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Three networks try something a little different — on Saturday night, no less, TV’s forgotten evening.

“The Wanda Sykes Show” (10 p.m., Fox) debuts. It’s a new weekly talk show from a veteran stand-up artist who has had several HBO comedy specials, her own Fox sitcom (“Wanda at Large”) and a supporting role on the CBS comedy “The New Adventures of Old Christine.”

Sykes will mix observations about the past week’s events with filmed segments and man- or woman-on-the-street interviews and set-ups. Sykes’ most recent HBO special devoted entirely too much time to observations about the Obamas and hit its stride only when she offered more personal observations.

• CBS goes back to the future, broadcasting a two-hour Mixed Martial Arts bout between Russian Fedor Emelianenko and Minnesotan Brett Rogers on “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers” (8 p.m., CBS, today).

A change from the network’s “48 Hours”-heavy schedule, “Strikeforce” reflects a return to TV tradition. Long before sitcoms, dramas or even Westerns, networks filled their schedule with professional wrestling and boxing.

• Long a staple of A&E, “Live by Request” (8 p.m., today, PBS, check local listings) moves to public television with a showcase for John Fogerty. Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for the chart-topping Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Fogerty went on to a successful solo career punctuated by legal wrangling over rights and ownership of his own songs.

Mark Goodman hosts “Live By Request.” Viewers may recall him as one of the original MTV VJs. He currently hosts a show of his own on satellite radio.

• Countdown to Armageddon could easily describe this season of “Mad Men” (9 p.m., Sunday, AMC), concluding tonight. The series’ penchant for tying character’s plights to the changing social mores and political upheavals of the era reached a dark apotheosis of sorts last week when they all experienced the Kennedy assassination weekend — each in his or her own miserable fashion.

Gone are the episodes in which a moment of absurdity or whimsy might lighten the mood. “Mad Men” has become a curious TV phenomenon, a must-see exercise in relentlessly grim melodrama. It has come to resemble “Peyton Place” as directed by Ingmar Bergman. I can’t wait for season 4.

Today’s highlights

• Robin surprises Isabella on “Robin Hood” (8 p.m., BBC America).

• Harry Connick Jr. and Rob Brydon (“Gavin and Stacey”) appear on “The Graham Norton Show” (9 p.m., BBC America).

• Taylor Swift hosts and performs on “Saturday Night Live” (10:30 p.m., NBC).

Sunday’s highlights

• Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): cyber-terrorism; Iraq’s Marsh Arab minority; an interview with Andre Agassi.

• A cartoon’s cast appears in the flesh on “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show” (7:30 p.m., Fox).

• “Place of Execution” concludes on “Masterpiece” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings).

• Cheryl does not have a lock on her part on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (8 p.m., HBO).

• Kitty suffers side effects on “Brothers & Sisters” (9 p.m., ABC).