Weekly TV Picks

All times Eastern

by DANIEL J. ENGLER

MAY, VARIOUS DATES

Cruising America's Waterways

PBS; check local listings for time

In a 13-part series that debuts this month, singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards and two of his friends travel by boat along some of America's prettiest and most interesting rivers, lakes, canals and coastal areas.

SUNDAY, MAY 13

Our Lady of Fatima

EWTN

Apparitions at Fatima, at 3 a.m. and 8 p.m., conveys Our Lady's everurgent message of conversion and reparation. Fr. Apostoli: Our Lady in Scripture and Tradition, at 10 a.m., discusses Fatima. Fatima, at 11:30 a.m., depicts Pope John Paul II's trip to Fatima to thank Our Lady for saving his life. The cartoon The Day the Sun Danced, at 7 p.m., is CCC (Creative Communication Center) of America's faithful retelling of the events at Fatima.

TUESDAY, MAY 15

Secrets of Lost Empires

PBS; check local listings for time

“Medieval Siege,” the first episode in a new three-part series on successive Tuesdays, features a team of historians, engineers and timber framers who try to build an improved trebuchet (itself an improvement on ancient catapults) to sling 250-lb. boulders.

TUES.-WED., MAY 15-16

History's Mysteries: Cliff Mummies of the Andes

History Channel, 8 p.m.

In this two-part show, scientists gain detailed insights into the lives, culture and beliefs of ancient Andean peoples by studying their mummies and burial sites.

THURSDAY, MAY 17

Andy Griffith

Retrospective Special

The Learning Channel, 3 p.m.

Andy and his cast and crew from “The Andy Griffith Show” recall the fun they had in making their beloved small-town-America comedy series, which ran from 1960 to 1968.

FRIDAY, MAY 18

Celebrate

Pope John Paul II's Birthday!

EWTN

In Be Not Afraid: Twenty Years of John Paul II, at 1 a.m. and 1 p.m., Raymond Arroyo interviews the Pope's biographer, George Weigel, and a childhood friend. Pope John Paul II: Conscience of the World, at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., covers the Pope's calls for justice. The Personalism of John Paul II, in two parts (2 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.), examines the Pope's philosophy. John Paul II and the Sick: The Value of Suffering, at 2:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., shows the Holy Father with sick people on his journeys.

SATURDAYS

Handyma'am with Beverly DeJulio

PBS; check local listings for time

In this series, Beverly DeJulio and her daughters Angel and Christine demonstrate how everyone can do home maintenance, improvement and decorating projects. Their topics range from home-office design to picking the right trees for your yard.

SATURDAY, MAY 19

The Preakness Stakes

NBC, 5 p.m.

Many of this year's top thoroughbreds compete in another leg of the thrilling Triple Crown races, this one in Baltimore.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.

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