www.whyville.net Aug 8, 2004 Weekly Issue



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Some broadcast and cable programs contain material included in the public school curriculum and on competitive exams. Here are viewing suggestions for the week ending Sunday, August 15:

Greetings, TV viewers!

Here come the Olympics! What's your favorite sport? Are there sports you prefer to watch and those you like to play? Plus, there are several history of sports shows this week. Check them out and come to the Media Hour, now starting on Tuesdays!

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. The NEW day and time for MediaHour is Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Whyville Time (that's the same as Eastern Standard Time).

Monday, August 9

"The Game Of Their Lives" (HBO, 7-8 p.m. E/P) This is a history documentary about U.S. professional football. Before it became a Sunday afternoon ritual, it lived in the shadow of baseball. But by the end of the 1950s, all that had changed. The film delves into life off the field, when players often moonlighted as waiters and clerks, East Coast teams endured 13-hour flights to play out West and the NFL commissioner ran the business from his living room. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, the film features home movies, period newsreels and interviews.

"Animal Games" (Animal Channel, 9-10 p.m., E/P) All things being equal, could a cockroach beat a cheetah in a sprint? Using computer imagery to correct for size, this program shows the relative strength and ability of these. As humans prepare for the Olympics, find out "animal Olympians" -- mammals, birds, bugs, reptiles and fish might stack up against each other. See them display stunning physical prowess, dazzling a creature-packed "virtual" stadium in a spectacle set to rival the 2004 games in Athens. There's a website explaining how this animal contest was produced for TV: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/animalgames/bios/bios.html.

Tuesday, August 10

"Secret of Photo 51" (PBS, 9-10 p.m. E/P) This NOVA documentary about DNA and the mystery behind the discovery of the double helix investigates the role that Rosalind Franklin and her remarkable X-ray photograph played in one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science. You can take an online animated journey into the microscopic world of DNA at http://www.pbs.org/nova/photo51.

Wednesday, August 11

"60 Minutes" (CBS, 8-9 p.m. E/P) The lead story in this newsmagazine is about an ambitious father gives up everything hoping to create the next Tiger Woods. There is also a science report about a laboratory procedure which allows parents to choose whether their baby will be a boy or girl.

Thursday, August 12

"Seven Wonders Of Ancient Greece" (Discovery Channel, 9-10 p.m. E/P) Here are two documentaries related to the Olympics. The first shows how the ancient Greeks built the first theatres, staged the first sports events and worshipped in some of the most spectacular temples ever built. The second, "First Olympian" (Discovery Channel, 10-11 p.m. E/P Rated TV-PG for violence), is about the world of the Olympics in 500 B.C. The skeletal remains of Ikkos, the athlete Taranto, were studied to piece together the lifestyle of the earliest Olympic athletes. Find out how the first Olympians trained, lived and worshipped.

Friday, August 13

"Games of the XXVII Olympiad" (NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight, E/P) This day of television coverage of the 2004 Olympics is devoted to the "Parade Of Nations" and the spectacular opening ceremonies. All of the media outlets of the NBC-Universal company -- NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo and NBCHDTV -- will be covering various Olympic competitions between today and August 29. That will total more than twelve thousand hours of broadcasts in English and Spanish. For a schedule where you can find coverage of your favorite sport log on to http://www.NBCOlympics.com.

"NOW With Bill Moyers" (PBS, 8-9 p.m. E/P or check local listings) This is a news special, entitled "Starting From Behind". As the nation's schools move toward standardized tests to measure student progress, it profiles an extraordinary school that takes radically different approach to education. The Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School is a place of last chances for kids who don't fit anywhere else: new immigrants who barely speak English, foster children who've bounced from home to home, students who've chronically failed and teenage mothers struggling to make a better life for themselves and their children.

"Decisive Battles: Marathon" (Discovery Channel, 10-11 p.m. E/P, TV rated PG) This documentary explains how the word "marathon" became famous. In September 490 B.C., King Darius lead a Persian army in an attack on Greece. When his fleet, carrying infantry and cavalry, debarked on Greek soil at Marathon Bay, the Greeks were outnumbered 4:1. But in an heroic effort, the Athenian warriors defeated half the Persian forces. Yet while the Greeks won on land, the rest of the Persians were on ships sailing around the coast to attack undefended Athens. The city had to be warned. A runner named Phidippides covered 26-miles nonstop to warn the Athenians and inspire all Greece to eventual victory over the Persians... though there are other versions, too.

Saturday, August 14

"Games of the XXVII Olympiad" (NBC, 8 p.m. - Midnight, E/P, also check http://www.NBCOlympics.com) Included in today's broadcast will be the Swimming Gold Medal Finals.

Sunday, August 15

"Games of the XXVII Olympiad" (NBC, 8 p.m. - midnight, E/P, also check http://www.NBCOlympics.com) Included in today's broadcast will be Women's Gymnastics.

 

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