Oh, those wacky, tacky Windsors. If you harbor any doubts that the story of the British royal family has digressed from drama to tragedy to farce, they will be dispelled by the 2005 TV movie “Charles & Camilla: Whatever Love Means” (7 p.m., WE). It’s supposed to be a plea for understanding for England’s star-crossed lovebirds, now united in holy matrimony after decades of scandal. But it gets funnier and more absurd as it unfolds, while at the same time depicting the royal family as the most dysfunctional bunch this side of Jerry Springer’s couch.

We all know the story. Charles (Laurence Fox) has the misfortune of becoming the Prince of Wales at a time when the world seems more enamored of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll than duty, crown and country.

Charles falls for Camilla (Olivia Poulet) in 1970. She’s a down-to-earth commoner given to bad hairdos, worse wardrobes (hey, it was the 1970s!) and utter frankness. She’s quick to remind Prince Chuck that her past is not exactly chaste and that all they can share is a fling.

Years go by, Charles enters the navy, Camilla marries Andrew Parker Bowles, and the prince goes speed-dating through a retinue of glittering Eurotrash who receive cold glances from the royal mum. The soundtrack of “Whatever Love Means” could be released by K-tel as “The Worst and Weirdest Hits of the ’70s.” At one point Charles is seen boogying down to an ABBA song as interpreted by a string quartet.

But all the time, he pines for Camilla, the only woman who understands him and gets his jokes. And just to prove that love is blind, she is photographed from the ghastliest angles. The film reaches its perverse apotheosis when Camilla decides to procure a proper wife for Charles. And as she lurches into “Dangerous Liaisons” mode, the film’s soundtrack offers a snippet from the theme to “The Deer Hunter.” It’s no secret what doe-like innocent has fallen into Camilla’s crosshairs.

¢ Fans of superior thrillers should clear their calendars. The 10-hour miniseries “Sleeper Cell” (9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime) will air from Sunday to Wednesday and conclude with a two-hour installment Dec. 18.

“Cell” takes viewers into a militant Islamic terrorist group operating in Los Angeles. Early on, we learn that one of the members is actually a mole feeding information to the FBI and fighting with the agency to keep his operation going long enough to prevent an attack on the scale of 9-11.

Today’s highlights

¢ Florida State and Virginia Tech tangle in College Football action (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Country artists celebrate their celebrity on “The Academy of Country Music’s 40th Anniversary Celebration” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Witness to an execution on “Medium” (8 p.m., NBC).

Sunday’s highlights

¢ Scheduled on “Dateline” (6 p.m., NBC): Gretchen Wilson, Mel Brooks, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

¢ Santos (Jimmy Smits) navigates a racial minefield on “West Wing” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ A widower receives assistance on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Carlos answers a calling on “Desperate Housewives” (8 p.m., ABC).

¢ Rosanna Arquette guest stars on “Grey’s Anatomy” (9 p.m., ABC).