New Sleuth Opens ‘Mystery!’ Series on Channel 28 Tonight

Three popular PBS series kick off their new seasons this weekend.

“Mystery!” introduces a new sleuth to the lineup: Hetty Wainthropp, a housewife-turned-investigator. Patricia Routledge, of the British comedy series “Keeping Up Appearances,” stars in “Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.” The first of four installments begins at 9 tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28.

“Nature” launches its 16th season with “Toothwalkers: Giants of the Arctic Ice,” Sunday at 8 p.m. on Channel 28. The documentary looks at the mysterious world of the walrus.

Oscar-nominated Emily Watson (“Breaking the Waves”) stars in “The Mill on the Floss,” which kicks off the 27th season of PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre,” Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 28. The drama is based on an 1860 novel about a rebellious young woman who falls in love with her cousin’s love (James Weber-Brown).

Today

American Movie Classics is in a World Series mood as the cable network presents a daylong salute to baseball movies. The festival kicks off at 7 a.m. with the 1953 film “The Kid From Left Field,” starring Dan Dailey. Other movies featured are 1957’s “Fear Strikes Out” with Anthony Perkins and the ultimate baseball flick, 1942’s “The Pride of the Yankees,” with Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth as none other than Babe Ruth.

Friday

Jerry Van Dyke, late of “Coach,” joins the cast of ABC’s “You Wish” at 9 p.m. on Channel 7, as the Genie’s 50,000-year-old Grandpa Max.

The Monkees’ Davy Jones and Teri Garr visit ABC’s “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” at 8 p.m. on Channel 7.

Louis Gossett Jr. is the host of a new edition of Fox’s “When Animals Attack” at 9 p.m. on Channel 11.

Saturday

WB premieres its latest animated series, “Men in Black,” at 7:30 a.m. on KTLA-TV Channel 5. Based on the No. 1 film of the year, the series chronicles the adventures of the secret government agents who keep their Ray Ban-shaded eyes on aliens.

Kevin Kilner (“Almost Perfect”) and Lisa Howard star in the new sci-fi series “Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict,” at 6 p.m. on Channel 5. This series is based on a “lost manuscript” written by the creator of “Star Trek.” Set in the 21st century, the series features Kilner playing a police detective working with a group of aliens who have solved most of the world’s problems but are suspected of devious intent.

Jason Alexander stars in and directed this week’s episode of AMC’s series “Remember WENN” at 6 and 10 p.m. Alexander plays a charming magician and mentalist who has a few devious tricks up his sleeve.

“Team Knight Rider,” premiering at 9 p.m. on KCOP-TV Channel 13, is a jazzed-up version of the ‘80s series about a Trans-Am with a remarkable vocabulary.

“Sports Theater,” at 9 p.m. on Nickelodeon, presents “First Time,” a drama set in 1947 Brooklyn, where a young African American meets Jackie Robinson.

HBO’s “America Undercover” documentary “Taxicab Confessions” is back with a new edition, “Taxicab Confessions 4: Cruisin’ in Vegas,” at 10 p.m.

“HBO Boxing After Dark” presents a match between heavyweights James “Buster” Douglas and John Ruiz at 11 p.m.

Sunday

HBO presents “Mother Goose: A Rappin’ and Rhymin’ Special,” at 7 p.m. This edition of “Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child” features the voices of Whoopi Goldberg, Denzel Washington, Nell Carter, Jimmy Smits, Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford.

Rick Moranis shrinks himself this time around in the comedy “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves” at 7 p.m. on Channel 7 on ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney.”

Showtime has resurrected the 1961-65 legal drama “The Defenders” for two TV movies. The first, “The Defenders: Payback,” airing at 8 p.m., features original star E.G. Marshall as attorney Lawrence Preston.

Robert Urich and Annette O’Toole star in the jumbo-jet-in-distress CBS thriller “Final Descent” at 9 p.m. on Channel 2.

Amy Pietz of “Caroline in the City” goes dramatic in NBC’s “Every 9 Seconds” at 9 p.m. on Channel 4. Pietz plays a journalist working as a volunteer at a crisis hotline for research on a story about domestic violence. Gail O’Grady also stars as a caller who says her ex-husband is stalking her.

Brian Austin Green and Nicholle Tom star in ABC’s drama “Unwed Father,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 7. Green plays a college student who has to take care of his baby son when the child’s mother leaves town.

“Fight for the Right,” a three-part special premiering at 10 p.m. on MTV, looks at various young people rebelling against laws they consider to be unconstitutional.