Much of Weekend Fare Is Devoted to Stories of Women

It’s a woman’s world this weekend on television.

“Xena: Warrior Princess,” last year’s highest-rated syndicated drama, kicks off its third season, Saturday at 9 p.m. on Channel 5. Lucy Lawless stars.

Kirstie Alley plays an evil dentist who is killed in an accident and comes back to Earth as the Tooth Fairy in ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney” movie, “Toothless,” Sunday at 7 p.m. on Channel 7.

Geraldine Chaplin plays the Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian in the Family Channel film, “Mother Teresa: In the Name of God’s Poor,” Sunday at 7 p.m.

Oscar-winner Lee Grant directed Lifetime’s “Say It, Fight It, Cure It,” Sunday at 8 p.m. The 90-minute documentary on breast cancer includes interviews with breast cancer survivors and their families. Grant also visits with support groups, doctors and activists who have dedicated their lives to fight breast cancer. Rosie O’Donnell is featured talking about losing her mother to breast cancer.

Mia Farrow is the latest subject of “The E! True Hollywood Story,” Sunday at 8 p.m. on E! Entertainment Television.

Barbra Streisand is the co-executive producer of Showtime’s “Rescuers: Stories of Courage,” Sunday at 8 p.m. Elizabeth Perkins, Sela Ward and Anne Jackson headline two stories about brave women who helped Jews during the Holocaust.

Sharon Lawrence and Giancarlo Esposito star in the NBC thriller, “Five Desperate Hours,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 4. Lawrence plays a suburban housewife who tries to save her life when she’s taken hostage. But in a surprising turn of events, she befriends and saves the life of her captor.

Whitney Houston sings her biggest hits in the HBO concert “Classic Whitney,” at 9 p.m., which was taped live earlier in the evening at Constitution Hall in Washington.

Thursday

“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” blasts off for its sixth season in syndication at 8 p.m. on Channel 13. In the premiere, Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his crew are sent on a secret mission on a captured Jem’Hadar warship.

John Thaw, best known as Inspector Morse, stars in the new PBS “Mystery!” thriller, “Into the Blue,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 28. The two-hour thriller, based on Robert Goddard’s book, ushers in the 18th season of “Mystery!”

American Movie Classics kicks off its fifth annual Film Preservation Festival at 9 p.m. with the 1946 classic “The Killers,” starring Burt Lancaster. The festival, which continues through Sunday, pays tribute to the film noir genre and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Friday

Turner Classic Movies presents an “Inside Track Weekend,” beginning at 5 p.m. with the 1959 classic “Some Like It Hot.” Similar to laser discs, “Inside Track” movies feature an additional audio track where film historians, actors and directors provide insight. Other films in the three-day festival include “Singin’ in the Rain” at 7:10 p.m.; “The 400 Blows” at 9 p.m.; and “Jules and Jim” at 11 p.m.

Neil Patrick Harris hosts KCOP’s “Rent: Tragedy and Triumph,” at 8 p.m. on Channel 13. The special offers a behind-the-scenes look at the late Jonathan Larson’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which opened earlier this week at the Ahmanson Theatre.

VH1’s “Legends” series looks at the life and career of Stevie Ray Vaughn, at 8 p.m.

The three-part documentary, “National Desk,” airing at 9 p.m. on Channel 28, examines patterns in American life that are “eroding common culture.”

Saturday

“Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” muscles into its fourth season at 8 p.m. on Channel 5. Kevin Sorbo stars.

On HBO’s “Richard Jeni: A Good Catholic Boy,” at 10 p.m., the popular funny man waxes comedic about infomercials, dating, religion and churches.

Sunday

“Fame L.A.,” premiering at 7 p.m. on KCAL, is a glossy syndicated version of the 1980 movie and subsequent TV series. This time around, a group of struggling actors, singers, dancers and comedians work and perform at a beachfront restaurant in Los Angeles while waiting for their big break.

“The American Experience” begins a new season with a two-part documentary on Missourian Harry S. Truman, who went from bankrupt haberdasher to president of the United States less than 30 years later. The special airs Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m. on Channel 28.

Richard Crenna and Rick Schroder star in the CBS movie, “Heart Full of Rain” at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. Schroder plays a young man who returns home after seven years to find a forgiving mother (Carroll Baker) and an unfeeling father (Crenna).

Ken Olin stars in ABC’s “The Advocate’s Devil,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 7. Based on the novel by attorney Alan Dershowitz, the drama casts Olin as a down-on-his luck attorney who gets the case of his career, only to be faced with a moral and ethical dilemma when he realizes his client may be guilty.