SUNDAY, NOV. 12

Be Not Afraid Family Hour:

Immaculate Conception

Familyland TV, 7 p.m.

Viewers everywhere will grow in love for our Blessed Mother and knowledge about her as they watch tonight’s show, the premiere episode of a nine-part weekly series on the Immaculate Conception.

Engineering an Empire:

The Aztecs

History Channel, 8 p.m.

The Aztecs used superior military strategy and tactics to carve out an empire for themselves in central Mexico, and they employed creative engineering to build a spectacular lake city for themselves, Tenochtitlan, the forerunner of today’s Mexico City. But the heavy tribute the Aztecs demanded of their neighbors, including countless victims for human sacrifice year after year, led to their downfall when those tribes joined Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in defeating them, 1519-1521.

Mass at the Baltimore Basilica

EWTN, 9 p.m.

This Mass on the eve of our U.S. bishops’ semi-annual November meeting in Baltimore is in honor of the just-completed $32 million restoration of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption. This cathedral was built 1806-1821 after Archbishop John Carroll commissioned the famed architect Benjamin Latrobe to design it.

Mysteries of the Deep:

Kings and Pirates

National Geographic, 12 noon

Come along with expert treasure-hunting divers as they explore King Herod’s harbor at Caesarea (built 22-10 B.C.) in the Holy Land and the wreck of pirate Black Sam Bellamy’s 18-gun raider Whydah, which sank in a storm off New England on April 26, 1717.

EWTN Live

EWTN, 8 p.m.

Father Mitch Pacwa’s guest, Father Benedict Groeschel, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, discusses themes at this week’s meeting of our U.S. bishops in Baltimore.

Rachael Ray’s Thanksgiving in 60, the Sequel

Food Network, 9 p.m.

Families who want to spend more time this Thanksgiving actually giving thanks to God, not to mention relieving Mom’s and Grandma’s burden in the kitchen, will appreciate this special, in which cheery cooking expert Rachael Ray shows how to fix a fine holiday dinner in only an hour.

My Dog Shep

Familyland TV, 8 p.m.

Ford Beebe (1888-1978) wrote and directed this heartwarming drama in 1946. Unwanted orphan Danny Baker befriends abandoned dog Shep, and the two new pals flee Danny’s mean uncle and team up with an elderly “knight of the road.” This trio then frees a little rich girl from kidnappers, the old man’s son takes his Dad, Danny and Shep into his home and the little girl’s father gives the three heroes a big reward.

Dan Engler writes from

Santa Barbara, California.