TBS adds the weekly late night series “Frank TV” (10 p.m., TBS) to its comedy lineup. Frank Caliendo (“MadTV”) offers an onslaught of impressions from the cast of “Seinfeld” to presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Caliendo appears in front of a studio audience on a set he calls a fake living room and introduces a series of sketches featuring his takes on celebrities. Given the writers’ strike and the weekly nature of these canned skits, topicality is in short supply.

The most newsworthy sketch involves President Bush’s inability to offer a pre-wedding heart-to-heart talk to his daughter Jenna. He lets Vice President Dick Cheney give the heart-to-heart in his place, with less than side-splitting results.

Caliendo’s talents as a mimic are impressive, but the show only reinforces the notion that comedy impressionists can be rather blank slates and operate better as guests than hosts. The man does a mean John Madden, but Frank Caliendo being Frank Caliendo is just not terribly funny.

¢ “Frontline” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) revisits the slaughter in the Darfur region of Sudan and the unwillingness of the world community to do anything about it. This segment, titled “On Our Watch,” begins with a sobering observation from an unnamed writer: “If the United Nations could die of shame, it would have been dead years ago.”

The slaughter, rape and forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of Africans began as early as 2003. “Frontline” includes interviews with U.N. officials on the scene in Sudan who made the case for action. But officials put a higher priority on negotiating a cease-fire between the Sudanese government and rebels in the south. As it turned out, the government of Sudan dragged out the negotiations to buy time to complete the ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

China’s need for Sudan’s oil wealth gave the African nation a powerful ally on the U.N. Security Council, and China would go on to veto, block or water down many resolutions on Darfur. Only recently, after activists in the west promised to paint the 2008 Olympic Games as “The Genocide Olympics,” has China allowed a resolution authorizing a large peacekeeping force in the region.

If there is a silver lining here, it is the story of how applied pressure by dedicated people can move governments and world organizations. But not soon enough for the more than 200,000 murdered in Darfur.

¢ ABC anticipates the holidays with two Peanuts specials, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (7 p.m., ABC) and “He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown” (7:30 p.m., ABC).

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ A cleric’s remains point to a familiar suspect on “Bones” (7 p.m., Fox). Ryan O’Neal guest stars.

¢ The final five applicants help House treat a magician on “House” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ Grey infiltrates a gang stealing munitions and weapons from the military on “The Unit” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ A young girl’s murder appears linked to ultimate fighting on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Brad holds a post-selection party on “The Bachelor” (9 p.m., ABC).

¢ Dawn goes from bad to worse on “Nip/Tuck” (9 p.m., FX).

¢ “Independent Lens” (9 p.m., PBS, check local listings) presents “The Creek Runs Red,” which looks at the impact of decades of zinc mining on an Oklahoma town that has been dubbed “the most toxic place in America.”

Cult choice

A virtual who’s who of comedy circa 1963 is assembled to play desperate and greedy treasure seekers in the manic comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (9:15 p.m., TCM).