Weekend TV: Memorial Day programming

•Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, and CBS kicks off the season with a double-run of Chaos (Saturday, 8 ET/PT), a spring failure scheduled to burn off its episodes in this slot.

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  AP

  
  

  Gary Sinise: On hand to co-host concert.

AP

Gary Sinise: On hand to co-host concert.

This unpolished CIA comedy wasn't quite ready for seasonal prime time, but don't dismiss it out of hand.

If broadcast networks produced scripted shows for summer, this is the USA Network-kind of show they'd probably be making — and it's better than the new USA shows you'll soon be getting.

•One of the holiday's best TV traditions returns Sunday when PBS airs The National Memorial Day Concert (8 ET/5 PT, times may vary), live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

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  STORY:Robert's chat returns June 6; read the latest transcript

  
  

Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna are co-hosts, with performances and readings by Colin Powell, Dianne Wiest, B.B. King, Jason Ritter, Pia Toscano, Yolanda Adams and the National Symphony Orchestra, among others.

•The live celebration continues in our nation's capital with the National Memorial Day Parade (Military Channel, Monday, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT).

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Critic's Corner Weekend: 'Fringe' wraps third season

Blame Canada. Northern import Flashpoint (tonight, 8 ET/PT) returns, as CBS keeps airing it in an apparent drive to make its own procedurals look better in comparison.

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  By Andrew Macpherson, Fox

  
  

  Joshua Jackson: Peter on Fringe.

By Andrew Macpherson, Fox

Joshua Jackson: Peter on Fringe.

•There's much better TV news over on Fox with the third-season finale of the already renewed Fringe (9 ET/PT).

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  TV TALK: Chat with Robert Bianco on Monday, 2 p.m. ET

  
  


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  DVR GUIDE: Robert helps you know what's essential to record

  
  


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  MAY TV CALENDAR: All the month's highlights

  
  

What a fraught finale it should be, with the team struggling to save our universe, a struggle all may not survive. Fringe got off to a slow start this season, yet what's become apparent is how carefully that stretch was laying the groundwork for this final, terrific rush.

Think of it as a lesson to all of us (myself included) in patience and in the value of giving writers a little leeway to tell a story in their own way and time.

•When it comes to amusing showbiz shamelessness, you can't top Syfy's Saturday film franchise. Just as the big screen has Thor, SyFy has Almighty Thor (9 ET/PT), another movie that exists solely for its title.

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