Specials

The extremely noisy 1996 thriller The Rock (8 p.m., ABC) has its network premiere. Sean Connery plays an ex-con who helps fed Nicolas Cage break into Alcatraz to disarm a crazed Marine (Ed Harris) aiming biochemical weapons at San Francisco. In the conclusion of Noah’s Ark (9 p.m., NBC), Noah and family and their menagerie board the ark and set sail for a three-hour tour. At least, I think that’s how the story goes.

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Series

CBS ushers in May sweeps with Shameless Crossover Monday, in which the male stars of Cosby (8 p.m., CBS), The King of Queens (8:30), Everybody Loves Raymond (9 p.m.) and Becker (9:30) have cameos on each other’s shows. Human Resources director Catbert (voice of Jason Alexander) puts Dilbert in charge of solving the company’s Y2K problem on Dilbert (8 p.m., UPN). On Paula Poundstone’s quirky and likable animated series Home Movies (8:30 p.m., UPN), single mom Paula and 8-year-old Brendon are both even more stressed-out than usual as Brendon’s teachers debate whether to hold him back. On Ally McBeal (9 p.m., Fox), Elaine is sued by a woman who claims Elaine stole the idea for the face bra, and Cage asks Nelle for a date.

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Sports

Basketball:

Celtics at Knicks (8 p.m., TBS)

NHL playoffs:

Conference quarterfinal (teams TBA), Game 7, if necessary (7:30 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2)

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Talk

David Letterman (CBS) Calista Flockhart, Robbie Williams

Jay Leno (NBC) Rick Schroder, Charlotte Church

Politically Incorrect (ABC) Seth Green, Coolio

Conan O’Brien (NBC) Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim Russert (rerun)

Series

Giardello the Younger and Gharty try to reason with a man holding his children hostage on Homicide: Life on the Street (10 p.m. Fri., NBC). Cops (8 p.m. Sat., Fox) celebrates its 400th episode. On a Martial Law (9 p.m. Sat., CBS) two-parter, Sammo tries to thwart a big opium score planned by his former classmate, the now-evil Lee Hei. Alec Baldwin hosts a rerun of Saturday Night Live (11:30 p.m. Sat., NBC), with music from Luciano Pavarotti and Vanessa Williams. Burns feels the heat when a new, nicer billionaire moves into town on The Simpsons (8 p.m. Sun., Fox). Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks appears as herself on Touched by an Angel (8 p.m. Sun., CBS), as Monica brings harmony to a town torn by racial strife. On The X-Files (9 p.m. Sun., Fox), The Lone Gunmen are in Vegas, where they run into the mysterious Suzanne Modeski; they call in Scully to investigate, promising to show her a real good time. Eugene prepares to defend a rabbi (Michael Tucker) accused of rape on The Practice (10 p.m. Sun., ABC).

Series

Chandler’s feelings are hurt when Joey throws himself in front of Ross — not him — at the sound of “gunfire” on Friends (8 p.m., NBC). Also, Emily, who’s about to be married again, leaves a frantic phone message for Ross. Grace uses Will as bait to attract a wealthy gay client (guest Miguel Ferrer) on Will & Grace (8:30 p.m., NBC). Christine Baranski plays Frasier’s rival radio shrink “Dr. Nora” on Frasier (9 p.m., NBC). Behind the Music (9 p.m., VH1) reruns its 90-minute profile of Cher. Hathaway lets Greene in on her secret and Carter mentors a troubled high school student as ER (10 p.m., NBC) enters the homestretch with its final four new episodes this season. Fabio, Bono and Yoko Ono square (triangle?) off in a three-way Celebrity Deathmatch (10 p.m., MTV).

Series

On Dawson’s Creek (8 p.m., WB), Joey’s father is paroled, Dawson learns about his dad and his film teacher and one character checks out of Capeside for good. Marie and Frank don’t appreciate Ray’s inspired Christmas gift on a rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond (8 p.m., CBS). Elliot Gould narrates Shrug’s autobiography on It’s like, you know … (8:30 p.m., ABC). Seven of Nine has a night on the town, courtesy of the Doctor, who’s teaching her about human dating and mating rituals, on Star Trek: Voyager (9 p.m., UPN). And speaking of human dating and mating, Party of Five (9 p.m., Fox) starts its long-rumored “Julia has a girlfriend” storyline. Olivia d’Abo guests as the object of her affection. There’s also an appearance by R.E.M. Great Composers (check local times, PBS) profiles Tchaikovsky and Puccini. Norm has no problem with the new boss’s lax supervision on The Norm Show (9:30 p.m., ABC).

Series

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (8 p.m., WB) was supposed to have a new episode tonight, but it was pulled in the wake of the Colorado high school massacre. The story line had Buffy developing the ability to hear the thoughts of others, including those of a teen planning a deadly assault. Another episode will air in its place. On King of the Hill (8 p.m., Fox), Peggy tutors a death row inmate and Hank doesn’t like it one bit. Fry finds that his bank account has accrued a thousand years’ worth of interest on Futurama (8:30 p.m., Fox). NewsRadio (8:30 p.m., NBC) airs what may be its next-to-last episode ever; Jimmy announces his retirement. On Felicity (9 p.m., WB), Julie receives a surprise from her birth mother, Meghan dons a new look for her parents’ visit and Felicity learns that Noel may be leaving the dorm. Dan and Casey do their best to make sure word of Gordon’s affair gets back to Dana on Sports Night (9:30 p.m., ABC). A recurring character turns up dead and a receptionist from the past returns on NYPD Blue (10 p.m., ABC).

Specials

Stephen Baldwin has a dual role in the miniseries Dean Koontz’s “Mr. Murder” (9 p.m., ABC), playing a successful mystery writer and family man who is menaced by his evil clone. Whatever. James Coburn and Thomas Haden Church co-star.

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Series