TV Picks November 23-29, 2008

SUNDAY, 9 p.m.

Unsolved History: Aztec Temple

MILITARY CHANNEL The Great Temple stood 197 feet high (12 stories) in the central plaza of Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec Empire (today’s Mexico City). It was the scene of countless human sacrifices. Excavations from 1978 to 1987 showed that the temple was enlarged seven times through the years, but it could not withstand the onslaught of the Spaniard Hernán Cortés, his soldiers and his Indian allies from 1520 to 1521. Advisory: TV-PG.


MONDAY, 8 & 11 p.m.

Great Lakes Shipwrecks

SCIENCE CHANNEL The storms and strong winds that arise suddenly on the five Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario — have sunk many vessels large and small. Re-airs 3 p.m. Tuesday. TV-G.


TUESDAY, 8 p.m.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

ABC This 1973 cartoon special features Charlie Brown, Snoopy and all the beloved characters of the late Charles Schulz’s comic strip “Peanuts.” Another cartoon, “This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers,” follows. TV-G.


THURSDAY

Thanksgiving Day Shows

VARIOUS On NBC at 9 a.m., Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade features its usual giant balloons, plus 900 clowns. On NBC at noon, the National Dog Show airs from Reading, Pa. National Football League games air at 12:30 p.m. on CBS, 4 p.m. on Fox, and 8 p.m. on NFL Network. On Familyland TV at 1:30 p.m., the late Catholic actress Loretta Young stars in Thanksgiving at Beaver Run, a story of love and forgiveness (re-airs 6:30 p.m. Friday). On Turner Classic Movies starting at 8 p.m., a slate of family movies includes Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), Yours, Mine and Ours (1968), With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) and Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960).


SATURDAY, 7 p.m.

Save Our History: The

Star-Spangled Banner

HISTORY Experts have repaired the giant American flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to compose “The Star-Spangled Banner” after he witnessed it flying over Fort McHenry, Baltimore, during the British naval bombardment on the night of Sept. 13-14, 1814.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.