What's On!

This week's focus is definitely on the Olympics and Castaway B.C.. You'll see a review on the latter in this week's Whyville Times.

Special Viewing Note: I just got word from Dr. Leila over at the Whyville CDC (that's Center for Communicable Diseases) that Whyville may be facing some sort of face-part related infection. With that in mind, keep your eye out for next week's documentary about the flu and how diseases are spread, airing Friday, February 22 at 9am.

Watch the shows and let me know what you think. Email me, the MediaWiz of Whyville!

Click here for an index of this week's shows. And now, the Media Menu!

Friday, February 15

"Now" (PBS, 9-10pm E/P) In tonight's edition of the PBS' weekly newsmagazine, Bill Moyers reports on recent indications that freedom of speech here in America is under attack. Particularly in classrooms, the events of September 11th have heightened sensitivities and caused limitations on what can and cannot be said. (A historical documentary about a science teacher put on trial for discussing evolution in his class, airs Sunday, February 17 -- see details below.)

"20/20" (ABC, 10-11pm) This edition of ABC's main newsmagazine is an hour-long special about peer pressure entitled "The In Crowd: Friendship and Social Cruelty", hosted by John Stossel.

Saturday, February 16

"BattleBots" (Comedy Channel, 9-10am E/P) Some of my readers will be highly motivated to get up early enough to watch this technology show which treats robot technology like a sport, complete with talky announcers. The machines competing are often ingenious, such as the thing one woman built that looks like a lady bug and gets on the opposing robot robots and clamps down on them, trapping them against an internal grinder. There's a Robot Society of America website at www.robots.org

"People In the News" (CNN, 3-3:30pm ET , noon-12:30pm PT) The main topic of this newsmagazine is Michelle Kwan, who will be competing for America in Olympic figure skating events February 19 and 21 (see note about the finals below). Watch the CNN report and see if she gives you ideas useful in playing the Whyville skating game if you haven't already done so.

Sunday, February 17

"Monkey Trial" (PBS, 9-10:30pm E/P) This is a documentary about what happened to a biology teacher who discussed the theory of evolution with his class in Tennessee when it was illegal to 'teach evolution' there in 1925 -- even though it was included in the state's official biology textbook. He was put on trial for repeating the textbook idea that humans were biologically related to other creatures, including monkeys. The national media swarmed to cover the event because the prosecutor was a former U.S. Presidential candidate, and the defense was lead by the most famous lawyer of the 20th century. A website about this controversy -- which did not end in 1925 -- is at www.pbs.org/amex/monkeytrial.

Monday, February 18

"Money And Power: The History of Business" (CNBC noon-2pm ET, 9am-noon PT) This is a repeat of an CNBC documentary which might provide you some ideas about how to (and how not to) conduct yourself while conducting business in Whyville. The program is followed by another repeat, "The Great Game: The Story Of Wall Street" from 2-4pm ET, 11am-1pm PT which will show you more tricks and also show you that the current Enron scandal is not really all that new a situation.

"Castaway B.C." (BBC American Network, 8-9pm ET, 5-6pm PT repeating 9-10pm PT) This channel may be hard to find, but ask your friends with 100+ cable channels; they might be able to tape it for you. Watch seventeen volunteers brave the elements in a rain-soaked part of the British Isles as their ancestors did 2,000 years ago. They must subsist for seven weeks with the clothes, crops, animals, tools, huts and health conditions of 300 B.C. It will give you enormous respect for the skills of Iron Age people and may change your ideas about our lifestyle in the 21st century. See the Times' review of this show by an American teenager who knows something about trying to survive in a place where everything is old-fashioned. He voluntarily went to live with his family as an 1880's homesteader in an area of the U.S. West. PBS will air a 6-part series, "Frontier House", this spring which includes his experiences. There's already a website about that show at www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse.

Tuesday, February 19

"Nazi Escape" (PBS, 8-9pm E/P) The Nova series producers didn't really need to put a sensationalist title on this documentary about WWII Allied POW's techniques for escaping German captivity. The details already an interesting enough -- such as the secret building of a glider out of scavenged materials in the attic of the prison castle. This feat is described in detail on an interactive website www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/naziprison/glider.html where you can test out a virtual version of the completely airworthy device the POWs completed just before they were liberated.

Wednesday, February 20

"National Geographic Today: In Search Of Origins" (7-8pm E/P) This documentary is about several generations of the Leakey family exploring the African desert for clues to the origins of human beings almost 2 million years ago. Correspondent Kristin Whiting joins Meave Leakey and her daughter Louise on the latest expedition to investigate ancient bone findings.

"Cyberworld 2020" (The Learning Channel, 10-11pm E/P) This technology documentary looks almost 20 years in the future and sees a world where human beings live, work and play with intelligent computers and robots. Also examined are people's fears about a future where machines have become even more powerful and intrusive in our lives than they are today.

Thursday, February 21

"Figure Skating: Ladies Long Program" (NBC, 8pm-midnight ET, 7:30-11:30 pm PT) This is the final night of figure skating, one of the most popular competitions of the Winter Olympics.. Risky triple-jump combinations will combine hard-science calculations with an artistic grace.

"Roll Over: The Hidden History of the SUV" (PBS, 9-10:00pm EP) From industrial hauler to family car, the rise of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) is a spectacular success story. But was the vehicle's success encouraged by Washington regulators who overlooked serious safety and environmental flaws? This "Frontline" documentary pulls no punches. You can explore the companion site, http://pbs.org/frontline/shows/rollover and access a timeline of the SUV's history with an emphasis on important regulation decisions, get safety information for SUV owners and shoppers, read reports of secret meetings during the Nixon administration that directly impacted the development of the SUV. See also a detailed online Los Angeles newspaper account of the technnical aspects of this month's recall of Jeep Grand Cherokees made between 1993 and 1998 at http://latimes.com/news/printedition/la-000011805feb15.story.