What's On

PICK OF THE WEEK

The American Experience

Monday, May 26, 9-11 p.m.

(PBS)

TV highlights for the week of May 25-31. All times are Eastern; check local listings. Ratings are listed for shows when available.

SUNDAY - 5/25

The Indianapolis 500 (ABC, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m.): Speed is the name of the game as one of auto racing's biggest events takes place at the Brickyard.

Coca-Cola 600 (TBS, 6:05-10:35 p.m.): Another jewel in the auto-racing crown, this NASCAR race is run at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

National Memorial Day Concert (PBS, 8-9:30 p.m.): Music and readings fill the annual tribute, hosted by Ossie Davis in Washington. Featuring James Earl Jones, Colin Powell, soprano Sylvia McNair, and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Murder One (ABC, 9-11 p.m.): Fans of the courtroom drama - which was unceremoniously yanked this winter - get one final chance to find out whodunit. In this six-hour miniseries about vigilante justice, Wyler (Anthony LaPaglia) and associates defend a self-righteous serial killer known as the Street Sweeper (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who proudly admits to having murdered 17 ex-cons. The series continues Monday and concludes Thursday. (TV-PG)

MONDAY - 5/26

The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Marathon (Disney, 3-7 p.m.): Celebrate Memorial Day with this animated block featuring the endearing blockhead and his intrepid beagle. Highlights include "Snoopy Come Home" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown."

The American Experience (PBS, 9-11 p.m.): This series focuses on the Vietnam War for the next two months as it airs an encore of the Emmy-winning 1983 series "Vietnam: a Television History." The documentary took six years to make and drew on the film archives of a dozen countries. It brings the events of the first televised war to a generation once removed from the conflict. Originally 13 hours long, it has been condensed to 11, and kicks off with this two-hour episode covering Vietnam's history and the evolution of early American support. Although the first installment contains little graphic content, the series carries a viewer discretion advisory.

TUESDAY - 5/27

Frontline (PBS, 9-11 p.m.): In 1991, "Frontline" won an Emmy for its coverage of the Little Rascals scandal, in which six day-care workers and a North Carolina businessman were charged with 429 counts of child sexual abuse. Now, seven years, three dismissals, two plea bargains, and two overturned convictions later, "Frontline" returns to Edenton, N.C., for an update on the case, which is still open. This installment focuses on the difficult choice facing the defendants (whom the documentary strongly implies are innocent): fight the system, and maybe spend the rest of your life in jail, or cop a plea.

WEDNESDAY - 5/28

American Visions (PBS, 9-11 p.m.): Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes hosts this eight-part documentary looking at American history through the lens of art. (See review, Page 12.)

AFI Salute to Martin Scorsese (CBS, 10-11 p.m.): He thought of being a priest but wound up in the director's chair as the vision behind 23 films including "Taxi Driver, "GoodFellas," and "The Color of Money." Scorsese receives the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award amid accolades from stars he has directed, among them Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and host, Sharon Stone. Plenty of clips, including an intense fight scene from "Raging Bull." (TV-14)

FRIDAY - 5/30

College World Series (ESPN, 3:30-6:30 p.m.): ESPN heads to Omaha for Game 1 of the series.

Melinda: First Lady of Magic (CBS, 8-9 p.m.): The first female magician to get a prime-time special makes a Lamborghini, driven by Al Unser, disappear, and a jet, driven by Roger Rabbit, appear. (TV-PG)

TV-Y All Children

TV-Y7 Directed to Older Children

TV-G General Audience

TV-PG Parental Guidance Suggested

TV-14 Parents Strongly Cautioned

TV-M Mature Audience Only