VARIOUS

History Speaks:

What Makes

Democracy Work

Familyland TV

In this new series, historian William Federer discusses our American Republic's debt to Christian principles of liberty and to all, including countless Christians, who have fought and died to make us free and keep us free. Airs Sundays at 10:30 a.m., Tuesdays at 11 p.m. and Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCT. 23

What Every Catholic

Needs to Know About Hell

EWTN, 10 p.m.

Father William Casey, Father Shannon Collins, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, and Scott and Kimberly Hahn and others explain the reality of the Four Last Things — death, judgment, heaven, hell — and supply Catholic truth about redemption, grace and how we must live. Re-airs Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 28 at 3 a.m.

MONDAY, OCT. 24

Signpost to Freedom:

The 1953 Baton Rouge

Bus Boycott

PBS, 10:30 p.m.

This 30-minute documentary examines an eight-day boycott that won partial success and foreshadowed later civil rights boycotts.

TUESDAY, OCT. 25

It's the Great Pumpkin,

Charlie Brown

ABC, 8 p.m.

In this half-hour animated “Peanuts” special from 1966, Linus drives his friends out of their gourd, so to speak, with his all-night Halloween wait for “the Great Pumpkin.”

TUESDAY, OCT. 25

Nova: Ancient Creature

Of the Deep

PBS, 8 p.m.

Scientists thought the coelacanth (“see-la-kanth”) was long extinct until fishermen off southern Africa caught one in 1938. This is the story of that discovery and later ones.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26

A Cemetery Special

PBS, 8 p.m.

“May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.” Documentary-maker Rick Sebak (“An Ice Cream Show,” “Sandwiches That You Will Like”) visits nine interesting monument-filled older cemeteries across the United States and says, “There's nothing spooky or scary in the program.” He hopes viewers will begin to visit loved ones’ graves and to reflect on “how short life can be.”

THURSDAY, OCT. 27

Life on the Rock

EWTN, 8 p.m.

Johnnette Benkovic guests, and her topic is “Yep, the devil is real.”

FRIDAY, OCT. 28

Modern Marvels:

Mountain Roads

History Channel, 11 p.m.

Drive along scenic roads such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Pike's Peak summit road and the “Going-to-the-Sun Road” in Glacier National Park. Advisory: TV-PG.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.