On TV this weekend, Sept. 4-7

On TV this weekend

FRIDAY

NFL Preseason Football, 7 p.m., NBC If the subpar, pointless football doesn't make you snore, the fact that the Bucs are playing the Houston Texans at RayJay will. Hopefully, there won't be a lightning delay this time.

The War of the Worlds, 8 p.m., TCM Give your kids a dose of real pop culture by showing them this George Pal flick that taught generations that real special effects use models, real aliens are midgets in suits and real scientists take off their glasses when things get tough.

The Time Machine, 9:30 p.m., TCM Follow that up with this Pal take on another H.G. Wells classic, in which he doesn't modernize the book or move the action to America (but people still speak English 800,000 years from now), shows us that blond-haired, blue-eyed people are the only humans worth saving and, really, you should take care of your books.

SATURDAY

SEASON FINALE The Bill Engvall Show, 9 p.m., TBS Not one but two episodes to close out the season. Because we just couldn't take one more week of this.

SEASON PREMIERE Imagination Movers, 10 a.m., Disney Good thing there's something on for the kids, because after being up all night Friday drinking, we don't have much imagination to move.

SUNDAY

Nick News With Linda Ellerbee: $TRE$$ED OUT! The Economic Crisis and You, 8 p.m., Nickelodeon Apparently, this special explaining why mom and dad fight all the time and there's baked beans for dinner every night is solving its own budget problems by charging the network per letter in its title.

HGTV Design Star, 10 p.m., HGTV The finalists have to design rooms for Kathy Griffin, Jason Priestley and Tiffani Thiessen. One has to go home after repeatedly calling her Tiffani-Amber Thiessen.

MONDAY

Manson, 9 p.m., History This network has been hyping this doc about the horrific Sharon Tate murder scene for weeks, because they know weirdos like me will watch the History Channel even while loafing on the couch full of barbecued meat.

Mystery Diagnosis, 10 p.m., Discovery Health Speaking of which, this episode entitled "The Woman Who Couldn't Stop Burping" fits in quite nicely with that theme. Join the club, lady!

— Joshua Gillin jgillin@tampabay.com