TV Picks and Passes 11.24.19

Thanksgiving features are a highlight.

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom From Want
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Freedom From Want (photo: Office for Emergency Management; Office of War Information; Domestic Operations Branch; Bureau of Special Services)

SUNDAY-WEDNESDAY, Nov. 24-27, live

Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey to Thailand and Japan

EWTN Pope Francis’ theme in Japan is “Protect All Life.” In Nagasaki on Sunday he will speak at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park, visit the Martyr Saints’ Monument, celebrate Mass in Nagasaki Baseball Stadium, fly to Hiroshima, confer at the Peace Memorial and fly to Tokyo. On Monday he will visit victims of the 2011 earthquake-tsunami-nuclear meltdown Triple Disaster, visit Emperor Naruhito, meet young people at the Cathedral of Holy Mary, celebrate Mass in the Tokyo Dome and greet officials. On Tuesday at Sophia University he will celebrate a private Mass with fellow Jesuits, meet with the Collegium Maximum and visit elderly priests, and depart.

 

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27, 5:30pm

Kosovo: Europe’s Hidden Catholics

EWTN This 2016 documentary profiles the history and present status of Kosovo’s Crypto-Catholics, a minority in that overwhelmingly Muslim republic. Advisory: TV-PG.

 

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27, 9pm

Nova: Animal Espionage

PBS Wildlife biology researchers increasingly use drones and covert cameras to study wild animals as they go about their daily or nightly routines.

 

THURSDAY, Nov. 28

Thanksgiving Day

NBC, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES At 9am on NBC is the 93rd-Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in Manhattan. (Re-airs 2pm.) At noon on NBC is the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s National Dog Show, taped Nov. 16-17. (Re-airs 3pm.) At 9:45pm on Turner Classic Movies, the 1968 fact-based, family-friendly comedy Yours, Mine and Ours stars Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda as newlywed Navy parents — of 18 kids. (A-1, TV-PG.)

 

THURSDAY, Nov. 28, 5:30pm, Nov. 29, 2:30am

Pakistan: Shahbaz Bhatti, a Man With a Dream

EWTN The cause of canonization is underway for Shahbaz Bhatti (1968-2011), the first Christian in Pakistan’s cabinet, who was shot dead by Muslim assassins on March 2, 2011.

 

SUNDAY, Dec. 1, 8pm

America in Color: Alaska

SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL News and documentary footage and photos, all colorized, portray life in the Last Frontier state from the gold rush of the 1890s to the Japanese invasion in World War II, U.S. statehood in 1959 and beyond.

 

MONDAY, Dec. 2, 10:45pm

Ben-Hur

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES Always a must-see, this 1959 epic follows Gen. Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ to illustrate the redemptive power of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross through a story of fictional Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur. Charlton Heston, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd and Finlay Currie star. A-1, TV-PG.

 

MONDAY-FRIDAY, Dec. 2-6, 11:30pm

Women of Grace

EWTN This week’s topic: “Bringing It to the Streets: Catholic Evangelization.” Advisory: TV-PG.

 

FRIDAY, Dec. 6, 4pm

Nicholas, the Boy Who Became Santa

EWTN On the feast of St. Nicholas of Myra, this children’s animated story describes his life and how he became known as today’s “Santa Claus.”

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.