What's On!

This selection of viewing tips deals a lot with money, business and economics. And, depending on your attitudes toward survivor-type or reality-type TV shows, these may either grab you or send you running away. But if you do watch the shows I'm suggesting here, you will really learn something. I mean something real.

Watch the shows and tell me what you think. Email me, the new MediaWiz of Whyville!

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

Thursday, August 22

"Argentina: The Empty Wallet" (PBS, 8-9 pm E/P) If I had to put a school-related label on it, I would say this documentary is an instant course in ''financial literacy''. Be warned that the story is scary. Financial melt-downs can drive people to violence (as in riots). That's what's been going on in Argentina since last December when the government there revealed it couldn't pay $155 billion in public debt (yes, that's a "b"). Suddenly all the paper money in the country became almost worthless -- and now the people are having to barter (trading things for other things) to survive.

Friday, August 23

"20/20" (ABC, 10-11 pm E/P) The topic of this newsmagazine is "lookism". Host John Stossel conducts a series of experiments which prove that good-looking people (including taller men) get better treatment in job competition -- or any kind of competition. Character or competence doesn't count for a lot.(You're saying "duh!", but watch the show anyway because you'll some examples of how social scientists do research. There's a documentary showing similar social science research techniques -- about teenagers -- airing Sunday August 25. See listing below)

"48 Hours" (CBS, 10-11 pm E/P) This is a documentary about an aspect of the drug problem in America -- prescription drugs -- that is affecting both parents and children.

Saturday, August 24

"Circus: The Dream of Performing" (A&E Network, 1-2 pm E/P) This documentary in the "Dreamchaser" series will provide you with some answers to what would happen to you if you decided to run away with the circus. (Has the idea ever occurred to you? Or are you too much of a web-addict to give up tech for a trapeze?) This program is also about physics and trigonometry. because you have to make life and death calculations -- in your head -- while doing an aerial act. You see a software engineer (Jack Ashburner, 38 , of San Francisco) pursue his dream of winning a guest spot as a performer with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus.

"A Ring Of Endless Light" (Disney Channel, 8-9:30 pm E/P) Based on the classic children's novel by Madeline L'Engle, this is a movie about a 16 year old girl with an unique ability to communicate with dolphins. In this strongly pro-environment story she uses her powers to save a family of sea mammals from an illegal drift-net operation that threatens their life. (You'll get an explanation here about what that "dolphin-free tuna" label means on the can.)

Sunday, August 25

"Teen Species" (The Learning Channel, 8-9 pm E/P) This social science documentary looks at teens, but reveals more about what adults are thinking when they encounter teens than it reveals about teens themselves. The accompanying website http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/teenspecies/teenspecies.html contains sections expanding on the TV shows' segments, with titles like "Dissect a Teen -- discover the biological and physical changes erupting inside the ten body". Another website feature is "Speaking Teen: a teen-to-adult translator" Further documentary episodes on this topic will air on TLC August 30 and September 1.

Monday, August 26

"Wage Slaves: Nickel and Dimed In America" (A&E Network, 9-11 pm E/P) This is a documentary about money and how hard it is to get it. It's based on the book by National Book Critics Award-winning author Barbara Ehrenreich about the millions of adult Americans working full-time for minimum-wage, poverty level earnings. To write the book, the author took on half a dozen minimum-wage jobs in three different cities, providing her -- and subsequently this film's camera crew -- a look at U.S. prosperity from the bottom up.

"Gods And Goddesses" (History Channel, 9-11 pm E/P) The topics covered by this documentary are the creation of the universe and the origin of mankind. And if that isn't enough to interest you, it will also cover a big bunch of SAT words. The way, or rather the time and place all this comes together, is ancient Greece. You'll see how, in modern Greece, ancient mythological explanations of the origin of things continue to affect the cultural and personal lives of citizens who live there today. And also how people from Damascus to Dublin and Hudson's Bay to Honolulu are influenced by these myths in everyday thought and conversation (they also encounter stuff like this in school). Show the following list to your parents, because they might want to watch, too: The creation of gods and of humans, The births of Zeus & Aphrodite, The creation of woman, Pandora's Box, Sex and war among the gods and its consequences, The relationship between the gods and nature, The story of Hercules, The story of Oedipus, The first Olympics, The Trojan horse, Hades and the underworld.

Tuesday, August 27

"Science Times" (National Geographic Channel, 9-10 pm E/P) This science magazine reports on the experiences of people who have been struck by lightning and the latest scientific research about this powerful natural phenomenon. Also, for those of you who like to court danger voluntarily, there's a sobering report on the physics of the newest amusement park thrill rides.

"Escuela" (PBS, 10-11 pm E/P) This particular social science documentary is an excellent example of what happens when a good filmmaker (Hannah Weyer) has the instincts of a good anthropologist. It follows a Mexican-American farm-worker, Liliana Luis, as she begins her freshman year in high school. That means dealing with working in the fields, constant travel and endlessly changing schools, classes and friends, as she moves with her migrant-worker family between California, Texas and Mexico. Further information about the Luis family is available at www.pbs.org/pov.

Wednesday, August 28

"War Games" (Turner Classic Movies, 10 pm-midnight ET, 7-9 pm PT) This 1983 movie about hackers is amazingly prescient (that's an SAT word for accurately predicting the future). Although the idea of a young kid (Matthew Broderick) hacking into a military computer may have been farfetched at the time the movie came out, today it's happening all the time. The movie is still suspenseful, whether you know everything about real hacking days or have never even thought about it. Available on video.

Thursday, August 29

"Icebreakers" (History Channel, 10-11 pm E/P) This documentary about the problem of smashing through 10-foot thick ice sheets to get from one place to another may be just what you need if it turns out that you're sweltering on the day it's aired. You'll see some of the toughest ships ever built ramming through the ice of infamous Northwest Passage and the frozen Great Lakes.