Hello, Whyville!
The artists out there should check out the show on Picasso; all the class clowns and professional troublemakers should check out the show on High School in 1968; and everybody should check out Fat Man and Little Boy, a great flick about WWII-era politics and science.
Watch the shows and let me know what you think! Email me, the MediaWiz of Whyville!
Saturday, August 25 Fat Man and Little Boy Extrasensory Perception
Sunday, August 26 Merlin The Human Face
Monday, August 27 Vultures
Tuesday, August 28 Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets High School
Wednesday, August 29 Forbidden Planet
Thursday, August 30 Sworn to Secrecy: The Hunt for Atomic Secrets
Friday, August 24 "Pablo Picasso" (A&E Network, 7-8 a.m. E/P) Picasso was the artist who painted those famous pictures of women showing both of their eyes on the same side of their face. He made a fortune doing it and changed the very idea of what art was. Either get up early or set your VCR to pick up on this survey of his artistic innovations and his tempestuous social life. "Breaking News" (CBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) Television reporting is not easy to do and it's often a life-threatening job. There are certain similarities with science. You experience a compulsion to get closer and closer to the heart of the matter you are investigating and sometimes get burned, blown up or scared to death by what you find. In this show you will see men and women you've seen on the news shows as network anchors and star reporters, confessing their emotions (a no-no on their regular nightly newscasts) about stories they've done reports on. Saturday, August 25 "Fat Man And Little Boy" (Bravo Channel, 8-10:30 p.m. ET, 5-7:30 p.m. PT) This movie is a pretty accurate portrayal of scientists under time pressure, but with lots of money to do their work. It's about the men and women during WWII in secret labs, building the first atomic bombs. (The movie's title is a reference to the code names used to characterize the first two devices they made.) Available on video. Compare to "Sworn to Secrecy: The Hunt for Atomic Secrets", a documentary about real atomic spies, on Thursday, August 30. "Extrasensory Perception" (The Learning Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary follows some serious scientists -- not the touchy-feely, crystal-gazing kind -- on an investigation of claims about ESP. They use identical twins to see if they communicate psychically, and check to see if people really do sense something when they are being watched. Sunday, August 26 "Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Pablo Picasso" (A&E Network, 7-8 a.m. E/P) Picasso was the artist who painted those famous pictures of women showing both of their eyes on the same side of their face. He made a fortune doing it and changed the very idea of what art was. Either get up early or set your VCR to pick up on this survey of his artistic innovations and his tempestuous social life. "Breaking News" (CBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) Television reporting is not easy to do and it's often a life-threatening job. There are certain similarities with science. You experience a compulsion to get closer and closer to the heart of the matter you are investigating and sometimes get burned, blown up or scared to death by what you find. In this show you will see men and women you've seen on the news shows as network anchors and star reporters, confessing their emotions (a no-no on their regular nightly newscasts) about stories they've done reports on. Saturday, August 25 "Fat Man And Little Boy" (Bravo Channel, 8-10:30 p.m. ET, 5-7:30 p.m. PT) This movie is a pretty accurate portrayal of scientists under time pressure, but with lots of money to do their work. It's about the men and women during WWII in secret labs, building the first atomic bombs. (The movie's title is a reference to the code names used to characterize the first two devices they made.) Available on video. Compare to "Sworn to Secrecy: The Hunt for Atomic Secrets", a documentary about real atomic spies, on Thursday, August 30. "Extrasensory Perception" (The Learning Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary follows some serious scientists -- not the touchy-feely, crystal-gazing kind -- on an investigation of claims about ESP. They use identical twins to see if they communicate psychically, and check to see if people really do sense something when they are being watched. Sunday, August 26 "Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Breaking News" (CBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) Television reporting is not easy to do and it's often a life-threatening job. There are certain similarities with science. You experience a compulsion to get closer and closer to the heart of the matter you are investigating and sometimes get burned, blown up or scared to death by what you find. In this show you will see men and women you've seen on the news shows as network anchors and star reporters, confessing their emotions (a no-no on their regular nightly newscasts) about stories they've done reports on. Saturday, August 25 "Fat Man And Little Boy" (Bravo Channel, 8-10:30 p.m. ET, 5-7:30 p.m. PT) This movie is a pretty accurate portrayal of scientists under time pressure, but with lots of money to do their work. It's about the men and women during WWII in secret labs, building the first atomic bombs. (The movie's title is a reference to the code names used to characterize the first two devices they made.) Available on video. Compare to "Sworn to Secrecy: The Hunt for Atomic Secrets", a documentary about real atomic spies, on Thursday, August 30. "Extrasensory Perception" (The Learning Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary follows some serious scientists -- not the touchy-feely, crystal-gazing kind -- on an investigation of claims about ESP. They use identical twins to see if they communicate psychically, and check to see if people really do sense something when they are being watched. Sunday, August 26 "Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
Saturday, August 25 "Fat Man And Little Boy" (Bravo Channel, 8-10:30 p.m. ET, 5-7:30 p.m. PT) This movie is a pretty accurate portrayal of scientists under time pressure, but with lots of money to do their work. It's about the men and women during WWII in secret labs, building the first atomic bombs. (The movie's title is a reference to the code names used to characterize the first two devices they made.) Available on video. Compare to "Sworn to Secrecy: The Hunt for Atomic Secrets", a documentary about real atomic spies, on Thursday, August 30. "Extrasensory Perception" (The Learning Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary follows some serious scientists -- not the touchy-feely, crystal-gazing kind -- on an investigation of claims about ESP. They use identical twins to see if they communicate psychically, and check to see if people really do sense something when they are being watched. Sunday, August 26 "Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Fat Man And Little Boy" (Bravo Channel, 8-10:30 p.m. ET, 5-7:30 p.m. PT) This movie is a pretty accurate portrayal of scientists under time pressure, but with lots of money to do their work. It's about the men and women during WWII in secret labs, building the first atomic bombs. (The movie's title is a reference to the code names used to characterize the first two devices they made.) Available on video. Compare to "Sworn to Secrecy: The Hunt for Atomic Secrets", a documentary about real atomic spies, on Thursday, August 30. "Extrasensory Perception" (The Learning Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary follows some serious scientists -- not the touchy-feely, crystal-gazing kind -- on an investigation of claims about ESP. They use identical twins to see if they communicate psychically, and check to see if people really do sense something when they are being watched. Sunday, August 26 "Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Extrasensory Perception" (The Learning Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary follows some serious scientists -- not the touchy-feely, crystal-gazing kind -- on an investigation of claims about ESP. They use identical twins to see if they communicate psychically, and check to see if people really do sense something when they are being watched. Sunday, August 26 "Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
Sunday, August 26 "Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Merlin" (NBC, 7-10 p.m. E/P) The fun of this movie about the magician in the story of King Arthur is that you get to see the kind of monsters, miracles and spells that a British wizard would have conjured up if he had had the computing power to render them. I mean this movie is about a medieval imagination on steroids.. (Forgive me for saying so, but Harry Potter's stuff is child's play in comparison with Merlin.) Available on video. "The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"The Human Face" (The Learning Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This broadcast includes the first 2 episodes, entitled "Beauty" and "Fame", of a 4-part documentary series about how the 44 muscles and two bones (skull and jaw) of the human face influence almost everything in our life: health, happiness, social status and success. The episodes tomorrow night at 9 p.m. are "In Your Face", about changes over a lifetime, and "When you're Smiling", about the power our 10,000 facial expressions can have over other people. Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
Monday, August 27 "Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Vultures" (Discovery Channel 8-9 p.m. E/P) I don't care if you think this is a strange topic. You need to know, as seen in this documentary, that vultures have a very important role in the environment, that they are extraordinary navigators, and they are model parents. Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
Tuesday, August 28 "Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Nova: Decoding Nazi Secrets" (PBS, 8-10 p.m. E/P) As shown in this documentary, during WWI the British government very quietly recruited the equivalent of half the population of Whyville, clever people like you -- and even some as young as you -- to work on cracking Germany's secret military codes. Armed mostly with pencils and paper, plus one primitive computer which filled a whole room, thousands of chess champions, crossword fanatics, students of Egyptian hieroglyphics and math wizards (who were the 'gamers' of that era) gave the Allies an edge which helped win the war. "High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"High School" (PBS, 10-11:30 p.m. E/P on many stations -- check local listings) Watching this documentary will be something like opening a time capsule and looking in on candid, in-school videos of your parents as they were when they were teenagers. (If they were teenagers in 1968, when this was filmed.) Warning: Your ego will be bruised if you think you have some original ideas about how to be sneaky or weird. You don't. Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
Wednesday, August 29 "Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Forbidden Planet" (Turner Classic Movies, 4-6 p.m. ET, 1-3 p.m. PT) This movie, one of the most intelligent sci-fi flicks ever, is about a father and daughter and their mysterious empire on a never-before-visited planet. Subsequent filmmakers have stolen ideas from this film shamelessly. (Look for Robby the Robot, who you will recognize as the character from which R2D2 and C3PO were cloned.) Available on video. Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
Thursday, August 30 "Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
"Sworn To Secrecy: The Hunt For Atomic Secrets" (History Channel, 3-4 p.m. E/P) Whyvillians might not understand that there was a time when you couldn't find plans for atomic bombs on the web or in government publications at the public library. But for 50 years after the atom was first split in a secret lab underneath a Chicago football stadium, there was a high-stakes spy game going on in the U.S., and this documentary shows how Russians tried to get our atomic secrets.
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