VARIOUS

EWTN New Season Preview

EWTN Tune in to hear Doug Keck and his guests discuss the new Catholic shows that Mother Angelica’s network has in store for us this spring. Airs 5:30 a.m. Sunday, 6 p.m. Monday, 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

SUNDAY, 5 p.m.

Tony Melendez Concert

Familyland TV Born without arms because his mother was prescribed thalidomide when expecting him, Nicaragua-born Tony Melendez has become a famous singer, “toe guitarist,” Catholic speaker and outstanding exemplar of faith and achievement. His playing so touched Pope John Paul II in Los Angeles on Sept. 15, 1987, that the Holy Father left his platform, came over to Tony and kissed him. Here Tony performs at a Holy Family Fest at Catholic Familyland in Bloomingdale, Ohio.

SUNDAY, 8 p.m.

Nature: Underdogs

PBS Where there’s life, there’s hope. This show proves that maxim true as it tells how loving and skilled trainers have turned around the lives of two previously uncontrollable dogs that had difficult puppyhoods. Herbie, a bearded collie, now herds sheep instead of attacking them, and Holly, a bloodhound, is now a K-9 corps police dog. A re-air.

MONDAY, 9 p.m.

American Experience:        The Living Weapon

PBS After learning in 1942 that Axis powers Germany and Japan had begun germ-warfare projects, President Franklin Roosevelt initiated a similar U.S. program. His order led to nearly three decades of secret research, including, incredibly, some experiments on the general public. President Richard Nixon renounced deadly biological weapons in 1969 and shut down the U.S. program.

TUESDAY, 9 p.m.

Ancient Discoveries: Machines of the Gods

History Channel “You know how, when you were pagans, you were constantly attracted and led away to mute idols.” 1 Corinthians 12:2 tells us. This program bears that out as it explains that ancient Greek and Roman pagan rulers and keepers of temples enlisted scholar-scientists such as Ctesibus, Heron and Philon to create magic-trick illusions to fool visitors to the temples.

THURSDAY, 11:45 p.m.

Lilies of the Field

Turner Classic Movies Taking its title from Jesus’ words in St. Matthew 6:28, this 1963 film won Sidney Poitier a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of an ex-GI on his way home who meets East German refugee nuns in the western desert after his car overheats near their farm. He begins helping them and winds up building them a chapel.

SATURDAY, 8 p.m.

Bernadette

EWTN Sydney Penny plays St. Bernadette and Jean-Marc Bory is Father Peyramale in French director Jean Delannoy’s 1988 film retelling of the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.