Series
The first of two back-to-back episodes of Making the Band (8 p.m. Fri., ABC) is a rerun of last week's opener, but, believe me, you can't see O-Town's comically inept Miss America performance too many times. In the second episode, somebody thinks he's too big for the group -- could that be you, Mr. Jacob Underwood? Mad TV (11 p.m. Sat., Fox) imagines Elton John's post-Eminem duets with Saddam Hussein, Louis Farrakhan and Hitler. The gang goes on tour with Beck on Futurama (7 p.m. Sun., Fox). The new series Nero Wolfe (8 p.m. Sun., A&E) stars Maury Chaykin as Rex Stout's erudite sleuth and Timothy Hutton as his hardworking assistant. The new animated series Undergrads (8 p.m. Sun., MTV), created by an MTV contest winner, follows the adventures of four high-school buddies as they enter college. We learn agent Doggett's tragic secret on a new episode of The X-Files (9 p.m. Sun., Fox). Tony and Anthony Jr. are both very bad boys, and Carmela and Adrianna get extravagant gifts on The Sopranos (9 p.m. Sun., HBO).
Specials
Lyle Lovett hosts Last Stand on the Tall Grass Prairie (9 p.m. Fri., PBS, check local listings), a look at an endangered North American ecosystem. In Barbara Walters: Born in My Heart (10 p.m. Fri., ABC), the newsmag queen, ABC colleagues Connie Chung, Dr. Timothy Johnson and Carole Simpson, and Rosie O'Donnell share stories of their adopted children. Rosie turns up again as host of the Kids' Choice Awards (8 p.m., Sat., Nickelodeon), where tykes pick their favorite performers, movies and TV shows from last year. Destiny's Child, the Backstreet Boys and Aaron Carter also appear. NBC's long nightmare comes to an end with the XFL Championship: The Million Dollar Game (8 p.m. Sat., NBC). There's no actual football, just the players being tongue-lashed by that horrid woman from "Weakest Link." In case you missed it the first time, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live in New York City (7 p.m. Sun., HBO) rocks the house again. The new cable movie Varian's War (8 p.m. Sun., Showtime) stars William Hurt as Varian Fry, an American who engineered the rescue of European artists and their works from Hitler's Europe, with Lynn Redgrave, Alan Arkin and Julia Ormond. Alfred Molina takes on the role of Hercule Poirot in a remake of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (9 p.m. Sun., CBS). The sort-of-all-star cast includes Meredith Baxter, Peter Strauss and Leslie Caron. Meet the Pandas (9 p.m. Sun., Animal Planet) introduces us to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the newest residents of Washington's National Zoo.
Sports
Baseball:
Braves at Phillies (7 p.m. Fri., Sat.; 1:30 p.m. Sun., TBS)
Red Sox at Yankees (1 p.m. Sat., FX)
Cardinals at Astros (8 p.m. Sun., ESPN)
NBA playoffs:
Pacers at 76ers, Game 1 (12:30 p.m. Sat., NBC)
Mavericks at Jazz, Game 1 (3 p.m. Sat., NBC)
Timberwolves at Spurs, Game 1 (5:30 p.m. Sat., NBC)
Hornets at Heat, Game 1 (8:30 p.m. Sat., TNT)
Raptors at Knicks, Game 1 (12:30 p.m. Sun., NBC)
Suns at Kings, Game 1 (3 p.m. Sun., NBC)
Trail Blazers at Lakers, Game 1 (5:30 p.m. Sun., NBC)
Magic at Bucks, Game 1 (8:30 p.m. Sun., TNT)
NHL playoffs:
Hurricanes at Devils, Game 5 (7:30 p.m. Fri., ESPN)
Blues at Sharks, Game 6; Penguins at Capitals, Game 5; Kings at Red Wings, Game 5, or Flyers at Sabres, Game 6, if necessary (3 p.m. Sat., ABC)
Stars at Oilers, Game 6 (7 p.m. Sat., ESPN)
Talk
Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Jeri Ryan
David Letterman (CBS) Heather Locklear (rerun)
Jay Leno (NBC) Darrell Hammond
Dennis Miller (HBO) Tom Green
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Swag
Craig Kilborn (CBS) Heather Graham, Nelly Furtado
All times Eastern unless noted.
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