TV Picks 02.13.2011

SUNDAY, Feb. 13, 8pm

Nature: The Himalayas

PBS The Himalaya (Sanskrit for “Abode of Snow”) Mountains, the world’s highest by far, stretch 1,491 miles and are between 93 and 249 miles wide. This new hour-long program captures the Himalayas’ colossal scale and majestic landscapes and films snow leopards and other rare creatures. Advisory: Some scenes of animals hunting and mating.


SUNDAY, Feb. 13, 10pm

Going My Way

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES Always worth seeing and re-seeing, this 1944 film is a snapshot of American Catholic life in those days and also a testament to Hollywood’s then-strong respect for the priesthood and the Church. Leo McCarey directed and

Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh and Rise Stevens star in this fun and heartwarming story of a young priest, his aging pastor and the parish they serve.


SUNDAY, Feb. 13, 10:30pm

Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century

PBS This new hour-long documentary follows five “success stories” in which students use the Internet, digital-media practices, games and mobile devices to direct their own learning and to cooperate and communicate in new ways.


MONDAY, Feb. 14, 8pm

The Journey Home

EWTN Host Marcus Grodi, a former Presbyterian minister who became Catholic with his wife Marilyn in 1992, interviews guests who converted to or returned to the practice of the Catholic faith. Tonight’s guest is Kevin Vost, who returned to Catholicism from atheism. A psychologist, powerlifter, Highland Games competitor and author, Vost now promotes practical approaches to spiritual and physical fitness.


SUNDAY, Feb. 20, 8pm

Secret Service Files: Battlefield Colombia

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL In this series premiere, U.S. Secret Service agents go undercover with their Colombian counterparts to conduct surveillance, meet informants and plan and carry out a raid on master counterfeiters. Advisory: TV-PG (violence).


TUESDAY, Feb. 22, 8pm

Pioneers of Television: Sitcoms

PBS This episode analyzes five popular situation comedies from the 1950s and 1960s by interviewing stars Joyce Randolph (The Honeymooners), Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show), and Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore (The Dick Van Dyke Show). Also covered are Make Room for Daddy, via comments from star Danny Thomas’ daughter Marlo Thomas, and I Love Lucy. A re-airing from 2008.


FRIDAY, Feb. 25, 9pm

Modern Marvels: Built by Hand

HISTORY This documentary series has been revealing “modern marvels” since 1995, drawing topics from science, technology, engineering, manufacturing and other fields. Tonight’s new episode surveys makers of hand-crafted products such as jet-powered gliders, canoes, knives, suits of armor, museums’ animal skeletons and Hollywood special-effects items.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.

Can It Be Called Genocide?

Are Christians seeing an “ethnic cleansing” in the Middle East, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently suggested? Register Lebanon correspondent Doreen Abi Raad offers an analysis of problems facing the Church from radical Islam.

Remembering Judge John Roll

Judge John Roll lived a life of faith, hope and charity. Trying to save another person’s life — and losing his own in the process — in the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords turned out to be his supreme act of charity.