TV Picks March 16-23, 2008

All Times Eastern


SUNDAY, 4:30 a.m., live

Solemn Mass of Palm Sunday, with Pope Benedict XVI

EWTN In St. Matthew 21 we read, “And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken and asked, ‘Who is this?’ And the crowds replied, ‘This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.’” Pope Benedict XVI will say Mass in St. Peter’s on the Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Re-airs at 8 p.m.


SUNDAY, 6 a.m.

History’s Lost & Found

HISTORY CHANNEL At 6 a.m., we track down copies of the Confederate Constitution, the “Genesis Rock” (above) that Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin brought back from the Moon in 1971 and a statue of President Harding’s dog Laddie Boy made from newsboys’ pennies. At 6:30 a.m., we see Shakespeare’s will, Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection and clockmaker John Harrison’s longitude calculators. Advisory: TV-PG.


MONDAY, 7 p.m.

Emeril’s New Orleans Easter

FOOD NETWORK Family dinners are a traditional way to celebrate the Resurrection, and for his part, chef Emeril Lagasse shows how to prepare absinthe Suisse cocktail, crawfish cardinale in pastry, stuffed leg of lamb and gold-brick chocolate pecan pie.


TUESDAY, 8 p.m.

It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

ABC In this 1974 animated special from “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty and Marcie ineptly try to organize an Easter egg hunt, but Charlie’s pet beagle Snoopy eventually comes to the rescue — well, mostly.


WEDNESDAYS-THURSDAYS

Live with Passion

FAMILYLAND TV At 1 p.m. Wednesdays and 8:30 a.m. Thursdays, Passionist Father Cedric Pisegna combines lessons from Catholic tradition, Scripture, stories and personal experiences as he seeks to bring viewers ever closer to Jesus.


THURSDAY-SATURDAY

The Triduum

EWTN On Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI says the Chrism Mass (4:30 a.m.) and the Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper (12:30 p.m.). On Good Friday, the Holy Father leads the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion (12 noon) and the Way of the Cross (8 p.m., tape delay). On Holy Saturday, the Pope says the Easter Vigil Mass (4 p.m.).


SATURDAY, 7 p.m.

The Ten Commandments

ABC Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) directed dozens of films from the Silent Era onward, but none so memorable as his last, this 1956 epic. Charlton Heston is Moses, Yul Brynner is Pharaoh and other stars include Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Cedric Hardwicke, John Derek and Nina Foch. This was the highest-grossing film with a religious theme until Mel Gibson’s 2004 The Passion of the Christ.


Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.