Stars add sparkle to ‘American Dreams’

Family Fare favorites old and — maybe — new debut Sunday at 8.

On NBC, it’s the season premiere of “American Dreams.” The best part of this 1960s family drama is often the star cameos.

Tonight Brandy guests as Gladys Knight, singing “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” Gavin DeGraw sings in the Lair, and Ben Taylor — James’ singing son — joins the cast as an aspiring singer who’s eyeing Beth — and performs a Beatles song.

But there’s also a lot going on for Meg (Brittany Snow) and her family and friends. Her arrest jeopardizes Dad’s bid for city council, Sam may lose his scholarship, and Meg and Roxanne run afoul of their high school’s ban on miniskirts.

Plus, JJ finds out what happened on the battlefield in Vietnam. Heady times.

At the same time, CBS unveils the present-day “Clubhouse.” The rather reserved, naive adolescent Pete Young (Jeremy Sumpter) applies for and gets his dream job as a batboy for the New York Empires.

He’s taken under the wing of the star player (Dean Cain), but he’s also in hot water when his mom (Mare Winningham) finds out what he’s been doing. And then there’s that steroid scandal.

This could be a charming coming-of-age drama. But baseball-based shows have a lousy track record. We’ll see.

This week “Clubhouse” moves to its regular time period, Tuesdays at 9.

Highlights

”Cast Away” (2000), ABC tonight at 8: Tom Hanks plays “Survivor” with a tribe of one.

Repeats plus, CBS tonight at 8: Thursday’s “Survivor: Vanuatu,” an old “CSI” and the season premiere of “48 Hours Mystery,” involving a screenplay that may depict a real murder.

Repeats, NBC tonight at 8: Thursday’s “Apprentice,” Wednesday’s “Law & Order” (Dennis Farina replacing Jerry Orbach) and an old “Law & Order: SVU.”

“MAD TV,” Fox tonight at 11: New episode; no details available.

“Saturday Night Live,” NBC tonight at 11:30: Repeat with Justin Timberlake.

“60 Minutes,” CBS Sunday at 7: Season premiere. Steve Kroft exposes a scam against the elderly, and Mike Wallace profiles Bill O’Reilly. And likely there will be some mention of the ongoing trouble over forged documents regarding George Bush’s National Guard service.

“King of the Hill,” Fox Sunday at 7: Charcoal-grilling contest discriminates against propane devotee Hank. Comedy ensues.

But we all know charcoal gives you better taste, right? Repeat. (Episode may not be seen in some time zones due to NFL game.)

“The Simpsons,” Fox Sunday at 7:30: Bart, Lisa and Gramps hit the road. Repeat.

Reality TV, ABC Sunday at 7: A “Funniest Home Videos,” an “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and the debut of “Wife Swap.” The last one is supposedly the original of “Trading Spouses,” which has been on Fox for months now.

“Fashion Rocks,” Fox Sunday at 8: Denis Leary hosts this two-hour extravaganza at Radio City Music Hall with performances by usual suspects Beyonce, Usher, Faith Hill, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Andre 3000 and many more, along with fashion segments featuring Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren.

“Charmed,” WB Sunday at 8: Charisma Carpenter of “Angel” and “Buffy” guests as a demonic oracle.

“Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” NBC Sunday at 9: Season premiere. Death of a controversial radio disc jockey may be murder by an obsessed fan.

“Mystery!” KSPS Sunday at 8: Racism is an issue when Inspector Lynley takes on a case involving the death of a young Pakistani man.

“Revenge of the Middle-aged Wife,” CBS Sunday at 9: Christine Lahti loses her husband and her job to a younger woman but finds herself. Why this isn’t on Lifetime, we’ll never know!

“Jack and Bobby,” WB Sunday at 9: Bobby joins a special school program.

“Crossing Jordan,” NBC Sunday at 10: Season premiere. A blackout and an accident in Boston’s Ted Williams Tunnel turn out to be part of an elaborate jewel heist. (I haven’t heard anything about them filming in “The Ted,” though.)

Cable Cast

College football, ESPN and ESPN2, today: Multiple games beginning at 2:45 p.m. with Penn State at Wisconsin.

“Hustle,” ESPN tonight at 6: Premiere. Hollywood miscreant Tom Sizemore stars in a biopic about baseball miscreant Pete Rose, focusing on the latter’s gambling problem.