What's on TV

SHOWS WORTH NOTING FOR May 15-21

Listings are not necessarily recommended by the Monitor. All times Eastern, check local listings.

SATURDAY 5/15 Saturday Night Live (11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.): Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") hosts the season finale with musical guests the Backstreet Boys. (TV-14)

SUNDAY 5/16 PICK OF THE WEEK Joan of Arc (CBS, 9-11 p.m.): An extraordinary TV movie filmed in the Czech Republic. Leelee Sobieski stars as Joan, the 15th-century French peasant who hears "voices from God" telling her to help the Dauphin Charles (Neil Patrick Harris) claim the French throne and drive out the English. Sobieski is accompanied by a starry cast, including Jacqueline Bisset, Powers Boothe, Peter O'Toole, and Shirley Maclaine. The well-told and impressive TV movie concludes with Part 2 Tuesday (see story above).

Double Platinum (ABC, 9-11 p.m.): Brandy and Diana Ross star in this musical drama about a singing teenager reunited with her superstar mom. Ross plays Olivia King, a pop star who arranges a meeting with Kayla Harris (Brandy), an aspiring singer, the child she deserted years ago.

The X-Files (Fox, 9-10 p.m.): The show ends its season with a two-part cliffhanger. In "Biogenesis," Mimi Rogers returns as agent Fowley and the discovery of an ancient artifact endangers the life of agent Mulder. (TV-PG, V)

MONDAY 5/17

Episode I: Unauthorized Report on 'Phantom Menace' (Sci-Fi Channel, 9-10 p.m.): The Sci-Fi channel airs its original documentary on the "Star Wars" prequel.

TUESDAY 5/18

Good Morning America (ABC, 7-9 a.m.): Joel Siegel interviews "Phantom Menace" costar Liam Neeson. Also, GMA keeps watch over three young fans who have been sleeping outside a Los Angeles movie theater since the middle of March to be first to buy tickets to the new "Star Wars" movie.

WEDNESDAY 5/19

Wild! Life Adventures (TBS, 10:05-11:05 p.m.): There are other creatures in New York than people, pets, and pigeons. Actress Isabella Rossellini takes viewers on a relaxing stroll through the wild side of Central Park in this pleasing documentary.

THURSDAY 5/20

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (CBS, 9-11 p.m.): Courtesy of a snafu at the CIA, the recently divorced Emily Pollifax (Angela Lansbury) embarks on her childhood dream: to become a secret agent. The mission takes her from Marrakesh, Morocco, to Paris, leaving behind a trail of events that become a comedy of errors. And it's not Pollifax who's bungling. This isn't James Bond or Austin Powers, but it's what we've come to expect of Lansbury: endearing and witty.

FRIDAY 5/21

Daytime Emmy Awards (CBS, 9-11 p.m.): The 26th annual award show honors the best of daytime television. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" are among those nominated for Best Talk Show.