“Shark Swarm” (8 p.m., Hallmark Channel): An evil developer wants to buy the waterfront

“Shark Swarm” (8 p.m., Hallmark Channel): An evil developer wants to buy the waterfront property in a picturesque California fishing village. To persuade the residents to sell, he starts pumping a toxic chemical into the bay. This poison has the desired effect, killing the fish on which the local economy depends, while positioning the developer as a savior who can bail out the town. But there’s an unpleasant backlash: A large shark population, having ingested the foul sludge, turns ravenous. The sharks are eating everything — and everyone — in sight. “Shark Swarm” is a three-hour thriller starring Armand Assante as the craven developer, John Schneider as the fisherman who fights back, and Daryl Hannah as his wife.

“National Memorial Day Concert” (8 p.m., PBS): Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna return to co-host the “National Memorial Day Concert” from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. This year the musical event will pay special tribute to the veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam and the sacred war memorials built in their honor in Washington, D.C.

“Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins” (8 p.m., Animal Planet): We still have a place in our hearts for Flower, the furry little critter who died defending her family on “Meerkat Manor.” In advance of the show’s new season comes “Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins.” It’s a lovely tribute that traces Flower’s life before she became matriarch of the “Whiskers” clan.

“Recount” (9 p.m., HBO): Nearly eight years later, the dire consequences of the vote dispute in Florida are more evident than ever to many Americans. Even so, enough time has passed for us to enjoy some laughs from that comedy of errors, and to savor the story for its own dramatic value.

“Recount” lets us. An extraordinarily well-done film, it makes the most of an extraordinary chapter in U.S. history.

Spanning the monthlong battle over who had carried Florida, and therefore who had won the keys to the White House, “Recount” also manages to be a political thriller, as if the outcome of Election Day 2000 were still in the balance. It zeros in on the hanging chads on those notorious ballots, and takes us all the way to the majesty of the U.S. Supreme Court, where Bush vs. Gore was finally decided.

The all-star cast includes Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley Jr., John Hurt, Denis Leary, Bruce McGill and Tom Wilkinson, who uniformly vanish into their respective real-life characters.

But the truly remarkable performance is by Laura Dern, unrecognizable beneath the pancake makeup, big hair and honeyed accent of Katherine Harris, Florida’s secretary of state. Her portrayal enhances, yet jibes with, what you remember unfolding on the news.

So does the film overall. “Recount” brings back a dizzying episode, with behind-the-scenes detail that makes it all the more dizzying (if possible) than you ever knew.

And all the more painful. And all the more painfully funny. “Recount” is a winner by a landslide.