TV Picks April 20-26, 2008

All Times Eastern


SUNDAY, 6 a.m.

History’s Lost & Found

HISTORY CHANNEL “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” reads the inscription on the Liberty Bell, citing Leviticus 25:10. Cast in 1751 and rung in 1776 for the Declaration of Independence, the bell received its “Liberty” name from abolitionists in 1835. Also covered are Howard Aiken’s 1938 paper about a calculating machine and the St. Valentine’s Day massacre’s bullet-riddled wall. Advisory: TV-PG.


SUNDAY, live

Pope Benedict XVI Visits the USA

EWTN At 9 a.m., the Holy Father is to visit Ground Zero in New York City (re-air at 11 a.m.). At 2 p.m., the Pope will celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium (re-air at 10 p.m.). At 7:30 p.m., the Vicar of Christ will leave for home.


SUNDAY, 9 p.m.

Expedition Alaska

DISCOVERY This two-hour episode is the first in a series that charts a summer 40-day visit by scientists and photographers to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to film animals and study climate changes. Advisory: TV-PG.


WEEKDAYS EXCEPT WEDNESDAY, 7 p.m.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

FAMILYLAND TV This enjoyable family comedy, which ran on ABC from 1952 to 1966, blended reality and fiction as real-life music biz veterans Ozzie and Harriet Nelson raised their sons David and Ricky. The boys carved out real-life Hollywood and music careers for themselves as they grew up and eventually married.


WEDNESDAY, 8 p.m.

Secrets of the Dead: Aztec Massacre

PBS Skulls and bones unearthed in 2006 in Tecuaque, near Mexico City, show that over a six-month period in 1520, the Aztecs sacrificed and cannibalized hundreds of captured local Indians and as many as 40 Spaniards from a caravan that had lagged behind as conquistador Hernan Cortes hurried to Mexico City. Advisory: Scenes of human remains.


WEDNESDAY, 8 p.m.

Extreme Engineering: Bridging the Bering Strait

DISCOVERY Designers contemplate building a weather-resistant concrete-encased bridge across the 58-mile-wide Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia.


THURSDAY, 6 a.m.

Classroom: Shays’ Rebellion

HISTORY CHANNEL “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing,” wrote Thomas Jefferson about army veteran Daniel Shays’ uprising of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787 to fight high taxes and confiscations of farms.


SATURDAY, 8 p.m.

Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge

SCIENCE CHANNEL Four student science contest finalists meet the Mythbusters crew and test electric vehicles, greenhouse gas production and gases’ role in temperature.


Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.