All times Eastern
SUNDAY, OCT. 19
Beatification of Mother Teresa
EWTN, 4 a.m., live
We won't be the only ones watching Mother Teresa's Mass of beatification. Looking on from heaven will be a whole host of the poorest of the poor, now rich in glory, whom for decades she saved from the streets and loved and held as they entered eternal life. This three-hour broadcast will re-air today at noon and 6:30 p.m., on Monday at 12:30 a.m., and on Tuesday at 9 a.m., Thursday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m.
MONDAY, OCT. 20
Extraordinary Places
Travel Channel, 6 p.m.
This new series shows us the Barrington meteorite crater — 570 feet deep and nearly a mile wide — between Flagstaff and Winslow, Ariz. It also takes us to Santa Fe, N.M., to see the famed spiral staircase with no central support, and no nails, that a mysterious carpenter — St. Joseph? — built in 1878 in answer to a novena by the Sisters of Loretto after they discovered there was no way up to the choir loft in their new chapel.
MONDAY, OCT. 20
River of Iron: Dreams of a Grand Canyon Railroad
PBS, 10:30 p.m.
A team recreates the 1889-1890 expedition of engineer Robert Brewster Stanton, who hoped to build a water-level railroad through the Grand Canyon. Stanton created a fine photographic record of the canyon's physical geography. First shown in March 2000.
TUESDAY, OCT. 21
Sensible Chic
Home & Garden TV, 4:30 p.m.
Find affordable substitutes for expensive interior design themes. Re-airs at 10 p.m.
WEDNESDAYS & SUNDAYS
Be Not Afraid Family Hour
Familyland TV, 6 p.m.-midnight
Starting hourly, 6 to 11 p.m., these excellent Catholic family devotions programs feature Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Cardinal Francis Arinze and other Catholic leaders, a pray-along family rosary and dramatizations of some of the mysteries.
THURSDAY, OCT. 23
Last Secrets of the Axis
History Channel, 8 p.m.
This “Time Machine” two-hour special probes the background, formation and activities of the German-Japanese alliance in World WarII.
FRIDAY, OCT. 24
Save Our History: America's Most Endangered, 2003
History Channel, 7 a.m.
On this year's list of 11 sites from the National Trust for Historic Preservation are “urban houses of worship, nationwide” and, near Boston, the Minuteman National Historical Park, where Americans stood and fought for liberty on April 19, 1775.
SATURDAY, OCT. 25
The Calling: The Vocation of Father Tom Hepburn
EWTN, 8 p.m.
This “reality”-type documentary follows Father Hepburn's first years in the priesthood.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.