Weekend TV : Chung Interviews Exxon Valdez Skipper; ‘At Issue’ Focuses on Malathion Spraying

In the spring programming lull between the February and May sweeps, TV viewers can catch up with some high-profile environmental crises this weekend.

Tonight at 10 p.m., “Saturday Night With Connie Chung” interviews Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood, who last week was acquitted of all but one misdemeanor charge for his role in the catastrophic, 11-million-gallon oil spill last year in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., CNN’s “Newsmaker Sunday” questions whether pesticides are a “peril or panacea.” KCBS Channel 2’s “At Issue” will examine a pesticide problem close to home, the malathion controversy, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Among those participating in a debate on the use of this chemical to eradicate the troublesome Medfly will be state Sen. Diane Watson; Patrick Reynolds, founder of the Foundation for a Smoke Free America, and Dr. Pamela Kushner of the American Cancer Society.

William Reilly, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will be interviewed about environmental concerns of the 1990s on “Meet the Press,” Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on Channels 4, 36 and 39.