Television will have plenty of Regis Philbin this week

Regis Philbin will get more air time this week than Dan Rather did during the Gulf War as ABC walks softly and carries a big Regis for the last full week of the 1999-00 TV season.

Besides three regular editions of the hit game show "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, the network also will plug in a bonus edition Wednesday at 7 p.m.

If that somehow doesn't satisfy your appetite for Regis and the show, ABC also will offer a one-hour special that goes behind the scenes of the game show at 9 p.m. Thursday, up against the season finale of "ER."

Sunday night's edition of "Millionaire" will be the first of four special editions in which top winners from previous shows -- everyone who won at least $500,000 -- will return to play again.

Between Monday night and the end of the sweeps on May 24, Philbin will be on the air for seven nights and eight hours.

Plenty of finales as the sweeps and the TV season approach the final days next week, when Regis ... er, ABC will be declared the undisputed winner of the 35-week ratings war.

USA network also will present the second edition of its disgustingly lurid and low-brow game show "Strip Poker" at 10 Tuesday night. It's cheap, salacious programming that's tremendously disappointing because the contestants go no further than the equivalent of small bathing suits.

Some of the highlights for the week.

MONDAY

"25 Years of No. 1 Hits: Arista Records' Anniversary Celebration," 7 p.m., NBC. Arista Records celebrates 25 years of music with archival footage and music performances. Scheduled guests include Carlos Santana, Whitney Houston, Sarah McLachlan and many others.

"Secrets of the Dead," 7 p.m., PBS. The first part of this four-part, five-hour miniseries is called "Catastrophe" and revolves around writer David Keys' theory that a cataclysmic event in A.D. 535 changed history, bringing about the Dark Ages, the rise of Islam and the fall of Teotihuacan.

"7th Heaven," 7 p.m., WB. Season finale. Eric and Annie are dismayed when Mary decides to reunite with Robbie; Heather tells Matt that she still loves him; Simon gets dumped. Part one of two.

"Ally McBeal," 8 p.m., Fox. Mark (James Le Gros) leads the charge against Nelle when she suddenly drops a bombshell on the firm, which causes chaos, especially for Cage, Fish and Elaine.

"Roswell," 8 p.m., WB. Season finale.

"They Drew Fire," 9 p.m., PBS. The work of artists and photographers paid by the War Department to capture the GI experience during World War II.

TUESDAY

"Unauthorized: Brady Bunch the Final Days," 7 p.m., Fox. Brady Bunch "mini-movie" followed by "After Diff'rent Strokes: When the Laughter Stopped." Both specials look at what happened on the shows after the ratings began to decline and the stars began to fade into oblivion.

"On the Inside," 7 p.m., Discovery. "The Concorde" is a profile of the record-breaking supersonic passenger aircraft on its 30th birthday.

"Just Shoot Me," 8:30 p.m., NBC. Season finale.

"Sports Night," 8:30 p.m., ABC. Season finale and, perhaps, the series finale of a good series that's never found much of an audience.

"Frontline," 9 p.m., PBS. Kip Kinkel's family, friends and teachers discuss what might have gone wrong prior to his opening fire on an Oregon high school in 1998, killing two and wounding 22. TV-14.

WEDNESDAY

"Beverly Hills, 90210," 7 p.m., Fox. Two-hour series finale of one of the shows that helped establish Fox as one of the players in the network ratings battles. Childhood sweethearts Donna and David get married; Kelly must choose between Matt and Dylan; Steve becomes a stay-at-home father.

"The West Wing," 8 p.m., NBC. In the season finale of the best new show of the 1999-2000 TV season, President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) prepares for a town hall meeting with college students while the U.S. military races to find a downed American pilot in the Iraqi desert before the Iraqi military captures him.

"Drew Carey," 8 p.m., ABC. Season finale. Drew and the gang spoof the lengths some shows go to to win an Emmy.

"The Awful Truth," 9 p.m., Bravo. After bouncing around from one network to another, Michael Moore's series has found a home on Bravo, where it will debut tonight for a new season of 12 episodes as part of Bravo's "Counter Culture Wednesdays." Moore, best known for his feature length documentary "Roger & Me" about General Motors plant closings, said his mission is "to remain the only show on television that's never given away $1 million."

THURSDAY

"Friends," 7 p.m., NBC. One-hour season finale. Guest star Tom Selleck reprises his role of Richard, Monica's handsome former boyfriend, when he accidentally encounters his old flame along with her nervous -- and tongue-tied -- beau, Chandler, at a romantic restaurant.

"Murder She Wrote: A Story To Die For," 7 p.m., CBS. Angela Lansbury and Richard Crenna star in the second new television movie under the "Murder, She Wrote" banner. In this one, Jessica Fletcher is attending a book convention where she meets up with an old friend and finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

"Popular," 7 p.m., WB. Season finale. Jane and Mike try to get hitched, along with Cherry Cherry and Erik Estrada. TV-14.

"Frasier," 8 p.m., NBC. In the one-hour season finale, Frasier spouts romantic advice separately to Niles and Daphne just before his brother disappears for the weekend with Mel (guest star Jane Adams).

"Mystery!," 8 p.m., PBS. In "Murder Rooms: The Dark Origins of Sherlock Holmes," sleuthing success prompts medical student Arthur Conan Doyle to suspect foul play in a seemingly innocent death in this true story behind his creation of Sherlock Holmes. Part one of two.

"Charmed," 8 p.m., WB. Season finale.

"ER," 9 p.m., NBC. Season finale. Dr. Kovac crosses swords with Benton over prioritizing care for a young victim of a deadly school shooting versus a more seriously wounded gunman. Benton and Dr. Corday share a moment of mutual triumph when they successfully complete a risky but life-saving surgical procedure on a wounded student from the schoolyard.

FRIDAY

"Providence," 7 p.m., NBC. Season finale.

"The Dukes of Hazzard -- Hazzard in Hollywood," 7 p.m., CBS. John Schneider, Tom Wopat star in a movie that demonstrates that CBS may be fresh out of good ideas. In this one, the Dukes and their friends head for Hollywood hoping to raise quick cash for a much-needed hospital back home.

"Jamie Foxx," 7 p.m., WB. Season finale.

"The 27th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards," 8 p.m., ABC. Barbara Walters, one of television's most highly acclaimed journalists, world-renowned for her ground-breaking interviews, will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in this live telecast.

"Steve Harvey," 8 p.m., WB. Season finale.

"For Your Love," 8:30 p.m., WB. Season finale.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 9 p.m., NBC. Season finale. An attorney suspected of keeping a Romanian immigrant as a sex slave is linked to a woman's murder; the SVU detectives are interviewed by a police psychologist. TV-14.

"Nash Bridges," 9 p.m., CBS. Season finale.

SATURDAY

"Harsh Realm Marathon," 4 p.m., FX. All nine episodes of the Chris Carter virtual reality series that was canceled by Fox early in the TV season. The programs will be presented in the sequence in which they first aired.

"Cheaters," 8 p.m., HBO. Jeff Daniels, Jena Malone and Paul Sorvino star in a film based on a real-life academic scandal that began when Steinmetz High teacher Dr. Gerald Plecki recruited seven of his best students to compete in a renowned academic decathlon against the school that had won for the last nine years.

SUNDAY

"Mermaid," 7 p.m., Showtime. Ellen Burstyn and Samantha Mathis star in a new family film made for Showtime. The movie is based on the true story of a 5-year-old who sends a letter attached to a Little Mermaid balloon to her deceased father. It is answered by a family in Mermaid, Canada, some 3,800 miles from her home.

"Malcolm in the Middle," 7:30 p.m., Fox. Season finale. Hal, Lois, Reese and Malcolm take a trip to a local water park, but leave Dewey home alone with a very strict babysitter (guest star Bea Arthur).

"Growing Up Brady," 8 p.m., NBC. Michael Tucker ("L.A. Law,") heads the "blended family" cast of this behind-the-scenes look at the true story of the filming of "The Brady Bunch," which became one of America's favorite family television shows.