VARIOUS

House + Home

CATHOLICTV This series ordinarily portrays U.S. Catholic families’ faith-permeated households, but this time it visits Vatican City to show us daily life in the Apostolic Palace, which houses the Papal Apartments, chapels, the Vatican Library and Museums and administrative offices. This episode airs each week in January at 7am Sundays, 2am Wednesdays, 12:30pm Thursdays and 8pm Fridays.

SUNDAY, Jan. 2, 8pm

Extreme Home Makeover

ABC Host Ty Pennington, his team, volunteers and Heritage Homes Fargo-Moorhead build a handicapped-accessible house in Moorhead, Minn., for Bill and Adair Grommesh, their wheelchair-bound son Garrett, 10, and their daughter Peighton, 11. Prompted by Garrett’s spina bifida and Peighton’s pancreatic enzyme deficiency, Bill and Adair run Hope Inc., which enables disabled children to play sports. The Grommeshes then give their viable old house to friends, a family of former refugees. Advisory: TV-PG.

MONDAYS, Jan. 3, Jan. 10, 9pm

American Experience: Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant

PBS Jan. 3’s episode covers the life and historical reputation of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), and Jan. 10’s installment does the same for Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885). Advisory: Battlefield images.

THURSDAY, Jan. 6, 10pm

Brad Meltzer’s Decoded: D.B. Cooper

HISTORY Skyjacker “Dan Cooper” (the initials “D.B.” were a reporter’s mistake) vanished in Nov. 1971 after parachuting into the Washington wilderness from a Northwest Orient 727 with $200,000 in ransom money. Series host Meltzer interviews a possible accomplice of “Cooper” and profiles a man whose own brother suspected him.

SATURDAY, Jan. 8, 1pm, live

U.S. Army All-American Bowl

NBC Played in San Antonio, Texas, this annual East-West national high-school football all-star game features 90 top players who will shine in college, as well as 125 high-school marching band members in a halftime musical show.

SUNDAY, Jan. 9, 10pm

What Every Catholic Needs to Know About the Bible

EWTN Catholic apologetics experts Matthew Arnold, Brant Pitre, Michael Barber, Jesse Romero and Scott Hahn discuss the “history, nature, structure and purpose of the Bible”; prove that the Catholic Church compiled the Bible, preserves the full Bible, and has the God-given authority to interpret it; and refute often-circulated anti-Catholic falsehoods and misconceptions. Re-airs 1pm Tuesday and 5am Thursday.

SATURDAY, Jan. 15, 3:30pm

Incredible Dog Challenge

National Finals

NBC Trained dogs from around the country compete, under humane conditions, in “Dog Diving,” “Freestyle Flying Disc,” “Agility Competition” (small and large dog), “Jack Russell Hurdle Racing” and “60 Weave Pole Racing.”

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.