SUNDAY, JULY 24
Anniversary Special:
Titanic Live
Discovery Channel, 8 p.m., 11 p.m.
The RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic on April 14, 1912, on its first voyage. This special features probes of the wreck. Re-airs Saturday, July 30, at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
SUNDAY, JULY 24
Nature: The Real Macaw
PBS, 8 p.m.
To save endangered macaws in the Amazon rainforest, Charlie Munn, a U.S. doctor, promotes eco-tourism. He hires former poachers as guides for tourists who watch the magnificent birds instead of being tempted to buy them through smugglers. A re-air from 2004.
MONDAY, JULY 25
History Detectives
PBS, 9 p.m.
Tonight's segments involve a Bible in the Cherokee alphabet invented by Sequoyah (born George Gist, 1776-1843); a possible slave banjo; and the United Empire Loyalists, who left the new United States for Canada after the American Revolution.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27
The Wild Seas of Iceland
Travel Channel, 6 p.m.
“O Lord, Your sea is so great and my boat is so small,” goes a fisherman's prayer. This show portrays the great courage and hard life of the fishermen of Iceland.
THURSDAY, JULY 28
Life on the Rock
EWTN, 8 p.m., live
Guest Chris Godfrey, founder of Life Athletes, was right guard for the Super Bowl XXI champion New York Giants. His message is, “Virtue! Abstinence! Respect for Life!”
THURSDAY, JULY 28
Live from Lincoln
Center: A Concert at Mozart's House
PBS, 8 p.m.
On the 2005 Mostly Mozart Festival's opening night at the Lincoln Center, soprano Renee Fleming and pianist Stephen Hough guest with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra under Louis Langree.
FRIDAY, JULY 29
TIPical Mary Ellen: Get Your Kids to Read
Home & Garden TV, 8 a.m.
Some ideas: Set aside 15 minutes before bedtime to read with your children; create a reading nook for them; get them to read cereal boxes and other material in addition to books. Other segments: cooking game meats and selecting good hostess gifts.
SATURDAY, JULY 30
Movie Night
Familyland TV, 8 p.m.
At 8 p.m. in The Star Packer (1934) and at 9 p.m. in Texas Terror (1935), John Wayne is a Western lawman and George “Gabby” Hayes his grizzled- but-game sidekick (“Yer durn tootin’” was a trademark line of his). At 10 p.m. in the wartime morale-boosting film Gung Ho! (1943), Randolph Scott and Robert Mitchum are U.S. Marines in the South Pacific.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.