All times Eastern

DEC., VARIOUS DATES

Christmas Specials PBS, check local listings

Two fun specials are America's Home Cooking: Cookies, which showcases home cooks and family recipes; and American Soundtrack: A Classic Christmas from the Ed Sullivan Show, which features Bing Crosby, Connie Francis and many more stars.

SUNDAYS IN DEC.

Sunday Rosaries on EWTN EWTN, various times

Pope John Paul II has proclaimed October 2002 to October 2003 as The Year of the Rosary. In his new apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary), the Holy Father reminds us of the rosary's power. He reminds us that to “recite the rosary is nothing less than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ,” and he asks each of us to pray the rosary and promote it. EWTN offers Holy Land Rosary at 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., Scriptural Rosary at 11:30 a.m. and International Rosary at 3:30 p.m. These shows will also air in these time slots daily throughout Christmas week.

MONDAY, DEC. 2

IR: Forensic Fraud A & E, 10 p.m.

“Investigative Reports” dissects criminal cases in Chicago that turned out to involve misrepresentation of forensic evidence such as DNA. The show evaluates the reliability of forensic science and notes that scientists, prosecutors, police and defendants can lie.

TUESDAY, DEC. 3

Francis Xavier and the Samurai's Lost Treasure EWTN, 4 p.m.

On the feast day of this great Jesuit saint, make sure your children see this animated story of his adventures for Christ and the Gospel in 16th-century India and Japan.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 4

Pearl Harbor: The Death of the Arizona Discovery Channel, 9 p.m.

Daniel Martinez, chief historian at the USS Arizona Memorial, hosts “Unsolved History,” a new show about notable historical events. In this episode, he notes recent discoveries about the sinking of the battleship Arizona in the Japanese surprise attack on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. Rebroadcast Thursday at midnight and Saturday at 1 p.m.

THURSDAYS

The Router Workshop PBS, 5 p.m.

Bob and Rick Rosendahl find ingenious ways to construct knickknack shelves.

FRIDAYS

Wall $treet Week with Fortune PBS, 8:30 p.m.

See what leaders in business, finance and government think about the economy.

SATURDAYS

Household of Faith: Now That We're Catholic EWTN, 5:30 p.m.

Converts Kristine Franklin (exfundamentalist) and Rosalind Moss (ex-evangelical) tell exciting stories of their discovery of the fullness of truth in the Catholic Church. Also shown Tuesdays at 11 a.m.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.