SUNDAY, JULY 17

Nature: Hippo Beach

PBS, 8 p.m.

This documentary follows a year in the lives of a “pod” of hippos — mom, pop and baby — on a beach on the Luangwa River in Zambia. Daddy Hippo is the area's dominant bull. This show first aired in October 2003.

MONDAY, JULY 18

Taming the Wild West

History Channel, 8 p.m.

Fur trader and explorer Jedediah Strong Smith (1798-1831) traversed the entire American West from his teens until the Comanche Indians killed him on his way to Santa Fe. More than once, he blazed trails into California, where he visited the missions.

MONDAY, JULY 18

Hidden Pyramids of Peru

National Geographic Channel,

9 p.m., midnight

This special investigates Peruvian pyramids from 5000 B.C. Re-airs Thursday, July 21, at 2 p.m. and Saturday, July 23, at 3 p.m.

MONDAYS, SATURDAYS

Bloomin’ in the Garden

Familyland TV

Mondays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 4 p.m. are the airdates for this comprehensive gardening show. George “Bloomin’” Newman and Kim “Blossom” Knight illustrate garden concepts, design, installation, care, problems and solutions.

TUESDAY, JULY 19

Journey Home Roundtable

EWTN, 1 p.m.

What with evangelical Protestants continuing to siphon many Catholics away from the faith, this 60-minute show lets Al Kresta, Rosalind Moss and Shawn Reeves explain their decisions to leave nondenominational evangelicalism and become Catholic.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20

My Fair Lady

Turner Classic

Movies, 10 p.m.

Adapting the Lerner and Loewe musical based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, this 1964 film won Best Picture and seven other Oscars. As London phonetics Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) teaches Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) to lose her Cockney dialect and adopt society manners, she teaches him some profound lessons of her own.

FRIDAY, JULY 22

Close Up: The Science of Free Flight

National Geographic

Channel, 9 a.m.

New Zealand paraglider Brian Moore uses his basic nylon wing to attempt a three- to four-day flight along New Zealand's Southern Alps.

FRIDAY, JULY 22

Investigative Reports:

Every Parent's Nightmare

A & E, 11 a.m., 5 p.m.

This special report says that day care centers and nannies kill or seriously injure about 1,000 children in the United States each year. What can we do about these crimes?

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.