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These listings cover television programs up to Friday, March 26.
Greetings, TV viewers!
The discussion topic for the media hour in the Greek Theatre Wednesday at
3:30 p.m. Whyville Time is: "Under what circumstances should you tell the
truth?" Programs on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Wednesday deal with this. It's
not an easy question to answer. What do you do when people don't want to hear
the truth, or will be mad at you for speaking up?
For the Media Hour, watch the show(s)-of-the-week, jot down some ideas, then talk about them with me and other citizens (including other City Workers, if they're available) at the Greek Theater, over in City Hall. You'll find that the Theater makes discussions pretty easy, since City Workers are able to direct people's movement and behavior, when we need to, and it keeps everyone's chat bubbles from overlapping too much. We meet for MediaHour on Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Whyville Time (that's the same as Eastern Daylight Time).
Friday, March 19
"Inside The Actor's Studio: Tom Hanks" (Bravo Channel, 7-8 p.m. E/P) This
interview program features Tom Hanks, a leader in making films with serious
content. He was born July 9, 1956, in California. His parents divorced, and his
family life was in a constant state of flux. (He's said that by the time he was
ten, he'd had "three mothers, five grammar schools and 10 houses.") He dropped
out of college to pursue an acting career. In "Big", his performance as a boy
magically transformed into a man won him a Golden Globe and his first Oscar
nomination. He followed with "A League Of Their Own" (about women's baseball)
and "Sleepless In Seattle" The same year he took on the role "Philadelphia"
where he played a gay man dying of AIDS who sues his former employer. He lost
nearly 40 pounds during the course of filming to show the ravages of the
disease. His touching performance won him his first Oscar for Best Actor. He won
the Oscar again the next year for his portrayal of the title character in
"Forrest Gump". Hanks next chose to write and direct "That Thing You Do" (1996).
And he received a fourth Academy Award nomination for his role in Steven
Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan". He was again nominated for the Academy Award
for playing an executive stranded alone on a desert island. He co-wrote and
co-produced the mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon" (1998) about the Apollo
moon missions, and "Band of Brothers" (2000) about World War II, as well as
directed episodes of each.
"NOW With Bill Moyers" (PBS, 9-10 p.m. E/P -- check local listings) The
main topic in this newsmagazine is Mark Twain, the great 19th Century writer
that actor Hal Holbrook has portrayed on stage for most of the 20th Century.
Twain's candid comments about politics, culture, race, and the world's nations
are relevant to us today as America continues to face faces war, religious
fanaticism and racial conflicts. Moyers interviews Holbrook, probing his
experience with censorship while playing Twain and examining why Twain's work is
particularly relevant in a post-September 11th world. "We don't have truth
delivered to us very often, especially in this very commercialized world we live
in," says Holbrook. "Mark Twain cuts right straight through that with a knife."
Saturday, March 20
"The Iraq War: One Year Later" (History Channel, 7 p.m. to midnight E/P)
This is a repeat of a series of programs which ran each night last week -- here
they're all together for easy taping. And maybe for donating to your school if
students are studying the war.
"60 Minutes" (CBS, 7-9 p.m. E/P) The main segment in this newsmagazine
is an an exclusive interview with Richard Clarke, President Bush's former
terrorism advisor who reveals what the Bush administration was saying and
thinking before, during and after the 9/11 attacks. The second story is about
borrowing money to buy a car. This is something you should know about before you
are even old enough to own one, because it's about how to calculate the interest
people pay on borrowed money. The report explains how car buyers may not be
getting the best interest rate if they get financing from car dealerships, which
often mark up loans without telling the customer.
Sunday, March 21
"The Future Is Now: Tech Summit 2004" (MSNBC Channel, 8-10 p.m. E/P) This
is a sneak-peek at the latest advances in the technology of television, cars,
cell phones, music and more, broadcast live from Pace University in New York
City. Included are high definition TV, digital video recorders, huge plasma
screens, cell phones that receive live television programs and "instant replay"
binoculars. Also, host Lisa Ling takes a ride with legendary race car driver
Mario Andretti in one of the world's most innovative cars; and Joe Trippi, MSNBC
election analyst and the architect of the Howard Dean for President internet
campaign discusses how the internet is a powerful organizer of people.
Monday, March 22
"The Real Flying Tigers" (History Channel, 6-7 p.m. E/P) Here's a true
story about people, barely out of their teens, who didn't wait until their
country was attacked before they decided to join up as pilots to fight against
aggressors . In 1941, with the U.S. government's tacit approval, out-of-service U.S. Army Air Force Captain Claire L. Chennault became a colonel in
China's Air Force and recruited Americans as volunteer pilots fighting the Japanese
who had attacked China. Later dubbed "Flying Tigers," these pilots set records
yet to be equaled in aerial history. Yet their true story is surrounded by
misconceptions and known to only a few. This program explains how the policies of
the U.S. and Chinese governments helped contribute to the confusion surrounding
the Tigers. The program includes rare footage of the aviators in action.
Tuesday, March 23
"Scientific American Frontiers: Unearthing Secret America" (PBS, 9-10 p.m.
E/P) This show covers three new archeological finds: Jamestown fort
reveals the struggles of the colonists; slave quarters at Monticello and
Williamsburg introduce viewers to a secret world; and a recently discovered
Confederate submarine sheds light on unknown Civil War technology.
Wednesday, March 24
"A Boy's Life" (HBO, 7:30-9 p.m. E/P) Rory Kennedy, who has definitely
inherited her father's (Robert F. Kennedy's) sense of social justice, directed
this documentary story of a young Mississippi boy whose increasingly violent,
disturbing behavior belies his natural intelligence and ability. The program is
rated TV-14 for adult content (emotional scenes). This Mississippi 7-year-old
named Robert is being raised by his grandmother who attributes all manner of
disturbed behavior to him and has him falsely medicated for psychiatric
disorders that he doesn't have. The sporadic outpatient counseling he receives
doesn't seem to be sufficient, but the alternative is to surrender him to a
healthcare system that inspires little confidence.
Thursday, March 26
"More than Human: What's On Your Mind?" (Discovery Channel, 10-11 p.m. E/P;
repeats Sunday March 28th at 1 p.m. E/P) What if you could read people's
thoughts and know their motives -- just by looking at them? This documentary
reports on a newly researched face-reading procedure called Facial Action Coding
System (FACS). What does it mean when someone bites his or her lower lip? Why do
liars often touch the back of the neck when talking? The program matches up
three human "lie detectors" as they compete against the most advanced electronic
lie detector machine ever developed. If you want to read a scientific paper on
this topic, log on to www.pitt.edu/~emotion/FACSsub3_sp.pdf.
Friday, March 26
"Modern Marvels: Farming Technology" (History Channel 7-8 p.m. E/P) U.S.
agricultural technology "from seed to shelf" is so efficient that most people
don't think much about it. But food growing and processing is ever more
sophisticated, employing computer-guided, ground-shaking machinery, and
sometimes-controversial techniques. It's an industry of declining family farms,
diminishing returns, yet higher yields. This show covers the evolution of the
tools used to produce food, shows the steps in the cycle that bring food to the
table, and looks at the future of farming.
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