Death key topic for two cable shows

We’re all about death on Sunday night. Cheery, huh?

At 9, it’s another new episode of HBO’s family funeral home drama “Six Feet Under.”

Normally the show also qualifies as black comedy and soap opera. But last week, it edged over into melodrama as son David (Michael C. Hall) found himself at the mercy of a psycho hitchhiker in an episode that divided the show’s fans.

Love it or hate it, we were all talking about it the next day.

This week, he’ll be grappling with fallout from that terrifying experience, even as he’s uncomfortable with how he’s treated at home. We’re told that Fisher & Diaz also hosts two very different parties in one night, and Nate continues his unbearable grief odyssey.

Best of all, Claire and her art-school girlfriends take a trip.

Then at 10, switch over to Showtime for the season premiere of “Dead Like Me.” The young, comely and dead George (Ellen Muth) is still working on her issues about her new job as a grim reaper, but her boss (Mandy Patinkin) really feels it’s time for her to get with the program. So she’s assigned to train his nephew.

Meanwhile, fellow reaper Mason gets his clown on to do some business at a kid’s birthday party.

Highlights

“Unbreakable” (2000), ABC tonight at 8: Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson star in M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural tale about the only survivor of a horrific train accident.

“The Amazing Race 5,” CBS tonight at 8: Repeat of this week’s episode of one of the few reality series you don’t have to be embarrassed about watching. Followed by two repeats of “Without a Trace.”

“MAD TV,” Fox tonight at 11: J.C. Chasez guests.

“Saturday Night Live,” NBC tonight at 11:30: Repeat hosted by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen with musical guest J-Kwon.

“60 Minutes,” CBS Sunday at 7.

“King of the Hill,” Fox Sunday at 7: Arlen is flooding, and Hank’s at the dam. Repeat.

“Dateline,” NBC Sunday at 7: Two hours.

“Malcolm in the Middle,” Fox Sunday at 7:30: Lois accompanies Malcolm on his visit to check out college. Repeat.

“Cold Case,” CBS Sunday at 8: Repeat looking at a 1990 murder in which one of the devout was found in a compromising position.

“The Simpsons,” Fox Sunday at 8: Mr. Burns tries to take over all the media in Springfield, and only Lisa can stop him. It’s a repeat that has absolutely nothing to do with Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch, I’m sure.

“Arrested Development,” Fox Sunday at 8:30: Michael’s birthday dinner for Lucille is a fiasco that leads to a road-rage incident. Repeat.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” CBS Sunday at 9: The 2001 TV version of the mystery tale, with Alfred Molina as Poirot.

“The Simple Life 2,” Fox Sunday at 9: Repeat. Paris and Nicole work as maids at the Caliente Nudist Colony.

“Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” NBC Sunday at 9: Repeat. Murders of a government mob witness and an undercover police officer put the detectives in the middle of the family feuds of a dying Mafia don.

“Mystery!” KSPS Sunday at 8: “Foyle’s War II” finds the sleuth’s son flying over Nazi Germany.

“Quintuplets,” Fox Sunday at 9:30: Bob and Carol make the quints get jobs. Repeat.

“The Days,” ABC Sunday at 10: Jack and Abby both have career issues, but Cooper is doing fine.

“Crossing Jordan,” NBC Sunday at 10: A reporter is beaten and shot dead while working a story about a young prostitute. Repeat.

Family Fare

“Chicken Run” (2000), NBC tonight at 8: Mel Gibson and Julia Sawalha top the voice cast of this stop-motion animated tale of poultry heroism in 1950s England.

Cable Cast

“NYPD Animal Squad,” Animal Planet tonight at 8: Premiere. K9 and equine officers work with their animal counterparts and battle animal abuse. Two hours.

Shut off your brain night, MTV tonight at 8: Two repeats of “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica,” followed by a repeat of “Britney Spears: Live from Miami,” followed by two repeats of “The Ashlee Simpson Show.”

“Hells Angels ‘69” (1969), Speedvision tonight at 5: Little-seen biker/caper flick in which two young slicksters think they can use the Angels for cover. Think again, dudes. Real Angels, including the legendary Sonny Barger, play themselves here.

“Cabin Fever” (2002), Cinemax tonight at 10: A little “Evil Dead” (1981), a little “Blair Witch” (1999), a little “28 Days Later” (2002), as a cabin full of glossy younguns faces a nasty virus.

Baseball, ESPN Sunday at 5: Final game of a weekend New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox slugfest from Fenway Park.

“John Kerry: Bringing the War Home,” MSNBC Sunday at 9: An hour on the presidential candidate’s youthful post-Vietnam activism, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Tour de France, Outdoor Life Network Sunday at 9: The great race arrives in Paris.

“Entourage,” HBO Sunday at 10: Expensive wheels and responsibility versus partying are among some of the issues facing Vince and his posse this week. Followed at 10:30 by “Da Ali G Show.”