Is programming aimed at guys an endangered species? For years I have extolled the mindless pleasure of the cheaply made and often ridiculously cheesy and violent Sci Fi Saturday-night movie. From “Mansquito” to “Gargoyles: Wings of Darkness” and “Hammerhead Shark Frenzy,” these Z-rated movies mixed shocks and gore with tongue-in-cheek humor.

As we all know, Sci Fi recently became Syfy, a change aimed at attracting more females to their audience. And tonight, it seems, even the home of “Frankenfish,” “Snakehead Terror” and “Flu Bird Horror” is under siege.

SyFy will begin adapting and “re-imagining” classic fairy tales, starting tonight with “Beauty and the Beasts: A Dark Tale” (8 p.m., today, SyFy), starring Estella Warren (“Planet of the Apes”) as the beauty and Rhett Giles (“Wraiths of Roanoke”) as the deformed prince who attracts her attention.

Don’t expect the Disney version here. But I’m still worried that “Beasts” and future adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, Sinbad, and Hansel and Gretel just might introduce hifalutin literary concepts like myth and metaphor to this previously mindless province of Saturday Night Guydom.

SyFy is hardly alone. You would think NBC sports would appreciate its male audience. After all, “Sunday Night Football” was the network’s only ratings winner this season. So why has NBC’s Olympics coverage treated the U.S. hockey team’s quest for the gold as an afterthought, consigning hockey to the outer reaches of cable and Internet coverage?

AMC has also gotten into the act. That movie network always draws a large audience when it airs war movies and Westerns. But in a recent effort to attract more women, they have begun airing the short interstitial minicomedy “Life Coach,” featuring Cheri Oteri as a clueless therapist. Having caught a couple of offerings, I’m not sure whether audiences of any gender will find this worth watching.

• Before James Bond, Roger Thornhill or Jack Bauer, there was Richard Hannay. “Masterpiece Classic” (8 p.m., Sunday, PBS, check local listings) presents a new adaptation of “The 39 Steps” based on the novel by John Buchan.

Alfred Hitchcock filmed “Steps” in 1935, and you can see how it informed his idea of the thriller. In fact, this gorgeous version often seems like a variation on Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest.” Hannay (Rupert Penry Jones), a rich and idle veteran of the Boer War, appears at wits’ end on the eve of World War I. But his boredom evaporates when a stranger reveals a German plot to destroy the British Navy. And after that stranger is killed in Hannay’s apartment with Hannay’s revolver, our hero flees in the direction of Scotland to evade the police and to save king and country from military disaster.

Along the way, he’s strafed by a single biplane, just like Cary Grant’s Roger Thornhill in “North By Northwest,” and joins forces with a femme fatale suffragette, Victoria Sinclair (Lydia Leonard), who always seems to have a few tricks up her ruffled sleeve. Featuring gorgeous Scottish scenery and more surprises and double-crosses than the average “Bond” movie, this “39 Steps” is not to be missed.

• The TV Guide Channel toasts Jay Leno’s Monday-night return to “The Tonight Show” with “25 Biggest TV Blunders” (7 p.m., Sunday, TV Guide), a cheeky compilation of the medium’s greatest mistakes, career miscalculations, most baffling plot shifts and broadcasting fiascos.

From infamous moments like the quiz show scandals of the 1950s to Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, “Blunders” ponders curious choices, like Brian Dunkleman’s refusal to return to “American Idol” and Dana Delany’s decision to pass on the role of Carrie Bradshaw on “Sex and the City.” The round-up also includes one of the worst plot shifts ever, the decision by the “Roseanne” writers to depict the Conner family as rich lottery winners during its ninth season, a change that made its audience welcome its departure.

• Stars and their cars take center stage on “Unique Autosports: Miami” (9:30 p.m., Sunday, Spike). Every week, boldfaced names from the world of sports and music bring their expensive wheels in to get customized. Look for LeBron James, Sean Combs, CC Sabathia, Tony Stewart and others.

Today’s highlights

• Winter Olympics coverage (7 p.m., NBC) includes a skating showcase and men’s snowboarding.

• Abby discovers a government compound on “Survivors” (8 p.m., BBC America).

• Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (9 p.m., CBS): Johnny Depp’s quest to free three teenage convicts.

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

Sunday’s highlights

• Winter Olympics coverage (6 p.m., NBC) showcases the closing ceremonies from Vancouver.

• “Disease Detectives” (7 p.m., Discovery Health) follows “House”-like scientific sleuths at the National Institutes of Health.

• Sarah has big news on “Big Love” (8 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).

• A bride’s previous engagement ended abruptly on “Cold Case” (9 p.m., CBS).

• “The Marriage Ref” (9:30 p.m., NBC) offers a tease before airing on Thursday nights.