TV Picks 01.31.2010

SUNDAY, Jan. 31, 8pm

Extreme Home Makeover

ABC Rodeo cowboy Ty Murray and singer Jewel join the “Makeover” crew and builders and volunteers in Davidson County, N.C., to construct a new home for stage 4 cancer victim Tricia Creasey, 37, her husband, William, and their three kids. Mrs. Creasey, a teacher, refused to let surgery and chemotherapy keep her from the classroom.


SUNDAY, Jan. 31, 8pm

Nature: Wild Balkans

PBS This new special visits Montenegro’s Durmitor Mountains, Tara Canyon and Skadar Lake, the Danube Delta between Romania and Ukraine, Kopacki Rit’s forests and wetlands in eastern Croatia, the Dobrudza steppes in Bulgaria, and the Tikves peaks by the Macedonia-Greece border to profile the areas’ residents and wildlife.


WEEKDAYS, 9am

Leave It to Beaver

TV LAND As funny and charming as ever today, this family comedy (which ran 1957-1963) chronicled the innocent adventures of Beaver Cleaver (age 7 in 1957) and brother Wally, 12, as they learned life’s lessons with the love and guidance of parents Ward and June.


TUESDAY, Feb. 2, 8pm

Nova: Ghosts of

Machu Picchu

PBS Archaeologists probe the 15th-century Machu Picchu complex for clues about the Inca who built its stone structures, aqueducts and terraces high in the Peruvian Andes.


WEDNESDAYS, 4pm

The World I Know:

Virtues in Action

CATHOLICTV Mary Rose Bacani and students in Catholic schools host this series from Toronto’s Salt & Light Television. They seek to foster the virtues among high schoolers and grade-schoolers by showing people practicing them in daily-life scenarios.


SUNDAY, Feb. 7, 5pm

Faith Bowl III

EWTN In this Super Bowl Sunday special from Catholic Athletes for Christ and Family Theater, retired catching great Mike Piazza, Seattle Mariners star Mike Sweeney and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Bobby Keppel explain how Catholic athletes can live their faith and witness to it.


THURSDAY, Feb. 11, 8pm

Modern Marvels: Winter Tech

HISTORY Preparations for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics include creating advanced competition facilities and high-tech training equipment for the athletes.


FRIDAY, Feb. 12, 8pm

XXI Winter Olympic Games

NBC A “pre-show” at 8pm heralds tonight’s 9pm opening ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia. NBC will report event results nightly at 8pm and, along with CNBC, MSNBC, USA and Universal HD, will cover all 15 sports through the games’ close on Feb. 28.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.

Pill-Cancer Link Confirmed

A federally funded study showed a link between abortion, contraceptive use and breast cancer. So why is news about it coming out now, nine months after its release?