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These listings cover television programs up to Friday, October 17th.
Greetings, TV viewers!
There are lots of strong women characters in this week's selected programs.
Watch those shows, look at the official websites, come to the Media Hour
Wednesday October 13 and let's talk about "cool girls and women." In the
programs, the examples we can talk about are warriors, explorers, protectors of
endangered kids -- and there's even a girl who's helpful to her father even
though he's a mad scientist. You can also come and tell us about other examples
you've heard about -- or even your own cool deeds.
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 6:30pm to 7:30pm Whyville Time (that's the same as Eastern Daylight Time).
Friday, October 10
"Kiss My Wheels" (PBS, 10-11 p.m. E/P) This is a documentary about the Zia Hot
Shots, a team of teen wheelchair basketball players, their talents and spirit.
Saturday, October 11
"Scout's Safari" (NBC, 11:30 a.m.-noon, 9:30-10 am PT) This is an episode in
a live action series filmed in South Africa about a girl called Scout and her
adventures there. In this first story of the new tv season Scout, her best
friend Bongani and her scheming half-brother face difficult physical and
emotional issues in a part of Africa that's changing so fast that both people
and
animals have a hard time keeping up. The environment and the conflicts between
traditional Zulu culture and modern technology -- along with charging rhinos,
angry elephants and pesky wildebeests are just a few of her challenges.
Sunday, October 12
"We Built This City" (Discovery Channel, 8-11 p.m. E/P) Building a city
requires people who know every kind of science there is, physics, chemistry,
psychology. In the first hour in this documentary about how a great city gets
put
together you see how Paris, "The City of Lights" evolved from the time of Julius
Caesar, through the construction of great cathedrals, palaces, fashion
districts (thus my reference to psychology). In the second hour, you'll see new
York put together from a start as a Dutch colony, through the invention of the
first suspension bridge (guess what it's called) to a place which could absorb
millions of immigrants.
"Warrior Queen" (PBS, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This dramatized story of a time in
Britain's history when the people rose up against invaders from Rome will have
you
cheering the sword-wielding, chariot-driving woman who led the revolt. We know
this stuff really happened because the Romans themselves wrote alarming
reports back to their boss, Emperor Nero about her: "The whole nation took up
arms
under the command of Boudica, a woman of royal blood??? and after pursuing our
soldiers and capturing our garrisons she invaded our headquarters (at
Colchester) in victory and vengeance." Alex Kingston (from the tv show "ER"
where she
plays Dr. Elizabeth Corday) stars. The TV show is rated TV-14 by the PBS
network -- because it's about a warrior, and she's pretty violent at times in the
story. There is a historical explanation abouit her and her methods :
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/warriorqueen/index.html
Monday, October 13
"Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion (Nickelodeon Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P), This is an
animated spy movie based on the tv series about a whiz kid: "Jimmy Neutron,
Boy Genius". Equipped with super high-tech gadgets, Jimmy gets teamed up with
another animated action movie hero named Jet Fusion to save the world from a
mad scientist named Professor Calamitous who has a beautiful daughter with the
crazy name Beautiful Gorgeous. Just to make things weirder, all this takes
place in Tibet. If you miss the show, there's going to be a video game based in
this stuff released in stores on the day of the broadcast.
"K9 Boot Camp" (Animal Planet Channel, 8-9 p.m. ET, 5-6 p.m. PT) This is the
premiere episode of a documentary series about the experiences of soldiers -- both human and canine
-- as they train to serve in all branches of U.S. military
services and special operations. From dogs on the front lines in war zones
to the dogs who protect the U.S. President with the Secret Service, the
programs will spend time with the dogs' human handlers, the officers who oversee
the
program, the "grunts" (recruits) both human and canine at they sweat it out to
earn their stripes in the K9 Corps.
Tuesday, October 14
"Secret Lives : Hidden Children And Their Rescuers During WWII" (Cinemax
Channel, 7-8:30 p.m. E/P) This documentary, rated TV-PG because of strong
emotional
situations, is the true story of Jewish children who were hidden and saved
from the Nazis during WWII. At great personal risk, some people were not
Jewish took these children into their homes in an extraordinary act of human
decency. Oscar-winner Aviva Slesin, who was one of these hidden children
directed
this film.
Wednesday, October 15
"Churchill" (PBS, Parts I, II and III, 8-11 p.m. E/P) This is a
mega-documentary about a mega-man -- in his youth an adventurer in the style of
Indiana
Jones, later an innovative politician, an author worthy of a Nobel Prize for
literature (which he did win) and a British war leader impossible to compare to
anyone in history -- he was certainly the greatest individual the 20th Century
produced. This up close and personal telling of his life , his story it told by
his daughter, his grandchildren, personal staff and his friends. There's a
website, too:
http://www.pbs.org/churchill/
Thursday, October 16
"Making The Grade'' (Web-event available 24/7 at
http://times.discovery.com/convergence/makingthegrade/makingthegrade.html) This
is a special website
about those standardized tests everybody has to take these days. The site has
created to go with a cable TV broadcast on the Discovery Times Channel . That
channel isn't widely available. But but the information covered in the
documentary, and repeated in detail on the website, is really important. So, log
on
and find out how these standardized tests work. Take a quiz and see how much
you know about the major tests. You will also find links to other sites that
give information about these tests.
Friday, October 17
"MythBusters" (Discovery Channel, 9-10 p.m. E/P) This is a light hearted
science documentary in a series which examines popularly held
"facts". It's TV rated PG -- for a very important reason: Don't try any of this
stuff at home. In this episode you'll learn what really could happen, from a
physics standpoint, if a person were to drop a penny off the Empire State
Building
in New York. And, can you literally bake yourself on a tanning bed from the
inside out -- are the effects of microwaves be deadly?
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