Weekend TV : Lech Walesa on ‘Newsmaker Saturday’; ‘Till We Meet Again’ Sweeps in on CBS

As usual during those infamous ratings sweeps, it is the best of times and the worst of times on television this weekend. While Lech Walesa visits the United States, the three major networks and PBS trot out some of their heaviest ammunition in the battle for ratings.

Walesa will appear with CNN journalists Charles Bierbauer and Ralph Begleiter on “Newsmaker Saturday” today at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Meanwhile, “Sunday Morning” reports on Walesa’s life history and his U.S. visit on Sunday at 8 a.m. on Channels 2 and 8.

Sunday at 9 p.m., CBS (2)(8) unveils the first installment of a five-hour miniseries based on Judith Krantz’s novel “Till We Meet Again.” NBC (4)(36)(39) counters with Raymond Burr again starring as the unbeatable attorney in “Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin.” And ABC (7)(3)(10)(42) plays it safe with Bette Midler and Shelley Long in the 1987 feature “Outrageous Fortune.”

Perhaps the weekend’s best bet, however, is the first of “Masterpiece Theatre’s” new, four-part adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 28 and 15, 8 p.m. on Channels 50 and 24. James Wilby, Xavier DeLuc and Serena Gordon star.