All times Eastern

VARIOUS DATES

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly

PBS; check local listings for day and time

This weekly program provides more balance than most television reporting of religious news. The show, produced by WNET New York and distributed by PBS on Fridays at 5 p.m., discusses religious events, people, practices and controversies. Tentative for this week: John Dancy looks at how Mormons train their missionary teams. (The producers sometimes change a program's content at the last minute so host Bob Abernethy and his aides can cover sudden hot topics and breaking news stories.)

MONDAY, MARCH 26

Generation Rx: Reading, Writing and Ritalin

A & E, 10 p.m.

Some 4 million American children are now given the drug Ritalin for “hyperactivity"; the dosing jumped 70% in the 1990s. This “Investigative Reports” segment interviews pediatricians, psychiatrists, teachers, parents and youngsters about the situation.

TUESDAY, MARCH 27

The Pentagon

History Channel, 10 p.m.

This premiere from “Modern Marvels” takes a fresh look at the Defense Department's headquarters — the world's largest office building. The mammoth edifice was completed in 1943, houses 24,000 employees and is so well designed that a person can walk between any two offices in seven minutes or less.

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

NCAA Women's Tournament

ESPN

The final four women's teams in the NCAA college basketball tournament compete in St. Louis, Mo. Semifinal #1 begins at 4 p.m., and semifinal #2 at 6:30 p.m. The championship game will take place on Sunday, Apr. 1.

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

Ancestors in the Americas

PBS, 9 p.m.

This installment, “Chinese in the Frontier West: An American Story,” is the second in a three-part series on Asian immigration to the United States. Using photos and artwork to depict the influx of Chinese between 1850 (in the California Gold Rush) and 1882, the show reveals Chinese immigrants' wide influence on the American West, from providing construction labor to paying taxes to waging court battles against bigotry.

SATURDAY, MARCH 31

NCAA Men's Tournament

CBS

The final four men's teams in the NCAA college basketball tournament do battle in the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Semifinal #1 starts at 2:30 p.m., and semifinal #2 at 5 p.m. The winners meet in the championship game on Monday, April 2.

SATURDAY, MARCH 31

Mother Earth: A Journey With Francis in his Land

EWTN, 8 p.m.

In this 90-minute documentary, actor Franco Giacobini uses St. Francis of Assisi's own words to convey the profound relevance of Franciscan spirituality to the present day. The show takes us to prominent Franciscan locations around Italy, including Assisi, Greccio, Fonte Colombo, Monte Casale and La Verna. Msgr. Flavio Carraro leads a brief meditation. To be rebroadcast Wednesday, April 4, at 1 p.m. and Thursday, April 5, at 3 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.