Weekend TV : KCET to Celebrate July 4th With Night of Music from Patriotic Songs to Spoof of Heavy-Metal

Fireworks and barbecues will lure most couch potatoes out into the sunshine this holiday weekend, but television won’t be left out of the Fourth of July festivities entirely.

KCET Channel 28 celebrates the holiday early today with an evening of music and song. At 7:30 p.m., John Williams, Johnny Cash and the Boston Pops kick things off with a patriotic concert that will feature tributes to John Philip Sousa and Stephen Foster, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” and fireworks.

George Benson, Dizzy Gillespie and Al Hirt will follow at 9 p.m. with performances from the “Jacksonville Jazz Festival VIII.” At 10 p.m., “The Return of Ruben Blades” chronicles the Panamanian singer’s commitment to music and politics and features a recording session with Linda Ronstadt. And finally, Rob Reiner’s irreverent film, “This Is Spinal Tap,” spoofs the heavy-metal world of rock ‘n’ roll at 11:30 p.m.

On Sunday, meanwhile, ABC presents its “Second Annual Star-Spangled Celebration” from under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis at 9 p.m. Patrick Duffy and Joanna Kerns host the firework-studded celebrity extravaganza that will include performances by Glen Campbell; Earth, Wind and Fire; Kool and the Gang; the Pointer Sisters and Pia Zadora.

Here are other notable programs this weekend.

TODAY: Teen-agers discuss “campus royalty” on “Teen Talk,” 6 a.m. (9). . . .

“Great Weekend” goes rock climbing in Yosemite, barbecues hamburgers for the Fourth of July and looks at how pyrotechnic experts prepare their Independence Day fireworks shows, 9 a.m. (9).

Jonas Savimbi, president of the Angolan rebel group UNITA, guests on “Evans & Novak,” 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. (Cable News Network). . . .

“Newsmaker Saturday” looks at the Soviet Communist Party Conference with Henry Kissinger and Dimitri Simes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (CNN).

“Firing Line” takes up the issue of rock music’s influence on teens and society, 3:30 p.m. (28), 6:30 p.m. (15). . . .

“At Issue” debates the merits of a Fairfax High School counseling program for gays and lesbians with guests Jackie Goldberg of the Los Angeles Board of Education, Cliff Stadig, a San Fernando Valley conservative activist, and Virginia Uribe, a teacher at Fairfax High School and founder of the program, 5 p.m. (2). . . .

“West 57th” examines the tolerance for political corruption in Philadelphia, reports on supermarket tabloids, looks into charges that the FAA violated individual rights while investigating drug use among air traffic controllers, and visits Goa, an island near India that has become a haven for American hippies, 10 p.m. (2)(8).

SUNDAY: “The McLaughlin Group” discusses the Soviet Communist Party Conference, President Reagan’s bashing of Michael Dukakis and the Justice Department’s attempted takeover of the Teamsters, 6 a.m. (4), 5:30 p.m. (50). . . .

“Sunday Today” recounts the history of patriotism, interviews author Ron Kovic and reports on how Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, 6:30 a.m. (4)(36)(39). . . .

Transportation Secretary James Burnley, Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.) and Najeeb Halaby, former FAA administrator, discuss the safety of commercial air travel on “Newsmaker Sunday,” 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (CNN). . . .

A report on controversy over the use of historic battlefields for industrial development, a look at the flag paintings of the late Childe Hassan, a visit to Abraham Lincoln’s restored Illinois home, and a profile of MADD and the volunteers who lead its cause are the segments featured on “Sunday Morning,” 8 a.m. (2)(8). . . .

Secretary of Labor Ann McLaughlin and Texas state treasurer Ann Richards guest on “Face the Nation,” 9:30 a.m. (2)(8). . . .

“Tony Brown’s Journal” celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, 10:30 a.m. (28). . . .

Agriculture Secretary Richard E. Lyng discusses foreign policy and the drought on “Business World,” 10:30 a.m. (7), 12:30 p.m. (3)(42). . . .

Gov. Bob Martinez (R-Fla.) and Los Angeles police chief Darryl Gates talk about juvenile crime on “This Week With David Brinkley,” 11 a.m. (7), 11:30 a.m. (3)(10)(42). . . .

“2 the Point” looks at a high school dropout prevention program, a foundation that takes classical music to prisons and hospitals and the Hispanic Coalition on AIDS, 4:30 p.m. (2). . . .

The topic on “Newsmakers” is the proposed tax on cigarettes, 5 p.m. (2). . . .

An investigation into alleged drug dealing by police in Brooklyn, a report on bands of Gypsy pickpockets in Europe, and a profile of a British officer and Kenyan big-game hunter who finds it difficult going back to England are the repeated segments featured on “60 Minutes,” 7 p.m. (2)(8).