to his hometown after a seven-year absence, and his politico brother Tommy (Jason Clarke), who’s not above cutting semi-shady backroom deals but wants nothing to do with his brother’s criminal endeavors. The acting is good, and the direction and settings are solid, but the saga of the Caffee brothers tends to plod more than it intrigues. It’s not that one’s interest isn’t piqued occasionally (the subplot involving Tommy’s bored wife, played by Annabeth Gish, shows promise), but the brother-against-brother story line feels routine, and, for once, I’d like to see a show about Irish-Americans that doesn’t involve extortion, addiction or a general tendency to smash people’s heads.
• “Monk,” 8 p.m. Friday, USA: The season premiere of this cable stalwart is a treat; Stanley Tucci guests as an actor playing Adrian Monk in a film (wearing a bushy mustache, Peter Weller briefly essays the part of Monk’s boss, Stottlemeyer). Tucci’s precise take on Monk is priceless, and the detective’s increasing affinity for the trappings of Hollywood is amusing. The resolution of the plot is overheated, but that’s a small price to pay for what goes before (which includes a guest role for “Alias” guy Greg Grunberg).
• “True Carribbean Pirates,” 7 p.m. Sunday, History Channel: Kids with a pirate fascination will probably enjoy this special most; it mixes the usual semi-cheesy re-enactments with sprightly talking-head segments from pirate experts, which even grownups might find pretty interesting. There’s a short segment, though, on one certain pirate’s preferred methods of torture. Nothing too gory is shown, but if you’re watching with young kids, you might want to skip through that part if you record the show in advance. Or if you arrrrrh inclined, matey, use a pirate eye patch or two.

Don’t bother

• “Chappelle’s Show: The Lost Season,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Comedy Central: Could it be that Dave Chappelle was right? Maybe the comic made the right call when he walked away from his lucrative Comedy Central show in 2005; what he was working on when he left doesn’t appear to be anything special. The first installment of a three-episode “season” that Comedy Central cobbled together after Chappelle left is full of sour thoughts on the wealth and fame that eventually blew up in the comic’s face. Aside from one amusing bit about a suspect Tupac track, the skits just aren’t very funny; perhaps the next two “episodes” will be better, but based on this outing, hopes aren’t high. In a way, these forced sketches leave you with new respect for Chappelle — clearly his show was going off the rails when he left. Though he didn’t have the inclination to fix what was broken, which is a real shame, at least Chappelle didn’t want to share these sketches with the world, which was probably the right call.

What to watch -- and what to skip -- this weekend, courtesy of my Tribune colleague Allison Benedikt.

Don’t miss

“Broken Trail,” 7 p.m. Sunday, AMC (Part 2, 7 p.m. Monday): Carrying on the tradition of “Lonesome Dove,” Robert Duvall is back on TV, this time in AMC’s inaugural original movie -- a two-part western starring Duvall as a leathery, whiskey-swilling, aging cowboy named Print and a slightly miscast Thomas Haden Church as his nephew, Tom.

The story is simple and the themes as old as time: When Tom’s mother dies, Print cooks up a plan to help out his nephew, buying 500 horses that he and Tom can take across the wide-open spaces to a wealthy buyer in Wyoming. But the journey takes a detour when the men cross paths with a no-good drunk and his five helpless Chinese slaves, and later a prostitute with a heart of gold.

Soon the trek from Oregon to Wyoming is less about the money and more about protecting these young women, overcoming cultural obstacles, and, for the men, tapping a capacity for kindness neither knew the other had. Or, as Duvall’s Print says, “We didn’t go looking to save some Orientals and a broken-nosed whore. Just happened.”

Directed by old-timer Walter Hill (“Hard Times,” “48 Hrs.”), “Broken Trail” is a gorgeous piece of cinema. Sure, it’s cozy to watch on your couch, but believe me, you’ll want to see those blue skies and snow-capped mountains on a bigger screen. So my only major complaint is actually a ringing endorsement. How refreshing.

“Inside the Actors Studio,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Bravo: Dustin Hoffman is hilarious. As the 200th guest on this very special episode of Jimmy Lipton’s lovefest, Hoffman talks about the good old days living in a Manhattan railroad apartment with Bobby (Duvall) and Gene (Hackman), calls Mike Nichols’ decision to cast him as Benjamin Braddock in “The Graduate” “the biggest miscasting choice anyone could make,” and pretty much brings down the Pace University house.

And this time there’s no puffery along the lines of “tell me about your fine work in 'Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.’” From “The Graduate” and “Midnight Cowboy” to “All the President’s Men” and “Kramer vs. Kramer,” Hoffman’s credits need no false praise.

Don’t bother

“Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason,” 10 p.m. Friday, WTTW-Ch. 11: Oh, how I wanted to like the premiere of Moyers’ new talk show. But, oh, how I can’t recommend it. Moyers, back at PBS yet again after charges of liberal bias, kicks off his conversation about faith and reason (that’s “and,” not “or”) with guest Salman Rushdie, who asks, “What kind of a God is it that’s upset by a cartoon in Danish?” So Rushdie’s not the problem.

But Moyers, with his aggressively folksy demeanor and Charlie Rose-esque faux-intellectualism, asks only obvious questions and never seems to understand his guest’s answers. PBS sent clips of an upcoming show with Margaret Atwood (date to be determined), and that episode looks to be much stronger, if only because Atwood ignores Moyers’ questions altogether and just says what’s on her very, very fertile mind.

What to watch -- and what to skip -- this Father’s Day weekend (from Allison Benedikt and myself):

Don’t miss

• “The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation” 7 p.m. Sunday, Cinemax: This year’s Academy Award winner for best animated short, John Canemaker’s “imagined conversation” with his father, who died in 1995, is more personal, more emotional, more compelling than most feature films these days. In an attempt to better understand an often-violent father, Canemaker interviewed his dad shortly before his death, and the resulting 30-minute feature recalls that interview through the eyes of the son. Canemaker’s father had quite the life: ties to the mob, jail time, two Purple Hearts for World War II, where he fought on Omaha Beach. And though the father and son both remember good times, “somehow,” says the hand-drawn son (voiced by John Turturro) to his father (voiced by Eli Wallach), “the unhappy memories are stronger. … You were always angry. That’s what I remember most about you.”

Also on

• “Father of the Bride,” 8 p.m. Sunday, HBO Family West: For some lighter Father’s Day fare, try 1991’s remake of the Spencer Tracy classic, this time starring Steve Martin as the reluctant father of the bride, a glowing Diane Keaton as his wife/warden and Martin Short as the slightly flamboyant wedding planner. (HBO Family is also playing “Father of the Bride Part II” at 9:45 p.m., but don’t waste your time. Remake good; sequel bad.)
• “The Dead Zone,” 9 p.m. Sunday, USA: For meat-and-potatoes genre fare, you can’t go wrong with this stalwart series, which follows the adventures of Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall), who has the ability to see the future when he touches certain objects or people. What sounds like a cheesy premise is actually often evocative and intriguing, though “The Dead Zone” can also slide into the predictable. Still, the over-arching plot of recent seasons -- about the ascent of sleazy pol Greg Stillson (the wonderfully creepy Sean Patrick Flanery), is good stuff -- and it’s at the forefront as the fifth “Zone” seasons begins.

Don’t bother

• “Treasure Hunters,” 7 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: I’ll make this quick: NBC’s new and product placement-heavy adventure reality series, in which teams “from every walk of life” compete for a hidden treasure, is a poor man’s “Amazing Race.” Unless you’ve never heard of Visa, Motorola, Ask.com or Orbitz, Sunday’s two-hour premiere is a waste of time.

Best bets for the weekend

• “Madonna: Live,” 9 p.m. Saturday, BBC America: The pseudo-debutante accent. The Farrah Fawcett-from-the-’70s hair. The ropy, muscular frame of a professional yoga teacher. And the pugnacious honesty of girl from Michigan. Yep, it’s Madonna we’re talking about, and if you’re even remotely a fan, you’d better plant yourself in front of the TV Saturday night. Madge, as the English press calls her, performs two songs from her terrific “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and sits down for a meaty, entertaining interview with a British broadcasting institution, Michael Parkinson.

  Imagine a talk-show host with the skeptical, dry wit of David Letterman, the in-depth knowledge of James Lipton and the avuncular, intelligent good humor of CBS anchor Bob Schieffer, and you still don’t capture what has made “Parky” a British TV icon for decades.

  Unafraid and with a twinkle in his eye, he asks Madge about her tantrums, her marriage and her status as a gay icon. And he’s having none of it when she says she has never set out to shock. By the way, Madge’s moment is preceded at 7 p.m. on BBC America by the Brit Awards, a zippy awardsfest that usually puts our tedious Grammys to shame.

• “Invasion,” 11 a.m. Saturday, ABC Family: This slow-building but eventually intriguing ABC series gets a 10-episode marathon in anticipation of its Wednesday return from a monthlong break. Sure, this drama is not quite at the level of “Lost,” but the mysterious saga about an alien invasion in a post-storm Florida town does have its grippingly eerie moments (as well as surprising emotional power). And it also has the ambiguously creepy William Fichtner as the town’s sheriff. Is he a goodie or a baddie? Either way, it’s hard to take your eyes off of him.

Also on the tube:

Best bets for weekend TV viewing:

• "The West Wing," 7 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: Last Sunday's episode more than hinted in its final minutes that something was very wrong with Leo McGarry, the character on the show played by John Spencer until the actor’s death last year. This Sunday, we learn McGarry’s fate during the same time both camps in the presidential contest nervously await election-day returns. We can’t reveal much, except to say there is a death and a winner. But the episode is touching and insightful, capturing the tension and tenderness in behind-the-scenes politics. Even better, the show deftly balances the nail-biting excitement of the election with sobering stretches of grief, ironic reminders of the vanity of all human wishes, no matter how high the stakes. Candidate Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits), in announcing the sudden death of his running mate, McGarry, provides an epitaph for both character and performer. "America lost a giant," Santos says, "and I’ve lost a friend."
• "10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America," 8 p.m. Sunday, History Channel: Ten separate films make up a compelling, provocative series, airing over five days, looking at an intriguing handful of events the program deems critical to U.S. history. The selections are a potpourri mixing some obvious choices (Antietam, the Gold Rush, the 1964 triple murder of civil rights workers) and the not so obvious: the assassination of William McKinley, the role of Einstein and other physicists in nuclear weaponry, and Elvis Presley’s appearance on Ed Sullivan’s show. Crisp and intelligent, each entry probes beyond the actual narrative to examine the implications of these events, such as the accidental shift into progressive politics, thanks to Teddy Roosevelt’s ascension to the presidency after McKinley’s 1901 death. Especially powerful and moving is the installment on the 1637 massacre of Pequot Indians (which airs at 9 p.m. Sunday).

That event ignited two centuries of strife and the film tells the story of the Pequot journey from near extinction to a rebound today. Though the choice of Antietam to launch the series is a tad unfortunate -- it’s a topic already covered well by the likes of Ken Burns’ legendary documentary -- the rest of the episodes are fresh and unusual, including looks at Shays’ rebellion, the 1892 Homestead strike and the Scopes trial. These are sound history lessons and that make for entertaining TV.

This weekend's best bets:

• “So noTORIous,” 9 p.m. Sunday, VH1: Tori Spelling appears to have survived wealth (as the daughter of megabucks TV producer Aaron Spelling), C-list celebrity status (as a former star of Spelling’s “90210”) and general tabloid mockery with her sense of humor bruised but still intact. In this scripted comedy, she deftly makes fun of her post-“90210” acting career, which has mostly consisted of starring in cable-TV movies as a “plucky melanoma survivor who solves crimes while battling hypoglycemia and a sex addiction,” in her words. This surprisingly entertaining and even wistful series depicts Spelling’s desire for independence, friendship, love and quality attention from her parents; the last of those goals looks pretty unattainable (hence the tinge of sadness).

  Kiki Spelling, Tori’s fictional TV mommy, is a nightmarishly controlling and emotionally withholding ultra-rich Beverly Hills matron, a woman who feels her 64,000-square-foot house is not quite big enough (though it does have its own present-wrapping room). If even 10 percent of Kiki, who’s played with wicked delight by Loni Anderson, is based on Spelling’s real mom, the notoriously acquisitive Candy Spelling, things must be quite frosty in the Spelling family right now. Still, one ends up feeling a little sorry for Tori, the poor little rich girl of the Us and InTouch era; her dates and friends all want something from her (a part in one of daddy’s shows, a trip to the Spelling mansion for a round of bowling, etc.).

  Still, Tori is pretty plucky -- a more self-aware, sarcastic version of a Lifetime TV-movie heroine, in a way -- despite a mom (the TV version anyway) who appears to be more focused on organizing her house’s eBay room than on her daughter’s emotional needs.

• “Liza With a `Z’,” 7 p.m. Saturday, Showtime: A restored version of the legendary Liza Minnelli special, a 1972 live concert filmed at New York’s Lyceum Theatre, directed by Bob Fosse and wondrously costumed by Halston. Right in the middle of her “Cabaret” high, the special promised a great future and now stands as a misty look at Minnelli at her peak. High points, aside from her inarguable talent and youthful, childlike zeal, include Fosse’s choreography to “Bye, Bye Blackbird” and the infectious “Ring Them Bells.” Though the style and sentiment are dated, the tireless Minnelli holds the audience in a spell. (Showtime's having a free preview this weekend, by the way).

This weekend's best bets:

• “Gideon’s Daughter,” 7 p.m. Saturday, BBC America: Never mind what the film is about, isn’t it enough that the fabulous Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson star in it? It could be badly written, and it’d still be worthwhile to watch these interesting actors. Fortunately, “Gideon’s Daughter” is far from horrible; it’s a moody and compelling character drama and a sort of companion piece to the BBC America film “Friends and Crocodiles,” another chronicle of modern London life by British filmmaker Stephen Poliakoff (“The Lost Prince”). Nighy is marvelously understated here as a venerated British PR guru who starts to wonder why he’s living such a superficial life, and Richardson is her usually quirky, spellbinding self as a mother grieving the loss of her young son. Poliakoff gives his films time and space to breathe and makes marvelous use of compelling actors who aren’t seen enough on these shores. Even if the story is a bit on the slender side, the elegiac, wonderful “Gideon’s Daughter” is well worth one’s time for those reasons alone.
• “The Simpsons,” 7 p.m. Sunday, WFLD-Ch. 32: In this episode, written by Ricky Gervais, co-creator and star of the original British version of “The Office,” the Simpsons participate in a “Wife Swap”-style reality show. Gervais also appears on the show, as the head of the family Marge moves in with. Not surprisingly, he falls for her. NOTE: The familiar theme-song sequence of "The Simpsons" will look different on Sunday: the episode will feature a live-action version of the show's opening, with real people standing in for the show's animated characters.

Other weekend picks are below:

This weekend's best bets:

• “Doctor Who,” 8 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi Channel: Despite a few missteps, there’s much to recommend this fast-paced edition of “Doctor Who,” the first brand-new TV season of Britain’s long-running “Who” franchise in many years. As the Doctor, a space traveler who pops all over the universe having adventures and fighting bad guys, Christopher Eccleston has a cheeky, spiky charm and more than a dash of sex appeal. As the Doctor’s companion, Rose Tyler, English pop-star-turned-actress Billie Piper brings a winning combination of dogged sincerity and working-class irreverence to her role. Having said that, it’s a good thing that Sci Fi is running two episodes of this updated “Doctor Who” on Friday: The first episode starts out with promising chills, but the resolution of the paper-thin plot is far too predictable. And though the story in the second episode isn’t terribly complex, the dialogue and pop-culture satire throughout is entertaining (who would have thought Britney Spears’ “Toxic” would ever appear on a “Doctor Who” soundtrack?). All in all, new head “Who” writer Russell T. Davies has done the Doctor a service by making him a multi-layered, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes troubled hero who’s comfortable in modern-day, multicultural London -- and in the rest of the galaxy too, where evil never sleeps.
• “Walkout,” 7 p.m. Saturday, HBO: A stirring account of student activism in the late ’60s at a high school in East Los Angeles and a refresher course on the California Chicano movement, this movie chronicles the kids’ campaign for improved conditions and more educational opportunities. Directed by Edward James Olmos, who also takes a small part, this earnest, straightforward account tells the true story of a planned peaceful protest, a “walkout” in the middle of the school day, that led to a violent clash with police. The cast glistens with promising young talents, notably Alexa Vega (“Spy Kids”) as Paula, one of the organizers battling both school officials and her disapproving father. A nice coda offers brief commentary from actual activists whose stories inspired some of the movie’s characters.

Other weekend picks:

Sid Smith and I came up with a bumper crop of stuff to watch this weekend (aside from "The Sopranos," "Big Love" and "Battlestar Galactica," of course). 

Top picks:

• “How William Shatner Changed the World,” 7 p.m. Sunday, History Channel: Yes, it’s really true, Capt. James T. Kirk of the Enterprise is responsible for many of the gadgets and technology we know and love today. How so? Well, this utterly disarming and even hilarious special shows how the “Star Trek” fans of the ’60s and beyond were often inspired by the outer space show to create in real life the gadgets and gizmos they saw on their TV screens. That cell phone of yours? Marty Cooper, former chief engineer for Motorola, talks about how he wanted nothing more than to make a cool “Star Trek” communicator. Other inventors, scientists and computer-world types talk about how “Trek” influenced the careers they chose and the cool stuff they invented as a result of being obsessed with all things Spock and Kirk.

  This is not your average, dry cable documentary; host Shatner, a delightful ham at heart, has a huge amount of fun narrating this special, and the science stuff is doled out with a hearty sense of humor (one that uses vintage “Trek” clips to their full absurdist potential). Even fans without a lingering affection for all things “Trek” will probably get a kick out of this special, which has an interesting point underneath all the fun: Science fiction often directly influences science fact.

• “'High School Musical’ Dance-Along,” 7 p.m. Friday, Disney Channel: This plucky bubble gum musical has turned out to be a surprise phenomenon; its soundtrack album is at the top of the charts. In an understandable effort to cash in on its popularity, the Disney Channel is re-broadcasting the movie, with a twist: Four of its stars (Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel) will be on hand in new segments aired during breaks to help teach kids watching at home the dance steps from two of the show’s musical numbers. First, there will be rudimentary instruction on the moves for “Get’cha Head in the Game,” which airs about 20 minutes into the movie, and then subsequent breaks will offer step-by-step instruction for “We’re All in This Together,” including one slow-motion run-through. The idea is that youngsters at home can dance along with the finale. Parents can sit back and enjoy the sugary tunes and wonder what the fuss is about.

When it comes to what to watch this weekend, one program stands out:

“Battlestar Galactica,” 9 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: When he spoke to the Tribune in January, “Battlestar Galactica” executive producer Ron Moore promised that the show’s two-part second-season finale would have “some pretty major changes in how we do business. It’s really going to catch people off guard.” He wasn’t kidding.

There are some mind-bending plot twists in “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1 and Part 2” (the second installment airs March 10), but what’s most impressive about both episodes is how they gracefully manage to convey a sense of elegiac foreboding. The direction, the cinematography, the empathic and original music, the acting and the stories all combine to create a kind of suspenseful poetry, and make the case that, right now, “Battlestar Galactica” is the best show on television.

To top all that off, the revelations that unfold at the end of the 90-minute March 10 episode are truly out of this world.

Much of the action in the first episode centers on the presidential election; the interplay between a desperate, determined Laura Roslin and the cynical, supercilious Gaius Baltar is a barbed, bare-knuckled treat. Baltar ends up grabbing onto the mother of all wedge issues (and don’t read the next bit if you don’t want to know a mild spoiler about Friday’s episode): A planet is found that can sustain — barely — the surviving remnants of humanity.

Should the Galactica fleet keep running, or put down roots on this new planet, which may be able to shield them from the Cylons for a good long time? That’s the question, and the debate between Roslin and Baltar on the topic gets quite pointed.

There are many other juicy stories in these two episodes; Starbuck’s quest to find her lover and his band of fighters on Caprica, Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch) acting as Baltar’s Machiavellian political adviser, and Dean Stockwell guesting as a man of the cloth who attempts to counsel Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol, an endlessly likable character who does something extremely unlikable in this surprising pair of episodes.

Nothing, however, in the first two hours of the “Battlestar Galactica” finale can really prepare you for what happens in Season 2’s final half hour. Many revelations are packed into the final few minutes, and to reveal a single one of them would be a base act of treachery.

Still, it’s astonishing how confident Moore and the “Battlestar” writers are. They clearly know they have many more stories to tell, so dropping dozens of revelations into the last few minutes of the season — and doing it skillfully, without flash or smoke and mirrors — is no problem. They make it look easy, and a show with this many moving parts is clearly not easy to make. In any case, by the last spoken line of the season finale, you’ll be on the edge of your seat — and once again wondering just how the Galactica fleet is going to survive.

More weekend TV picks are below.

What to watch this weekend, from Sid Smith and me. Our lead picks are first, followed by six other good options:

• “Mrs. Harris,” 7 p.m. Saturday, HBO: The killing of Scarsdale Diet guru Herman Tarnower in 1980 by schoolmistress and his mistress Jean Harris was the ancestor to our now endless string of tawdry, tabloid media fixations. This movie version boasts a truly stellar cast, from Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley as the ill-fated lovers, to bits by Ellen Burstyn, Brett Butler, Chloe Sevigny, Mary McDonnell and even pundit and “West Wing” exec Lawrence O’Donnell Jr. as the courtroom judge. Cloris Leachman chews up the scenery even more than usual as Tarnower’s embittered sibling. Addicting, like watching a really grimy train wreck, this sorry, sordid tale of Harris’ obsessive love and descent into prescription pill addiction is icy, ironic and typically HBO in the frankness of its sex talk. Harris and Tarnower come off as bizarre, creepy and repugnant, while Bening’s performance is a chilly blend of arrogant determination and self-pity. “Suicide came naturally to me,” Harris boasts at one point, even though she never succeeded at it. She also notes, “I wish I’d been born a doormat. Or a man.”
• “Friends and Crocodiles,” 9 p.m. Saturday, BBC America: In the opening minutes of this compelling British TV movie, by “The Lost Prince” writer/director Stephen Poliakoff, we meet Paul Reynolds — whom an old friend appears desperate to avoid. That’s not surprising, because Reynolds looks down on his luck, to say the least. Flash to 1981, where the flame-haired Reynolds, Damian Lewis of “Band of Brothers,” is a Gatsby-esque property magnate, living in magnificent estate with dozens of eccentric hangers-on who sponge off him and attend his lavish parties. On a whim, he hires a meticulous young secretary, Lizzie Thomas (Jodhi May), to sort out his chaotic affairs. How the relationship of these two polar opposites — the impulsive Reynolds and the buttoned-down Thomas — progresses through the financial booms and busts of the ’80s and ’90s, constitutes the heart of this film, and the story of Lizzie and Paul turns out to be quite an intriguing — and by the end, unmissable — ride.

Also on the tube:

• “Battlestar Galactica,” 9 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: Ever wonder what the Cylons get up to when no one’s looking? This excellent outing of “Battlestar” is premised on just that question. We’ve heard on the show that Cylons that die are reborn, and in this episode, “Downloaded,” we see how rough that process can be — and how the group-think mentality of the Cylon race doesn’t always “take.” Guest star Lucy Lawless and series stars Grace Park and Tricia Helfer all do typically good work in this intriguing episode, and we even briefly see Starbuck’s Caprica-based lover again. An added bonus: There are several good scenes with Doc Cottle, one of the show’s many fine character actors. This well-crafted episode only adds to “Galactica’s” deftly drawn moral confusion over whether the robotic Cylons, who appear capable of strong emotion, are as good — or as bad — as humans.
• “DMC: My Adoption Journey,” 8 p.m. Saturday, VH1: It’s rare to see a hip-hop star speak in a trembling voice or cry on TV, let alone see one visit a therapist or talk about his Sarah McLachlan fixation. But when Darryl McDaniels, a.k.a. DMC of the pioneering rap group Run-DMC, looked into his own adoption as an infant, he got pretty emotional, and with good reason. He was well into adulthood before he found out he was adopted, and getting the information he wanted about his real parents was not easy. Though DMC’s self-aggrandizing about his rap group is occasionally grating, most of the emotions in this documentary, the first in a series of new “VH1 Rock Docs,” run the gamut from vulnerability to fear. McDaniels is to be commended for letting the world watch him walk this difficult path.
• 2006 Winter Olympics, 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: Scheduled events include women’s slalom and men’s speedskating Friday;, the men’s slalom and four-man bobsled Saturday; and closing ceremonies Sunday, where competitors will be serenaded by Andrea Bocelli and Avril Lavigne.
• “Dancing With the Stars,” 7 p.m. Sunday, WLS-Ch. 7: There’s no Friday edition of this hoofing competition, but there is a 2-hour finale Sunday. That seems about an hour too long, but far be it from ABC to stop milking this unexpected hit, which has stood up surprisingly well to the Olympics on NBC.
• “Dances With Wolves,” 7 p.m. Sunday, Encore: Hard to believe this movie is 15 years old, but there you are, and here’s a fine chance to revisit this long, but visually captivating saga of western revisionism, an Oscar powerhouse in its day. This one had its critics, too, but, as a wintertime popcorn epic, it’s a fine couch-potato wagon ride, a chance to marvel and/or gape at normally lightweight Kevin Costner’s homage to Native Americans and feats as an auteur.
• “Knight School,” 9 p.m. Sunday, ESPN: What do NASCAR races have in common with a show about Bobby Knight? People glued to either one are watching, in large part, to see if there will be a crash. This reality program starring Knight, which premiered Feb. 19, trades on the famed basketball coach’s legendary anger-management issues — will he explode at a player or even a fellow Texas Tech coach (his assistants do seem pretty afraid of him, with good reason)? The idea is that Coach Knight and his staff will pick a walk-on player from a field of 16 aspiring players. How many egos he will shred in the process remains to be seen.

What to watch this weekend? Funny you should ask. Sid Smith and I have come up with a list that includes animals run amok, "Footballers Wives," smooth con men on the "Hustle" plus much more. Enjoy!

• “Slings and Arrows,” 7 p.m. Sunday, Sundance Channel: What’s more risky than a mad director taking on a production of “Hamlet” starring a callow Hollywood hunk with no theater experience? Taking on the Scottish play that gets theater folk so rattled they won’t even say the name of the Shakespeare work.

  This delightful Canadian satire is catnip to anyone who has ever had the slightest interest at what goes on behind the scenes at any big cultural institution, where ego, talent and the continual scramble for money battle it out on a daily basis. Paul Gross returns for the second season of “Slings” as the brilliant but potentially unstable director of the New Burbage Theater Festival’s biggest play of the season, this time “Macbeth.” He thinks he’s perfectly sane, but he does like to talk shop with his theater mentor, who happens to be deceased.

  Peter Keleghan from “The Newsroom” has a delicious recurring role as a callous board member, and Mark McKinney is pitch perfect as a theater administrator who’s under the gun as egos run amok in the rehearsal room and the government and sponsors pull funding -- and even heap abuse on the New Burbage Theater Festival. “You people in the arts make me sick,” spits the country’s Arts Minister, who nonetheless floats the New Burbage festival a loan -- which is promptly spent on the services of an aggressively hip marketing firm run by a lunatic adman who’s played with convincing fervor by Colm Feore. His first idea? “Unsettle” the public’s fixed ideas about the New Burbage festival by using ads that depict the current subscribers as pensioners awaiting death.

  “Slings” can be repetitive, but this is a loving satire done by those in the know, and it’s quite funny -- and even moving -- at times. By the way, the first, “Hamlet”-intensive season of “Slings” airs in a marathon that begins at 2 p.m. Saturday. Don’t miss the last few episodes of the first season, which deftly demonstrate why the barb-slinging theater folk satirized on this show love the stage -- and Shakespeare’s language -- so much. Plus it’s a good chance to see a lot of rising starlet Rachel McAdams, who played the ingénue in Season 1 of “Slings.”

• The 2006 Winter Olympics, 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: The contests in Torino (or do you say Turin?) continue, with snowboarding, skiing and figure skating on Friday; speedskating and ski jumping among the events set for Saturday; and ice dancing, freestyle skiing and the women’s Super G on tap for Sunday.
• “Go Kinky,” 10 p.m. Friday, CMT: Kinky Friedman’s done a lot of things in his life: he fronted the country-weird band the Texas Jewboys in the ’70s, and in the ’80s he turned his hand to a series of successful mystery novels. Now the irreverent Kinkster is running for governor of Texas (with the campaign slogan “How hard can it be?”), and this new CMT series chronicles this half-serious, half-farcical effort. Familiar faces that pop up on the campaign trail include Bill Clinton, Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam.

• Opening Ceremony of the “Winter Olympics,” 7 p.m. Friday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: The lighting of the cauldron, a celebration by the games’ hosting country, Italy, and a lavish spectacle and brouhaha (including a performance by opera great Luciano Pavarotti) befitting this age-old contest are all part of the bill as things get under way in Torino. Even those who can’t find the time to watch the sporting events won’t want to miss what’s always a stirring, jaw-dropping extravaganza.
• “The ACLU Freedom Files,” 11 a.m. Saturday, CourtTV: This intriguing new series comes from Robert Greenwald, the filmmaker behind “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices,” and examines the concept of how civil rights issues play out in everyday life, sometimes in unexpected ways. In the first installment of this 10-part series, which examines religious freedoms, one young woman talks about how she was forbidden from quoting a Bible verse in her high school yearbook, and a Catholic man recalls how the halfway house he had to live in as part of a court-mandated sentence pressured him to practice a different faith (the ACLU assisted both the Christian teen and the Catholic man). The recent Intelligent Design controversy in Dover, Pa., is also examined, through interviews with local residents and others involved in the court case.
• “The Graduate,” 7 p.m. Saturday, and “Kramer vs. Kramer,”  9 p.m. Saturday, Turner Classic Movies: Here are two entries in TCM’s string of winners leading up to the Oscars; the former is always worth rewatching for its score, its memorable scenes and Dustin Hoffman’s career breakthrough of a performance. Meanwhile, the latter is a not-that-often viewed best picture winner, about modern divorce and changing gender roles, with an altogether different kind of portrayal from Hoffman and a relatively young Meryl Streep.
• “CMT Crossroads,” 8 p.m. Saturday, CMT: Here’s an inspired musical pairing: Lyle Lovett and Bonnie Raitt perform together on this Country Music Television program. Raitt’s blues-infused style and Lovett’s eclectic mix of country music, roadhouse rock and big-band swagger should make for an interesting blend.
• “Rising From the Rails,” 8 p.m. Saturday, WGN-Ch. 9: A new documentary on the Pullman porters, the African-Americans who worked in service on the luxury cars racing along the U.S. rails during the heyday of passenger railroad travel. In addition to interviewing surviving porters, the documentary expands the story to link the porters to hallmark events in the struggle for civil rights, including the pioneering efforts of Thurgood Marshall, the son of a porter who worked for the railroads himself, and the saga of the late Rosa Parks and the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott.
• “Austin City Limits,” midnight Saturday, WTTW-Ch. 11: WTTW’s scheduling choices are often puzzling: A prime example of questionable timing involves this edition of “Austin City Limits,” which showcases two excellent bands, “O.C.” favorite Death Cab for Cute and tuneful rockers My Morning Jacket. It’d be great to see these two groups showcased in prime time, or a least before midnight, but here they are, stranded in the graveyard of late Saturday night. If you’re a night owl, it’s no problem, but if you’re not, here’s fair warning so that you can set your VCR or DVR to record the show.
• “Munsters” marathon, 4 p.m. Sunday, WMME-Ch. 23: The local “Me-TV” channel pays tribute to Grandpa Munster, a.k.a. Al Lewis, who passed away a week ago, with three hours of Grandpa-centric “Munsters” episodes.
• “Inside the Actors Studio,” 7 p.m. Sunday, Bravo: An hour of Dave Chappelle pouring his heart out to Oprah wasn’t enough for you? Well, here’s another two hours of the comic and actor baring his soul to ever-flattering host James Lipton, who calls Chappelle “one of the acknowledged leaders of a generation.” Chappelle acknowledges at the start of the broadcast what its main draw is: “Everybody’s waiting to see how crazy I am.” Well, he doesn’t appear even slightly crazy here, as he recalls his youth and his rise as a comic. Being booed off the stage of New York City’s legendary Apollo Theater was a liberating experience, he says: “After that, I was fearless.”
• “Grey’s Anatomy,” 9 p.m. Sunday, WLS-Ch. 7: In what may well be the mother of all cliffhangers, last week’s episode after the Super Bowl ended with heroine Meredith in the surgery room, her hand inside a patient, wrapped around a device that could explode any moment. Nearby, martinet resident Dr. Bailey is about to give birth, while her husband is undergoing life-saving neuro-surgery a mere room away from Meredith and the bomb. It doesn’t take surgeon’s brain to guess that Meredith isn’t about to die. But a lot happened last Sunday, and we’re dying, at least, to learn what comes next.

— Sid Smith, Maureen Ryan

Sid Smith and I offer eight shows to watch this weekend:

• “Grizzly Man,” 7 p.m. Friday, Discovery Channel: Werner Herzog’s partly beautiful, partly creepy look at Timothy Treadwell, the odd, unfathomable nature lover whose 13 years living with bears in summertime Alaska ended in his and his girlfriend’s death. Treadwell is a complicated mix of naive Pied Piper, environmentalist goofball, adventurer, explorer, naturalist daredevil and ham. He can be seductive and persuasive in rhapsodizing about the bears and foxes he loves, just as his eccentricities fluctuate from goofy antics to hints of strange obsession, including one scene in which he lovingly strokes bear feces. Herzog serves as a revealing, ultimately poetic narrator. Like Treadwell, he crosses the line and becomes a participant, listening in on the recording of Treadwell and his friend, Amie Huguenard, during their death screams while fighting the deadly bear. And then the filmmaker chillingly tells the person who owns the tape to destroy it: A case of life trumping art. An unscreened 30-minute feature after the film reportedly explores some controversies surrounding it.
• “Bernie Mac,” 7 p.m. Friday, WFLD-Ch. 32: “Bernie Mac,” a single-camera comedy that was once hailed as a Fox savior, hasn’t been the darling of the network for some time. Now stuck on Friday nights, usually with the soon-to-be-gone “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Mac” has persevered despite Fox’s indifference and maltreatment, and, to the show’s credit, reaches its 100th episode with this outing, in which Bernie’s nephew Jordan decides he wants to get on board onboard the lucrative bar mitzvah circuit — despite not being Jewish.
• “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials: Top 40 Countdown,” 7 p.m. Saturday, WBBM-Ch. 2: Celebrities, including Chevy Chase and Neil Patrick Harris, comment on the top Super Bowl ads of all time, leading to the No. 1 winner determined by a viewer vote. Finalists include Apple’s “1984” spot directed by Ridley Scott, Reebok’s “Terry Tate” assault by a linebacker on office workers and the melting of “Mean Joe Greene” in a stadium passageway in 1980 when a young fan offers him a Coke.

• “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,” 8:45 a.m. Friday on IFC: Understated, quiet, true-to-life and briefly startling in its finish, this gentle, folksy slice-of-life look at a staid, Depression-era Kansas City lawyer and his bemusing domestic life is an underrated 1990 classic. Directed by James Ivory, it’s also a fine showcase for Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, exploring the graceful charms of aging while showing off their well-honed art of duet acting.
• “Decades Rock Live: Cyndi Lauper and Friends,” 7 p.m. Friday, VH1 Classic: The quirky pop chanteuse, who still has a killer voice all these years after her ’80s heyday, sings her hits with an eclectic assortment of musicians, including Shaggy, Ani DiFranco and Velvet Revolver/Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland.
• “Chicago Stories: Ron Popeil and Jan Gabriel,” 10:30 p.m. Saturday, WTTW-Ch. 11: Legendary TV pitchman Popeil is profiled in this enjoyable series on local lore. But wait, there’s more: Car-racing pioneer and distinctive announcer Gabriel also gets some screen time. Many longtime Chicagoans will no doubt remember Gabriel as the guy behind those ubiquitous and memorable “Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!” radio ads for local racing events.
• “Iron Chef America: Flay vs. Bayless,” 7 p.m. Sunday, Food Network: Chicago’s own Rick Bayless, proprietor of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, takes on New York chef and supremely confident Food Network regular Bobby Flay. Who will prevail in Kitchen Stadium? We’re not telling.
• “Trail Mix,” 7 p.m. Sunday on Animal Planet: Singer Linda Eder plays host to this new look at celebrity equestrians and the horses they love to ride.
• “Relentless Enemies,” 8 p.m. Sunday, National Geographic Channel: This new two-hour National Geographic special portrays the close relationship between one pride of African lions and the water buffaloes they almost exclusively prey upon. That’s “close” as in “one party occasionally munches on the other.” Jeremy Irons provides velvety, compelling narration to this beautifully filmed program, which is not for those who are made queasy by scenes of serious lion-vs.-buffalo unpleasantness.
• “Inside the Actors Studio: Jamie Foxx,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Bravo: Sure, this series has slipped in recent years (we’re waiting for the special in-depth edition of “Inside the Actors Studio” with the cast of “According to Jim”), but Foxx, a hot actor as well as a newly minted platinum recording artist, will no doubt provide many entertaining moments. Master of ceremonies James Lipton did perform a rap song once on “Da Ali G Show”: Is it too much to hope for a duet between host and guest?
• “The Water Is Wide,” 8 p.m. Sunday on WBBM-Ch. 2: Going up against her other gig in “Desperate Housewives” on ABC, Alfre Woodard stars in this Hallmark Hall of Fame remake of the 1974 movie “Conrack.” She plays a school principal working with an idealistic teacher struggling to help disadvantaged kids on an island off the South Carolina coast in the late ’60s. Based on the memoir by Pat Conroy, who’s also the author of “Prince of Tides,” the story tells of the efforts of Conroy (played by Jeff Hephner) to bring literacy and self-respect to his pupils. Frank Langella co-stars as the school superintendent.

— Maureen Ryan, Sid Smith

Sid Smith and I provide seven options for your weekend viewing pleasure:

• “John Doe,” 6 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: If you dig Dominic Purcell in “Prison Break” (where he has been doing stellar work as a Death Row prisoner), check out his first big American series, “John Doe,” which was canceled in 2003 but returns Friday via cable repeats. Purcell stars as a guy who can’t recall who he is yet has a brain stuffed with tons of specialized knowledge — much of it useful to police detectives stuck on unsolved crimes. (And by the way, for those who are wondering when “Prison Break” comes back, mark March 20 on your calendar.)
• “High School Musical,” 7 p.m. Friday, Disney Channel: In this enjoyable teen tuner, a shy, academically minded girl and a popular jock discover they have one thing in common — a talent for singing. The fact that these two want to cross social barriers to belt tunes together in a play causes major drama at their high school; what chaos would be wreaked on the cafeteria cliques, after all, if the jocks and the nerds started to get along?
• “Monk,” 9 p.m. Friday, USA: Laurie Metcalf guest stars as a woman who claims to be Monk’s wife, a stratagem that convinces Monk, at least for a while, thanks to the quirky detective’s bout with amnesia. Metcalf, veteran Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member and onetime “Roseanne” regular, is always worth watching, truly one of the most gifted and ever-surprising actresses of our time.
• “Fashion Police: The 2006 Golden Globes,” 7 p.m. Saturday, E! Entertainment Network: Nobody brings the snark like Kathy Griffin, who’ll be sadly absent from this dis-a-dress special, but we can’t really resist shows like this regardless of the fact that we’ve never heard of “Fashion Police’s” latest hosts. This post-awards edition of the show is basically an hour of fashionistas praising and slamming dresses normal people like us could never afford, let alone fit into, so what’s not to love, right? (By the way, if you missed the Globes ceremony — or just want to see Steve Carell and Geena Davis’ hilarious acceptance speeches again — Bravo is rerunning the awards show at 7 p.m. Saturday.)
• “Miss America,” 7 p.m. Saturday on CMT: A new locale (Las Vegas), a new host (James Denton of “Desperate Housewives”) and a new TV home on cable have some of us wondering if the venerable pageant is a bit desperate itself. Clearly tradition is going the way of the Catalina swimsuit, and Denton seems an unlikely, bland choice to conjure up the zeal and enthusiasm of the legendary Bert Parks. Die-hard fans are unlikely to be scared away, however, while the rest of us just might want to tune in to see if all these changes make for a less-dated enterprise.
• “#1 Single,” 9 p.m. Sunday, E!: Lisa Loeb, she of the sensitive ballads and sassy glasses, stars in an E! reality show in which she searches for love in New York City. We’ll admit to a lingering affection for Loeb (and that great ’90s hit of hers, “Stay”), but we’re a little afraid that E! will turn her into a musical version of the channel’s other reality “stars,” the shameless Gastineau girls. Lisa, stay away from that sort of ickiness and stay sweet, OK?
• Johnny Carson tribute, 9 p.m. Sunday, WWME-Ch. 23: As the one-year anniversary of Carson’s death approaches on Monday, the late-night talk-show king gets a four-hour weekend tribute from WWME-Ch. 23, which is better known by its marketing moniker, Me-TV. Guests on the classic segments that will air include Bette Midler, Richard Pryor and Dean Martin, among many others.

— Sid Smith and Maureen Ryan

• “Check, Please” special kids’ edition, 8 p.m. Friday, WTTW-Ch. 11: A typically lively edition of this dining program features three local kids giving their opinions on the food and ambience at Medieval Times, Ed Debevic’s and King Crab. The most interesting part of the show is the discussion among the kids about which restaurants are truly kid-friendly, a topic that’s often the subject of passionate debate among parents and in the media. “That’s why I think it’s important to be adventurous,” says 5th grader Jihan, “because the only places that are really kid-friendly are fast-food restaurants and chains. You can’t find a really good restaurant that’s just for kids.”
• “Monk,” 9 p.m. Friday, USA: The inimitable, utterly compulsive detective returns for a round of new episodes, beginning with this one about the murder of a model and the suspected killer, an immigrant delivery boy. Things are not what they seem, but the plotting, as always, gives way to wry comedy rising from Monk’s manias, including his obsession to wear the same shirt, always OK’d by the same quality expert, a woman dubbed Inspector No. 8. She’s slipping. Monk tracks her down to find out why, only to learn she’s the mother of the accused delivery boy. The episode is rife with the daffy humor that brightens this series, with support players Ted Levine, Traylor Howard and Jason Gray-Stanford almost as loony at times as Monk, all besotted in varying ways by the glamor world of high fashion. That world is embodied here by Malcolm McDowell as a tyrannical designer, recycling the long, white scarf he used as a fictional take on Gerald Arpino in “The Company.” Later on in the series, Monk will wind up with amnesia, married to Steppenwolf Theatre’s Laurie Metcalf, and he’ll tail Levine’s wife, played by Steppenwolf’s Glenne Headley.

• “Battlestar Galactica,” 9 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: Put a pillow on the floor, because your jaw will drop when you hear the outrageous act that Commander Adama and President Roslin calmly discuss as the second half of “Battlestar’s” Season 2 begins. When the stellar drama wrapped up the first half of its second season a few months ago, viewers were left on a cruel cliffhanger, as the Galactica and the Pegasus, another battleship from the Colonial fleet, stood on the verge of open warfare. Be prepared for another wicked cliffhanger (the two-parter concludes next week), as Roslin and Adama contemplate all possible options for resolving their dispute with the tough commander of the Pegasus, Adm. Cain (the fabulous Michelle Forbes). Oh, and there’s a pesky Cylon mothership hanging around too.
• “House,” cable run begins 10 p.m. Friday, USA Network: If your reason for not watching this stellar Fox doctor drama is that you missed the early episodes, well, that excuse won’t wash anymore, as “House” begins its syndication run. Hugh Laurie stars as the irascible, charismatic Dr. Gregory House, who, in the show’s premiere, treats a kindergarten teacher who’s taken violently ill. If you’ve never seen the show before, be forewarned: House’s bedside manner needs a little work (but that’s half the fun).
• “Stargate SG-1” and “Stargate Atlantis,” 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: The best part of “SG-1’s” return, in which the team fights a plague unleashed on Earth by the evil Ori, is the subtle comedic interplay between new cast member Ben Browder and “SG-1” veteran Michael Shanks; the best part of the return of “Atlantis” is, as usual, watching the comedic talents of David Hewlett, who has some funny scenes after his character, nerdy scientist Rodney McKay, ingests what amounts to he-man juice.
• “Real Simple,” 3:30 p.m. Saturday, WTTW-Ch. 11: Wearing restful earth-tone colors, three hosts attempt to bring the successful magazine franchise to the small screen, in a show that’s designed to make viewers’ lives easier. It’s a noble effort, but one wonders if the variety of segments is perhaps a little too broad (a segment on language and pronunciation falls flat). Still, the segments on food and wine are solid, as are the production values. This is a show worth watching for fans of the magazine, but one senses it won’t quite displace the many offerings of HGTV and the Food Network in many viewers’ affections.
• “The Book of Daniel,” 7 p.m. Saturday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: If you missed the Friday debut of this series about a troubled Episcopal priest (reviewed here by Sid Smith), catch this repeat of the two-hour premiere.
• “Emeril Live: Food of Love With Queen Latifah,” 7 p.m. Saturday, Food Network: The rapper/actress and the famous “Bam!” cook rustle up some treats and discuss Latifah’s role as an aspiring chef in the upcoming film “Last Holiday.”
• “How We Became the Little Einsteins: The True Story,” 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Disney Channel: This new-ish Disney series is a standout in a crowded field of fare for pre-school and kindergarten-age children. Classical music and paintings are worked into the fabric of each show’s gentle story, but the educational content is enjoyable and unforced; the show’s one of those programs parents and kids really can watch together. In this special Sunday edition of the show, the Little Einsteins’ origins as curious tots are sketched out.
• “The West Wing,” 7 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: The many fans of John Spencer, who passed away just before Christmas, will get a chance to see the skills of the actor, who effortlessly emanated a sense of integrity and right-minded toughness, showcased in this new “West Wing” episode, one of several taped before Spencer’s untimely passing. In this outing, Spencer’s character, presidential running mate Leo McGarry, struggles while preparing for a debate between vice president candidates.
• “Cold Case,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday, WBBM-Ch. 2: Sunday’s episode of this reliable police procedural, which concerns two high school friends who died in the ’80s, features nine songs by Bruce Springsteen from that era, including “I’m on Fire,” “Atlantic City,” “Bobby Jean” and “Brilliant Disguise.”
• “Henry VIII,” 8 p.m. Sunday, WTTW-Ch. 11: British actor Ray Winstone, most famous on these shores for his memorable lead turn in the 2000 film “Sexy Beast,” presides over a two-part Masterpiece Theatre recounting of Henry VIII’s colorful, often violent life (well, it could be violent if you happened to be one of the king’s six wives). A host of great Brit actors fill out this period drama’s supporting cast, which includes Helena Bonham Carter as Anne Boleyn and David Suchet as Cardinal Wolsey.
• “Crossing Jordan,” 9 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: Woody and Jordan, who have flirted with each other for years, are trapped in a snowbound (and supposedly haunted) bed and breakfast while investigating a case. Will these two crazy kids finally give in to their attraction? Hmm, I’m guessing not, but you never know.
• “The L Word,” 9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime: As the third season of this sexy drama about lesbian ladies in Los Angeles begins, Bette and Tina struggle with the fact that having a baby in their lives presents lots of new challenges, and wealthy Helena jumps into the movie business in a big way.
• “The Office” and “The Newsroom,” 9:55 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., WTTW-Ch. 11: Two unmissable comedy series for fans of dry-as-a-bone satire. The version of “The Office” that WTTW-Ch. 11 is running in this Sunday-night slot is the original British series, not the NBC show of the same name. In this first “Office,” series co-creator Ricky Gervais created a cringe-inducing comedy character for the ages, witless manager David Brent, and the unspoken love of two white-collar serfs, Dawn and Tim, gives the wicked comedy a surprisingly soft heart. “The Newsroom,” another scripted comedy filmed in the format of a reality-TV show, is a gem from Canada. In the fourth-season premiere of this comedy, which ceaselessly and knowingly skewers the TV-news business, witless news anchor Jim Walcott (the superb Peter Keleghan) goes missing while filming a heartwarming pet feature in Baghdad.

“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” 7 p.m. Friday, WLS-Ch. 7: This classic has already been shown once this holiday season, but if you didn’t catch it, here’s another chance to do so. Watch it again to marvel at the classic Vince Guaraldi score, at the blissful holiday dancing of the Peanuts gang, at Lucy’s less-than-charitable treatment of Charlie Brown; if nothing else, tune in to see the Peanuts kids sing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” around Charlie Brown’s hapless -- but beautiful -- holiday tree.

Snowed in this weekend? No worries. Sid Smith and I have a special bumper crop of shows to recommend. So put on your fuzzy slippers and enjoy.  

“Nick Jr.’s Frosty Friday,” 11 a.m. Friday, Nick Jr.: The children’s channel unveils a few presents for the little ones, as it kicks off its “Frosty Friday” series of special holiday versions of much-loved kids shows. This Friday’s block consists of Christmas outings of the animated “LazyTown,” the interactive kid favorite “Blue’s Clues,” the sweet and gentle “Max & Ruby” and the perennially popular adventure series, “Dora the Explorer.”

“Chicago Tonight,” 7 p.m. Friday, WTTW-Ch. 11: Mayor Richard M. Daley sits down for an extensive television interview, reflecting on his most recent year in office and addressing a recent spate of City Hall corruption charges.

“C.S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia,” 7 p.m. Friday, Hallmark Channel: As a big-budget “Chronicles of Narnia” movie hits movie theaters, the life of the Oxford professor who penned the fantasy tales is examined in this docudrama. Filmed on location in England, it examines Lewis’ life, work, friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien and the children who were the models for the main Narnia characters.

“Reba,” 8 p.m. Friday, WGN-Ch. 9: One of the unsung but steady pleasures of the TV schedule, “Reba” doesn’t get enough shout-outs, but here’s one. Friday’s amusing episode concerns Reba’s not-so-subtle workplace rivalry with her rather dim (but quite funny) son-in-law. Another story line involving “sleep rage” is more broadly played and “sitcom-y,” but star Reba McEntire is a canny comic performer, and this show generally gives her more than enough to work with.

“Miami Vice,” 5 a.m. Saturday, TV Land: If the snowy, freezing weather and holiday-shopping madness are just too much for you, soak up some hot Florida rays and smokin’ ’80s fashion from TV Land’s 24-hour Crockett and Tubbs marathon.

“CodeBreakers,” 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN: Back before most people had ever heard of steroids, a now all-but-forgotten scandal swept the West Point athletic program, thanks to 1951 revelations of systematic cheating. This provocative, well-crafted film doesn’t opt for simplistic answers and steadily raises provocative questions about friendship, sportsmanship and honor.

“Three Wise Guys,” 4 p.m. Sunday on the USA Network: Tom Arnold is the kingpin, and Judd Nelson, Nick Turturro and Eddie McClintock are his trio of gangland toughs who wend their way through modern-day biblical echoes in Las Vegas. Mary is a pregnant woman trying to outwit the mob and, the desert notwithstanding, a shepherd shows up in one scene to offer assistance. Damon Runyon is cited “for special recognition” as a source.

“Painkiller Jane,” 8 p.m. Saturday, Sci Fi: This solid Sci Fi movie is sort of a military variation on “Alias,” with a little “Bionic Woman” thrown in for good measure. Army captain Jane Browning is a standard-issue gung-ho Special Ops soldier until a mysterious encounter with a bioweapon makes her heal incredibly fast and gives her other super-abilities. On a night when original TV fare is hard to come by, this well-made movie is a reasonable option for action-adventure fans. Richard Roundtree and “The O.C.’s” Tate Donovan are able supporting players for Jane, who’s played by “Saw 2” star Emmanuelle Vaugier.

“Survivor: Guatemala” finale and reunion special, 7 p.m. Sunday, WBBM-Ch. 2: The final group on “Survivor: Guatemala” is pretty charisma-free this time around, but at this point, we’re so addicted to the show and its attendant displays of the best and the worst of human nature, that we simply must see this version through until the end. We’re just especially glad that the blathering neurotics Jamie and Judd didn’t make it to the final four, man. As it is we’ll probably have to hear a few rambling diatribes from them, but we’ll try to survive.

“Comedy Central’s Last Laugh ’05,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Comedy Central: This special won’t just have Lewis Black, Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman, David Spade and many other comic talents assessing the past year’s celebrity mishaps and political misfires, it will also have a musical appearance from Death Cab for Cutie and a preview of the upcoming (abbreviated) season of “Chappelle’s Show.”

--Maureen Ryan, Sid Smith

“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” 7 p.m. Friday, WLS-Ch. 7: The annual deluge of holiday-themed specials begins in earnest this weekend (other fare includes the Tom Arnold vehicle “Chasing Christmas” on ABC Family on Sunday), but the new shows and movies have a long way to go before they displace classic specials like this one in the hearts of many TV viewers. In this 35-year-old Rankin-Bass tale, Fred Astaire narrates the story of toymaker Kris Kringle, who runs afoul of nasty ruler Burgermeister Meisterburger; the gift-giver Kringle eventually triumphs over thanks to an assist from Mother Nature and some helpful elves and reindeer. There’s more Christmas-themed TV than ever these days, but this is the kind of sweet and gentle holiday fare they just don’t make anymore.

“Monk,” 9 p.m. Friday, USA Network: In “Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa,” a special holiday entry, a cop is poisoned by wine intended for Capt. Stottlemeyer, the character played with such crusty, put-upon appeal by former Chicago stage actor Ted Levine. Meanwhile, Tony Shalhoub’s Monk, our favorite TV neurotic, gets to don a Santa suit in one especially scrumptious bit.

“Creature Comforts,” 10 p.m. Friday, BBC America: This series of stop-motion animated shorts from Nick Park shows all the originality, skill and humor that you’d expect from the Oscar-winning creator of “Wallace & Gromit.” In this half-hour series, snippets from interviews with average British folks are put into the mouths of animals, and the results are gently ironic vignettes that illustrate the idea that perhaps humans and animals aren’t that different after all. It’s strange that BBC America is scheduling this series for late Friday nights; it’s really delightful fare for the whole family (then again, “Creature Comforts” is also now available on DVD).

“The Happy Elf,” 7 p.m. Friday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: An animated, holiday tale inspired by a song from Harry Connick Jr., who narrates. It tells of Eubie, one of Santa’s helpers, on a mission to bring Christmas cheer to a forlorn, Santa-deprived place called Bluesville.

“Project Runway,” 10 a.m. Saturday, Bravo: The second season of this fashion-focused reality show begins Wednesday, but first, Bravo is re-airing the dramatic final five hours of the sensational first season. For style fans and devotees of quality reality television, this series is must-see TV; if you haven’t watched “Project Runway” before, don’t miss this chance to catch up with the most nail-biting episodes of Season 1.

“Soul Train Christmas Starfest,” 11:30 p.m. Saturday, WGN-Ch. 9: Stars of R&B stop by Don Cornelius’ studio to sing some of their favorite classic and contemporary holiday tunes in this two-hour special.

“Da Vinci and the Code He Lived By,” 8 p.m. Sunday, the History Channel: For cable networks, “The Da Vinci Code” is the gift that keeps on giving. New specials based on Dan Brown’s hit book or on the artist of its title crop up regularly on cable, and this one fits the History Channel’s typical model: slightly cheesy re-enactments, sonorous narration and serviceable insights from a series of well-spoken academics and experts. Though it doesn’t really touch on the themes of Brown’s book much, Da Vinci’s life and times get a solid going-over here; who knew the Renaissance legend didn’t primarily consider himself a painter (he was more into engineering and war-fighting technology) or that he had no time for that upstart Michaelangelo?

“Sleeper Cell,” 9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime: A new series, a cut above the usual fare on this cable channel, telling of an undercover agent implanted in a small band of terrorists in Los Angeles. Michael Ealy plays Darwyn, the agent, who signs on to work with terrorist Farik (Oded Fehr), a cool, smooth, eerily calm Ssadist whose notions of retribution include burying an errant disciple up to his neck in desert sand and then pummeling his exposed head with rocks. Ealy comes off as an appealing hero with anti-hero touches, a stoic, grim-faced mystery hinting of inner demons. One gripping and disturbing early sequence involves a plot to inject anthrax into the ventilation system of a shopping mall.

“The Dead Zone,” 9 p.m. Sunday, USA: Though it’s not as winning as this weekend’s one-off holiday episode of “Monk,” “The Dead Zone’s” Christmas outing is worth a look for fans of the spooky show. Jennifer Finnigan guest-stars again as psychic Alex Sinclair, who has struck romantic sparks in the past with seer Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall); it’s nice to see the appealing Finnegan in something other than her grim CBS series, “Close to Home.” In this episode, Smith and Sinclair come across a man who says he’s Santa -- but appears to have a criminal past. Santa as a stick-up artist? Smith and Sinclair don’t want to believe it and set out to discover the truth about the kindly old gent.

--by Sid Smith and Maureen Ryan

For Thanksgiving and the days following, Sid Smith and I offer an early, extended version of our weekend highlights, a kind of TV smorgasbord for you and yours. Enjoy, and, just as you’d never chide poor Aunt Sally for her tired annual green bean casserole, kindly spare us complaints. ’Tis the season … and all that:

"Tom Brown’s Schooldays," 8 p.m. Thursday, BBC America: This outstanding adaptation of the schoolboy classic is a must-watch for fans of British drama, costume drama and admirers of Stephen Fry, author, actor and frequent acting partner of "House’s" Hugh Laurie. Fry plays Dr. Arnold, the new headmaster of Rugby School, who arrives in the 1820s to find a lawless place where boys gamble, make their own alcohol and rule each other through savage bullying; teachers view themselves as an ineffectual "occupying force," and leave the place to the students after dark. Arnold wants students, including new boy Tom Brown (Alex Pettyfer) to be educated in an atmosphere of "sympathy and love," a tough policy to implement, given the fact that a few vicious older boys more or less terrorize the place. Fry, as always, is a compelling and sympathetic figure, and the drama, which was shot in part at the real, 438-year-old Rugby School, is a well-told tale of courage in the face of cruelty.

"Moonraker," 8 a.m. Thursday, SpikeTV: Fare for the guys (and gals) who have a kind of "Bah, humbug" attitude toward traditional holiday showbiz. This James Bond movie starring Roger Moore as the seductive spy launches an all-day Bond marathon.

"The 72nd Annual State Street Thanksgiving Parade," 9 a.m. Thursday, WLS-Ch. 7: Harry Lennix, a star of the ABC hit "Commander in Chief" and a familiar face to Chicago theater-goers, co-hosts this yearly Turkey Day extravaganza, along with WLS-Ch. 7’s Janet Davies and Alan Krashesky. The parade will also be available online at www.abc7chicago.com.

Nine more selections after the jump...

On the jump of this weekend TV roundup: "Grey's Anatomy," "Chicago Tonight" and “Saturday Night Live in the ’80s: Lost and Found.” And don't forget "The Virgin Queen"; there's a full review of it below.

“CNN Presents: Undercover in the Secret State,” 7 and 10 p.m. Sunday, CNN: Can technology undermine a dictatorship? This CNN special presents the handiwork of brave North Koreans who fervently hope so. Using digital cameras and cell phones, North Koreans have risked their lives to record dreadful, horrific images from their homeland; one grainy bit of footage on this special features footage of a public execution. Other images: dirty, starving children scrounging food in the streets; political prisoners at a concentration camp (the existence of which is denied by the government); and an average man driven to do the unthinkable in this rigid, totalitarian society - defacing an image of dictator Kim Jong Il. All in all, this important special is a worthy account of citizen journalism at its finest.

“My Name Is Earl,” 8 p.m. Saturday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: In the graveyard of drama repeats that the networks usually put forth on Saturday night, here’s an appealing comedic break. Even though its recent review of the show was generally negative (what are they smoking over there?), the New Yorker has declared that “Earl” star Jason Lee is “an amazingly charismatic actor.”

"Law & Order: Criminal Intent," 8 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: It's great to see Chris Noth back on TV, and back in the fold of "Law & Order"; after all, he and the old-school "Law & Order" crew helped spawn the TV-procedural crime wave we're still experiencing. This season, Noth is alternating with Vincent D'Onofrio as "Criminal Intent's" lead each week; on Sunday, Noth's and D'Onofrio's characters, detectives Mike Logan and Robert Goren, pair up for an engrossing two-hour outing, in which an Iowa teen on a school field trip to New York City goes missing. When a prominent judge's son is implicated in not just her disappearance but other crimes as well, the pressure on the detectives gets really intense. Colm Meaney does a terrific turn as the arrogant judge, and the case allows the "Law & Order" franchise to take a look at why and how missing white women seem to end up getting more attention from the media than missing women of other ethnicities. "Do not confuse my desperation with gratitude," the mother of a missing African-American girl fumes at a cable news personality (obviously modeled on CNN's Nancy Grace) who's finally decided to cover the case of the non-white girl -- once her death is linked to that of the white teen from Iowa.

Not only is the story meaty and provocative, it's a pleasure to see the easy chemistry of Noth and Annabella Sciorra, who plays Logan's partner, Detective Carolyn Barek. Noth's world-weary visage and Sciorra's urban edge give their pairing the upper hand in the "Criminal Intent" realm, though, truth be told, D'Onofrio's odd timing and hulking presence have their appeal, once you get used to them. "I'm an acquired taste," Goren admits to his partner (Kathryn Erbe). But it's one that goes down well in this company.

"Family Guy," 8 p.m. Sunday, WFLD-Ch. 32: Gird yourself for "Family Guy's" most rebellious outing yet.

Here's a list of things to watch over the weekend, compiled by Sid Smith and me:

• "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking," 8 p.m. Sunday, WTTW-Ch. 11: Three entries in this weekend TV list should have at least some appeal for viewers who have no interest in the World Series games over the weekend. In this new Masterpiece Theatre film, a killer is stalking women who happen to be young and beautiful -- it sounds like a case for, well, any of the dozens of crime fighters all over the TV dial these days. Actually, despite the plot's similarity to an episode of "Criminal Minds" (and the fact that this new tale doesn't appear in the Holmes canon penned by Arthur Conan Doyle), this two-hour Masterpiece Theatre offering is well worth a look, mainly for Rupert Everett's crafty portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. The London streets and houses depicted in this handsome production are atmospheric as well (though we could have done with a tad less fog), and Ian Hart makes an engaging Dr. Watson. The tall, sharp-nosed Everett is actually a dead ringer for the incisive detective that Conan Doyle described in his Holmes texts. Let's hope Everett returns for additional Holmes adaptations, if they're as polished and fast-moving as this one (it'd be terrific to see him take on "The Sign of the Four" or another classic Conan Doyle story).
• "Byron," 8 p.m. Saturday, BBC America: Another option for those who can live without seeing the White Sox play is this view of the life of the great Romantic poet -- and prototype for the 20th Century bad-boy rocker -- which not surprisingly leans on his salacious sex life, which involved multiple partners and incest with his half-sister. Though plodding in its parade of biographical events, and sadly limited in recitations of his luminous poetry, "Byron," like just about any look at this compelling, self-absorbed figure, proves riveting. Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy in "Trainspotting") portrays Byron as a complex blend of gentle elegance, childlike ego, madness and charm, and is well-matched by Annabella Milbanke as Bryon's prudish wife, Camilla Power as a wacko, willful Lady Caroline Lamb and Vanessa Redgrave as Byron's venerable and sturdy confidante, Lady Melbourne.
• "E! True Hollywood Story: The Women of Desperate Housewives," 7 p.m. Friday, E!: If you've already read Us, In Touch, People and Star and still need a fix of celebrity escapism, this two-hour Wisteria Lane fest is just the ticket. Yes, they need two hours to cover all the wives (Eva Longoria's love life probably occupies at least an hour of it).
• "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret," 9 p.m. Friday, MTV: As Madonna gears up to promote her new album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor," MTV unveils this two-hour documentary about the singer's recent Re-Invention Tour, a backstage chronicle complete with auditions for dancers, scenes from the tour and snippets from Madonna's family life.
• "Monsterfest," weeklong film festival begins 10:30 a.m. Sunday, AMC: The movie channel begins its annual festival of horror and gore; the nine days of pre-Halloween scaremongering starts with "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" on Sunday morning. The complete schedule of frightful fare (including flicks such as "Carrie," "Friday the 13th," "Tremors" and "An American Werewolf in London") is online here  (where you can also play Whack-A-Wolf).
• "Prison Break" marathon, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, FX: After a break of several weeks for baseball playoffs, "Prison Break" finally returns with new episodes on Monday. To get everyone caught up on the show, FX is running all seven episodes of this jailhouse thriller, which has occasional slow patches and some implausible moments, but, for the most part, provides a steady stream of engrossing thrills and adventure. Check out the last two episodes in the FX marathon, at the very least; the two-hour prison riot is an enthralling burst of chaos behind bars.
• "My First Place," 8 p.m. Saturday, HGTV: In this amiable new home-decorating show (yet another option for those who won't be tuning into the World Series), young people with the first real pads of their own get help from a professional designer, who gives them advice on how to make one room in the new house into welcoming space. In the first episode, the young married couple makes over the guy's bachelor pad leftovers (black-lacquer shelves, yech), contribute some new and old pieces of their own and get $3,000 worth of goodies, plus design tips from a cheerful and instructive decorating pro.

Below is a roundup by Sid Smith and myself of shows you might want to catch (or avoid) this weekend:

"Check, Please!," 8 p.m. Friday, WTTW-Ch. 11: This fizzy and fun foodie series returns. On this season opener, which is hosted as usual by master sommelier Alpana Singh, three Chicago diners recommend their favorite places, including a Northwest Side temple of "encased meats," Hot Doug's, where the exotic dogs sound divine and the french fries cooked in duck fat look yummy enough to be almost worth the hardened arteries.