“THIS IS YOUR LIFE,” 10-11 p.m. Sunday...

“THIS IS YOUR LIFE,” 10-11 p.m. Sunday (4)(36)(39)--Revivals--like this NBC special facelifting a golden oldie from radio and early TV--continue to thrive.

Memories clash, though, for it’s hard now to separate the real “This Is Your Life” from the classic Sid Caesar parody on the old “Your Show of Shows” series of the 1950s.

The hilarious bit, included in the later theatrical release of “Ten From Your Show of Shows,” had Caesar as an unsuspecting schlub sitting in the studio audience and going all to pieces when informed by Carl Reiner that “this is your life.” Later, Caesar and Howard Morris engaged in a marathon blubbering and hugging spectacle that remains one of the funniest pieces of TV ever.

Being spoofed by the era’s foremost TV satirists was a reflection of the enormous popularity of “This Is Your Life,” which followed its radio success with a nine-year stint on NBC-TV that ended in 1961. The series returned in syndication in 1970.

The format rarely changed from week to week.

Bearing a leather-bound book resembling a photo album, producer/host Ralph Edwards would surprise a celebrity or relatively unknown do-gooder who had been lured to the studio or another location on a ruse. That person’s “life” then would be reviewed before a national TV audience. That included the inevitable slew of off-stage voices from the person’s past: “Remember me from 1881? I poured ink on your pants after you stuck chewing gum in my hair.” Whereupon, Edwards would add something like: “That’s right, your old third-grade classmate from Salina, Kan., who left her hospital bed to be here . . . .”

And TV viewers would reach for their hankies.

It remains to be seen whether a 1987 TV audience will welcome Sunday night’s new “This Is Your Life,” on which Edwards sneaks up on two unsuspecting celebrities. Nostalgia is always a sweet, appealing, tranquilizing drug, however.

So let the hugs and tears begin.