Monday, May 23
8-9 p.m. E/P

PBS

Science and Technology

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Nature: Condition Black"

This documentary about the dangerous weather system that swept through Hawaii on January 28, 1998 points out that surfers from around the world showed up then to ride the largest waves ever recorded.

Log on http://www.pbs.org/nature/conditionblack.

Monday, May 23
9-10:30 p.m. E/P

PBS

American History

Middle and High School

"American Experience: Guerrilla - The Taking of Patty Hearst"

This is a documentary account of the 1974 politically-inspired kidnapping of teenage heiress Patty Hearst -- as told by former members of the Symbionese Liberation Army who came out of hiding to speak for the first time -- and by archival footage of the Hearst kidnapping that was literally rescued from a dumpster behind a San Francisco television station. At the PBS website (below) you can play an online game "What's Your Bag?" and step back to the late 1960s. Will you be a gun-toting radical or a pillar of society? Plus, start your own PBS Program Club and talk about if you have ever known anyone who was a member of a "radical" group.

Tuesday, May 24
8-9 p.m. E/P

PBS

Science and Health

Middle and High School

"NOVA: The Most Dangerous Woman in America"

This is the story of Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary. She gained this notoriety by being the first person in North America to be identified as a healthy carrier of typhoid fever. Despite her indignant protests of innocence, she was incarcerated for years on an island in the New York???s East River.

Wednesday, May 25
8-9 p.m. E/P

Discovery Channel

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Mega-Excavators: Machines that Reshape The World"

The biggest earth-moving machines are so big that trains and tractor-trailer trucks have to be used to transport the pieces of them to the site in order to build them. Originally proposed by Leonardo da Vinci, they are the world's largest mobile machines.

Thursday, May 26
8-10 p.m. ET, 5-7 p.m. PT

TCM ??? Turner Classic Movie Channel

Middle and High School

"Ahi Esta El Detalle (That???s The Point)"

This classic comedy airs in Spanish with subtitles as part pf TCM???s celebration of Mexican cinema. In the film, a rich industrialist mistakes his housemaid's boyfriend, played by Cantinflas, for a relative. This comedy made him a star, winning a place in film history as his country's answer to Charlie Chaplin (who would later call him "the world's greatest comedian"). Born Mario Moreno, Cantinflas had started in traveling tent shows, developed a following as a bullfighting clown who helped to distract raging bulls in the ring, and then turned to filmmaking in 1937. Wearing baggy pants, a small cap set at an angle and a tiny moustache over the corners of his mouth, he was seen by the working poor as their champion, the little man taking on the establishment, while more educated audiences delighted in his attacks on pomposity and the cleverness of his verbal displays. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mexico declared a period of national mourning when he died in 1993.

Friday, May 27
4-5 p.m. E/P

A&E Channel

American and World History

High School

"Prisoners Of War: Code Of Conduct"

In this documentary Senator John McCain joins other former American military personnel who were prisoners of war to detail the secret means they used to cope, communicate, and if possible, escape from captivity. The program also examines the treatment of American POWs by the enemy including the brainwashing of U.S. captives by North Korea and recounts courageous acts of American POW heroism during the Vietnam and the Gulf Wars. Rated TV-PG.

Saturday, May 28
5-7 p.m. E/P

History Channel

American History

Middle and High School

"Secret Missions of the Civil War???

Great battles dominate our thinking about the Civil War because these were open, visible spectacles of the conflict. But the accounts of those times are also filled with the details of far lesser known actions like a Confederate attempt to burn down New York City. There were clever, daring, covert operations plotted by both sides -- designed to frighten the enemy, disrupt his supplies, and destroy his morale. Clandestine plans, fueled by ingenuity and bravado, they defied the odds for a chance at success. Rated TV-PG.

Saturday, May 28
8-9 p.m. E/P

History Channel

American History

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Save Our History: Gold Rush Towns???

This program travels back in time to ghost towns in Montana and northern California brings to life the gold-rush era of the mid to late 19th century and explores how gold was mined, what challenges prospectors faced, and what technology was used. Host Steve Thomas meets gold-rush historians and aficionados, watches historic demonstrations including an explosion in a gold mine, and walks the streets of towns that boomed fast and went bust even faster -- where fortunes were made and killings and robberies were almost daily events. Rated TV-PG.

Sunday, May 29
7-8 p.m. ET, 4-5 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Science

Middle and High School

"Telepathy???

This program is part of a series called ???Naked Science??? The producers have chosen that name for their series because they make an effort to remove non-scientific information from the show and explore a topic under a tightly focused lens. This episode is about telepathic communication -- non-electronic or ???mind reading???, one of the most provocative scientific questions of our time. It airs again on Wednesday, June 1, 5 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. PT. Rated TV-G.

Sunday, May 29
9-10 p.m. E/P

Discovery Channel

American and World History

Middle and High School

"Return to Normandy With Tom Brokaw"

One summer 60 years ago, the world changed forever. The U.S., U.K and their allies launched D-Day invasion, against Germany - a top-secret plan backed by overwhelming force. In this program, Tom Brokaw, former NBC news anchor and author of the WWII history ???The Greatest Generation??? explains the strategy behind the Normandy invasion. Rated TV-PG.