A 20-Year-Old That Seems Tame in ’99

You’re reminded of just how wild broadcast television has become when you watch “The TV Show,” a 20-year-old special that spoofs television with sketches by the likes of Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Martin Mull.

“The TV Show” (airing March 15 at 5 p.m. on TV Land as part of the channel’s Museum of Television & Radio Showcase), which is formatted as if you’re watching the tube and switching channels, is pretty tame--probably because what was being parodied was pretty tame.

There’s the typical spoof of “Wild Kingdom” (sponsored by Mutual of Omypapa), a cute sketch but not exactly edgy. And Rob Reiner is amusing as a mush-mouthed George Jessel-type who’s on a Death Network telethon raising money “to stop death in our lifetime” (among the donors: the National Don’t Run With Scissors Foundation).

When things finally pick up, you see glimmers of what will come later from these actor-writers.

The highlights:

* Menachem Begin (Crystal) and Anwar Sadat (Shearer) in a commercial, arguing over beer.

* The understated ProtoChem commercial that assures viewers of its products’ safety. (That boy who fell in the chemical vat still has a few good years left, we’re told.)

* A Tom Snyder (Shearer) interview of Muhammad Ali (Crystal).

* “The Trial of Adolf Hitler,” with Hitler (Reiner) in an aqua leisure suit.

* But the topper is an early appearance by Spinal Tap--five years before Reiner’s mockumentary. The band’s appearance consists of only a song, but it’s enough to make you want to go out and rent “This Is Spinal Tap.”

Details, Details: Of Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Martin Mull, who later became regular players on “Saturday Night Live”? (Answer is below.)

Set Your VCR

* “The Holocaust,” the 1978 miniseries that won eight Emmys (including best actress and actor for Meryl Streep and Michael Moriarty), will air on the History Channel in two-hour blocks beginning Monday at 7 a.m. (and repeating at noon) and continuing daily through Friday. The miniseries, about two fictional German families, is credited with, among other things, spurring a repeal of the statute of limitations for Nazi war crimes. James Woods plays the Jewish husband of a Roman Catholic (Streep), and Moriarty portrays a Nazi Party up-and-comer.

* You’d probably recognize Drew Barrymore and her grandfather John Barrymore. If you’re not too familiar with her dad, John Drew Barrymore, you can get a good look on “The Wild Wild West” (March 18 at 2 p.m. on KDOC Channel 56), in which he plays a college-educated Cheyenne chief. He was 33 when the episode came out.

* Don’t get too weepy when the cast sings “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” on the last “Mary Tyler Moore Show” (March 25 at 1 a.m. on Nickelodeon). The mourning period is only a day; the first episode airs the next day.

* The time-traveling “Assignment: Earth” episode of “Star Trek” (March 16 at 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on the Sci-Fi Channel) was a pilot for a show about an alien (Robert Lansing)--with a ditsy human assistant (Teri Garr)--who’s a sort of guardian angel for 20th century Earth. In the 1968 “Star Trek” episode, Capt. Kirk assures the pair they’ll have “some interesting experiences”--which, of course, you’ve never seen because the pilot wasn’t sold.

* Missed the “This Is Sinatra!” special from 1962 that opened the Museum of Television & Radio’s Paley festival this week in Los Angeles? There’s still time: You can see screenings at the museum through May 30 (Wednesdays through Sundays at 3 p.m. and Thursdays at 7 p.m.). If you can’t make it to those showings, you still haven’t lost out. After May 30, “This Is Sinatra!” will be part of the library, so you can watch it at a viewing console during regular museum hours. You’ll have to settle for a smaller screen, though. The museum’s at 465 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. (310) 786-1000.

* Anthony Zerbe is a perfect devil in a playful “Highway to Heaven” (March 22 at 7 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30) in which Mark (Victor French) is tricked into selling his soul and Jonathan has to run a con to get it back.

* In a classic 1962 “Bonanza” (Wednesday at 2 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30), Lee Marvin is a madman who tortures Adam Cartwright to prove that even the most rational person can be driven to kill. Marvin had been in movies and on TV for a decade--including three years starring as a cop in “M Squad”--when he made his appearance in this “Bonanza” episode, “The Crucible,” but it wasn’t until the next year that “Cat Ballou” came out, earning him an Oscar for his dual role and securing his stardom.

* Singers doing a little acting on the side: Pat Boone on “The Beverly Hillbillies” (Wednesday at 5 a.m. on TBS) from 1969, Nancy Wilson on “Hawaii Five-O” (March 11 at 1 a.m. on WGN) from 1970, Jose Feliciano on “Kung Fu” (March 13 at 6 a.m. on TNT), and Laura Branigan on “CHiPs” from 1983, the year after her song “Gloria” hit No. 2 on the charts.

* Boxers get the acting bug too: Sugar Ray Robinson is a big man--a really big man--on “Land of the Giants” (March 29 at 4 a.m. on the Sci-Fi Channel). He plays an undistinguished jazz trumpeter. And the late Jerry Quarry plays himself in an “I Dream of Jeannie” episode (March 16 at 6 a.m. on TV Land).

* Cartoon Network picks its favorites among its 8,500 offerings (and a few other, borrowed titles) for an eight-hour marathon (March 20 at 2 p.m.). The next day, it’ll narrow its best even further, to the Top 10. That two-hour special airs at noon.

* The first episode of “Mannix” gives the idea of the series and its title character: “The Name Is Mannix” (Saturday at 1 p.m. and midnight on TV Land). Other firsts: “Ellen” (today at 6 p.m. on Lifetime),”Family Affair” (Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on TV Land), “The Father Dowling Mysteries” (March 15 at 11 p.m. on KPXN Channel 30), “Nero Wolfe” (March 19 at 11 a.m. on TV Land) and “Hill Street Blues” (March 28 at 1 a.m. on TV Land).

Answer to the trivia question: Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean.

Stations provide airing times and episode schedules, which are subject to change.