How do you measure the cost of war? The one-hour special “Battlefield Breakdown” (7 p.m. today, CNN) goes beyond the statistics to explore the personal, military, political and logistical problems of a struggle that has lasted far longer than anyone planned.

Hosted by John King, “Battlefield” visits with the family of Stephen Castner, a Wisconsin native and National Guardsman killed on his third day in Iraq. Castner’s grieving parents believe that his death is a symbol of poor planning and of forces stretched beyond their endurance. When Castner enlisted, he was promised a job in computers, but he was rushed into infantry and, according to his e-mails, sent to a war zone without adequate training.

“Battlefield” looks at the toll the war has taken on military hardware – the thousands of Humvees and helicopters chewed up by active duty in a hostile climate. King visits with a wounded veteran of the Guard, now serving as a member of the Texas legislature, who went from being a lawyer to a soldier in a combat zone with minimal military training. King concludes his report by visiting a 20-something Army veteran of several tours in Iraq. He’s preparing for another in spite of the fact that he’s nearly deaf in one ear, hobbled by wounds to both feet, beset with nightmares and sleepwalking, and medicated for trauma. The proud but weary soldier sums up his situation rather succinctly: “I’m tired.”

¢ Matt Lauer hosts “Concert for Diana” (7 p.m., Sunday, NBC) in honor of the British princess who died 10 summers ago. Scheduled performers include Elton John, Duran Duran, Bryan Ferry, Joss Stone and many others.

As the Oscar-winning movie “The Queen” made clear, the death of Diana was a milestone in British history, a time when public opinion and popular culture began to eclipse the British traditions of royal reserve and stiff upper lips. Yet we’ve since learned that even the modernizing British Prime Minister Tony Blair agonized over whether it would be tacky for Elton John to perform at Diana’s funeral. He did perform, and revised “Candle in the Wind” to boot. Was it tacky? You decide.

Diana’s death also marked a turning point in American TV culture. It’s fitting that Lauer hosts this event in the “Dateline” timeslot. The wall-to-wall coverage of the Diana tragedy in 1997 put the emphasis on image over content and emotions over information. It’s a trend that has only gotten more extreme in the past decade.

For more Diana nostalgia, don’t miss the repeat documentary “Diana: Queen of Hearts” (11 a.m. Sunday, WE), narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough.

For the record, Diana died on Aug. 31, 1997, so we can look forward to a good two months of tributes and tears.

Tonight’s highlights

¢ Matthew Fox hosts “Saturday Night Live” (10:25 p.m., NBC), featuring musical guest Tenacious D.

Sunday’s highlights

¢ Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): high rates of survival for battlefield wounded; a survivor of Rwanda’s killing fields; Russell Crowe.

¢ A death at a munitions plant appears to have been murder on “Foyle’s War” on “Mystery” (8 p.m., PBS).

¢ Joan mulls retirement or disgrace on “Army Wives” (9 p.m., Lifetime).