WEEKEND TV : Sweeps Puts Programming Back on Track

Breaking news of the Persian Gulf War will take precedence over regular programming, but television will begin to return to normal scheduling as it enters the first weekend of the February sweeps.

“Sunday Best” on Sunday at 7 p.m. is hosted by Carl Reiner. This weekly series includes behind-the-scenes clips from television shows, comedy skits, nostalgia and off-beat news items from Linda Ellerbee.

For those viewers with cable, the Disney Channel counters with a screening of Walt Disney’s 1942 animated classic, “Bambi,” Sunday at 7 p.m. An hour earlier, TBS honors black history month with a “National Geographic Explorer” segment that celebrates the jitterbug dance craze born in Harlem nightclubs during the 1920s.

ABC (7)(3)(10)(42) meanwhile with air at 8 p.m. a special edition of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” in which one lucky video-camera artist will be awarded this season’s second $100,000 prize.

Other weekend shows include:

TODAY Vice President Dan Quayle is interviewed on “Newsmaker Saturday,” 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. CNN. . . .

Gloria Molina and Art Torres, the final two contenders in the race for the open L.A. County Board of Supervisors seat, guest on “News Conference,” noon (4). . . .

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) joins “The Capital Gang” in a look at the war, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. CNN. . . .

Robert McFarlane discusses the ground war and U.S.-Soviet relations on “John McLaughlin’s One on One,” 2 p.m. (28).

SUNDAY “Sunday Today” reports on the history of Iran and Iraq, rules of war, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Zalman Shoval, making travel safer, job-searching during the recession, and Cathy Rigby, 7 a.m. (4)(36)(39). . . .

“Newsmaker Sunday” examines the latest war developments, 7:30 a.m. CNN. . . .

“Sunday Morning” reports on the effects of instantaneous war coverage on the public, a Baltimore display of the Kuwaiti royal family’s art collection, jazz artist Milt Jackson and preservation of the oldest complete Hebrew Bible, 7:30 a.m. (2)(8). . . .

“Meet the Press” airs at 8:30 a.m. (4)(36)(39). . . .

“The McLaughlin Group” talks about the ground war, the flap over the U.S.-Soviet cease-fire statement and the ACLU’s protest over the treatment of Arab-Americans, 9 a.m. (4), 5:30 p.m. (50). . . .

“Business World” airs at 9:30 a.m. (7). . . .

“This Week With David Brinkley” follows at 10 a.m. (7)(10)(42), 3 p.m. (3). . . .

Robert Gates, deputy national security adviser, discusses President Bush’s “new world order” on “American Interests,” 10 a.m. (28). . . .

“Midday Sunday” offers tips on how to handle the stress caused by the war and how to use short wave radios to monitor broadcasts from the Middle East, 11 a.m. (11). . . .

“Signs of the Times” looks at the impact of new laws regarding the disabled, 11:30 a.m. (11). . . .

John Chancellor hosts the 49th annual “Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia Awards” for excellence in broadcast journalism,” 1:30 p.m. (28). . . .

“The West” checks out bounty hunters, militant ocean environmentalists and a controversial San Francisco attorney, 3 p.m. (4), 5 p.m. (36). . . .

“60 Minutes” will air reports on the Persian Gulf War at 7 p.m. (2)(8). . . .

“Real Life With Jane Pauley” looks at middle-class economic problems and Chicago’s Children’s Gospel Choir, 8 p.m. (4)(36) (39). . . .

“Expose” investigates rape on cruise ships and a California firm that allegedly made defective mortar shells, 8:30 p.m. . . .

“Face the Nation” airs at 11:30 p.m. (8), 1 a.m. (2). . . .

“Jesse Jackson” examines capital punishment for teen-agers, midnight (9)(8).