Australia and Fleet Street Settings for Sunday Dramas

Among the new movies premiering this weekend are a comedy directed by “Friends” star David Schwimmer, a Canadian miniseries featuring a former regular on “Law & Order” and a “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation.

Schwimmer stars in and directed the ABC movie “Since You’ve Been Gone,” Saturday at 8 p.m. on Channel 7. The comedy, set at a high school reunion from hell, also stars Teri Hatcher and Lara Flynn Boyle.

Michael Moriarity, late of “Law & Order,” stars in the Canadian miniseries “Major Crime,” Sunday at 6 p.m. on Lifetime. The thriller chronicles the attempts of a dedicated team of cops and a female attorney to bring a dangerous child molester to justice.

CBS premieres the latest “Hallmark Hall of Fame” drama, “The Echo of Thunder,” Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. Judy Davis and Jamey Sheridan star in this story about a farm family struggling to survive in the harsh Australian outback.

Ben Kingsley stars as the demon barber of Fleet Street in Showtime’s “The Tale of Sweeney Todd,” Sunday at 8 p.m. Joanna Lumley and Campbell Scott also star in this thriller directed by Oscar winner John Schlesinger.

Peter Gallagher headlines “Brave New World,” NBC’s adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s classic 1932 futuristic novel, Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 4. Rya Kihlstedt and Tim Guinee also star.

Elsewhere this weekend:

Today

Veteran writer Ernest Kinoy (“Victory at Entebbe”) marks his 50th year in show biz by penning an episode of CBS’ “Diagnosis Murder,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. The installment deals with HMOs.

Friday

Steve Buscemi (“Reservoir Dogs”) is the director of this week’s “Homicide: Life on the Street,” at 10 p.m. on Channel 4. Charles Durning guests on the NBC series, playing a retired police detective who comes to the aid of the homicide squad.

KCET premieres the Canadian comedy series “The Newsroom,” at 10 p.m. on Channel 28. Written, directed, produced and starring Ken Finkleman, the series revolves around a TV news director who lacks ethics.

Comic David Spade, currently on “Just Shoot Me,” headlines his first solo stand-up special, “Round Midnight,” at 11:30 p.m. on HBO. The hourlong show was taped at an improv club in his home state of Arizona.

Saturday

Chris Berman hosts ESPN’s live coverage from New York of the “NFL Draft,” at 9 a.m.

“Lifetime Team Challenge,” at 2 p.m. on Lifetime, features highlights from an April 4 event in which three-women teams competed in a triathlon.

“Hostages: Rescue in Peru,” at 5 and 8 p.m. on the Learning Channel, chronicles the rescue last April of Peruvian officials and foreign ambassadors held hostage by Tupac Amaru rebels.

Jennifer Beals and Powers Boothe star in the Movie Channel thriller “The Spree,” at 9 p.m. Beals plays a cat burglar who falls for the cop who is pursuing her.

“MTV Ultra Sound”: I Was a MTV VJ,” at 10 p.m., looks back on what life was like as an original VJ for MTV.

Sunday

ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney” presents the comedy “My Date With the President’s Daughter,” at 7 p.m. on Channel 7. Dabney Coleman, Jay Thomas and Will Friedle star.

Jason Robards, Hilary Swank and Eddie Mills star in the Family Channel movie “Heartwood,” at 7 p.m. Mills and Swank play two lovers brought together by their love of nature who are then torn apart by greed.

E! Entertainment Television presents the two-hour documentary “Bob Crane: The E! True Hollywood Story,” at 8 p.m.

Jayne Brook and Kyle Secor play a couple whose therapist (Lindsay Frost) believes the serpent in the Garden of Eden was a hero on ABC’s “Mind Games,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 7.

John Forsythe and Alfre Woodward narrate PBS’ “People’s Century,” at 9 p.m. on Channel 28, a 26-part series looking at the pivotal events of the 20th century. Continues Monday and Tuesday with other installments scheduled for May 25-July 6.

Discovery Channel presents the fourth annual “Eco-Challenge,” at 9 p.m., which features coed teams making their way across a 350-mile course in Australia. The series continues Monday at 9 p.m. and Tuesday at 10 p.m.

Cynthia Geary of “Northern Exposure” and comic Elon Gold star in WB’s new sitcom, “You’re the One,” at 9:30 p.m. on Channel 5. Geary plays a Southern belle who marries an off-beat Jewish guy from Long Island.

The Lifetime documentary “Dazzled,” at 10 p.m., offers a candid look inside the modeling industry.