If cable television is any indication, half the people in America are trying to sell a house, while the other half strive to eke a living out of a dog-grooming business.

Tough times call for innovation, so leave it to the Style Network to promote a hair stylist as a business consultant. “Peter Perfect” (8 p.m., Style) stars Peter Ishkhans, a style guru who believes that business success begins with a personal makeover and an examination of decor.

Both activities involve a little reflection. What does your outfit/haircut/storefront say about your business and its relationship to the clientele?

Given his business plan, one has to wonder just how often Peter glances in the mirror. His first clients, who run a family-run dog grooming outfit in rural California, seem taken aback by his get-up. “We don’t get too many Peters around here,” observes one groomer.

Perhaps that’s because Peter seems stuck in a Dudley Moore look, circa “Arthur.” Peter’s style and hair salon background provoke occasional explanation. He proudly and repeatedly explains, “I’m not gay. I’m British!”

In other vocational entertainment, “Groomer Has it” (8 p.m., Saturday, Animal Planet) pairs off contestants and asks them to compete in a sheep-shearing contest.

¢ “John Oliver: Terrifying Times” (9 p.m., Sunday, Comedy Central) provides the “Daily Show” correspondent an hour to make observations, mainly about politics. He offers quips about the differences between the British empire and 21st-century America, and he explains, in a too-contrived reminiscence, how a sporting-event embarrassment inspired him to become a comedian.

While I can’t deny that Oliver is a clever guy, I didn’t laugh once. It’s difficult to credit political discourse, even “fake” political discourse, when it takes place before a packed house of like-minded fans. And it’s hard to find much mirth in the 4,000th observation that President Bush is not a terribly good speaker.

However flippant, Oliver’s routine and accompanying Powerpoint presentation have the atmosphere of a lecture. His material and observations would probably seem more trenchant on the page.

¢ Jeff Daniels and Marlee Matlin star in the made-for-TV drama “Sweet Nothing in My Ear” (8 p.m., Sunday, CBS). The film follows a divorce-custody battle through a series of flashbacks after Dan (Daniels) seeks an operation to restore hearing to his deaf son. The boy’s deaf mother (Matlin) believes there is nothing wrong with her son and that the surgical implant is a needless assault on what she sees as a proud culture of deaf people. Like many films of its kind, “Nothing” is more concerned with discussing issues than developing characters.

Today’s highlights

¢ Daniel Radcliffe stars in the 2004 fantasy “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ On two hours of “48 Hours Mystery” (CBS): dreams of murder (8 p.m.), a news anchor gets too close to a story (9 p.m.).

¢ “Torchwood” (8 p.m., BBC America) ends its second season.

Sunday’s highlights

¢ Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): gastric-bypass surgery; a famous Venetian mural may be hiding a gem by Michelangelo.

¢ “Nature” (7 p.m., PBS, check local listings) profiles a Rwandan Gorilla king.

¢ “Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane” (7 p.m., Style), featuring Kimora Lee Simmons, enters its second season.

¢ Ashlee Simpson and the Naked Brothers Band appear on “Dance On Sunset” (7:30 p.m., Nickelodeon).