NOTE: We are listing both EST/Pacific Time and individual television ratings. All rated [G] or [PG] unless noted. [NR] = Not Rated, news-related program.
******************************************************
To subscribe to a monthly email of this schedule,
please visit http://www.HistoryChannel.com/mailinglist
******************************************************
No listings available 8/15 to 9/14/03
Monday, September 15, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- History Alive - Hanson, Hawkins, and
Boggs/The Black Dahlia
Insurance scams are hard to pull off--unless the
deceased's doctor is in on it! Meet Gene Hanson
and John Hawkins, con men with huge policies on
each other. When Dr. Boggs identifies a dead
patient as Hanson, it seems to be he... Next,
study the facts in the case of the Black Dahlia,
whose dismembered body was found near Hollywood.
8-8:30pm - Mail Call: Armored Scout
Car/Water-Cooled Machine Gun/Fart
Sack/Battlefield Shuteye/Nazi U-Boats/Stealth
Ship
How effective were armored scout cars in WWII?
What does it mean when the term "water-cooled" is
used with a machine gun? What's a fart sack? How
do modern troops grab some shuteye on the
battlefield? Why were the German U-boats of WWII
so effective? Does the Navy really have a ship
that's invisible to radar? R. Lee Ermey answers
these viewer questions while on location with
practical demonstrations by military experts in
the field.
8:30-9pm - Guts & Bolts: Stuntman Fire
Suit/Personal Submarine/Tunnel Digger
In this episode, host Tim Beggy takes on the
elements--Earth, Fire, and Water. Tim descends
200 feet below Chicago armed with a pickaxe to
learn how tunneling was done in days of yore,
then steps aside to let a fierce Tunnel Boring
Machine do its thing. In Vancouver, he explores a
shipwreck 80 feet below sea level from his own
personal submarine. Finally, Beggy gets to live
every action movie fan's dream when he's set on
fire by a movie special effects team--and lives
to tell about it!
9-11pm - Movie: Platoon
Written and directed by Oliver Stone, the
story is based on his experiences in Vietnam.
Charlie Sheen plays Private Chris Taylor, a naive
recruit who faces a moral crisis when a sergeant
orders a village massacre. Perhaps the most
accurate film about the brutality of the Vietnam
War, the top-notch cast in this gritty look at
the lives of a platoon includes Tom Berenger,
Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon,
Johnny Depp, and Chris Pederson. (1986) Available on video and DVD)
____________________________________________________
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- History Alive: Jane Doe/Lufthansa Heist
A dismembered corpse is found near the Wisconsin
River--minus the skin from the face along with
the nose and ears. For weeks, no clues are found
as to the identity of the victim or killer. Then,
space-age technology comes in to play and the
case unfolds like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. But
one of the most intriguing cases of mob
crime--the 1978 Lufthansa Heist--remains
unsolved. Over $8-million in cash, jewels, and
gold was stolen from Lufthansa's high-security
storage at New York's JFK airport.
8-9pm -- Mavericks, Miracles & Medicine: The
Heart
Follow the case of Dr. James Snow, a 70-year-old
man with a damaged heart valve. We're with Jim as
he undergoes a cutting-edge surgical
procedure--minimally-invasive mitral valve
reconstruction. Threaded throughout are
revelatory stories of medical milestones that
allowed the modern drama to unfold, including:
the first studies of human anatomy through
dissection; the first heart catheterization; the
first surgery under anesthesia; handwashing by
medical personnel; and the heart-lung machine.
9-10pm -- Tactical to Practical #3
Today's naval submarine is the world's deadliest
weapon. Join former Navy fighter pilot and series
host Hunter Ellis as he explores the technology
that led from the submarine to handheld sonar
devices that help tourists catch that "big" fish.
We also look at miracle materials, such as
carbon-fiber technology, and radar--now being
used to help locate people trapped in the rubble
of collapsed buildings.
10-11pm - Scrapyard Scavenger: The Crossbow
In this week's testosterone-driven plunge into
the world of metal-molding maniacs, Mark Bradford
(aka Scrapdaddy) and his junk-obsessed teammates
must turn an ancient machine into a modern
monster. The task--transforming a human-sized
crossbow into a massive war machine that can hurl
20-pound flaming arrows the length of a football
field. With five days and $5,000, tempers flare
as the scavengers race to turn a two-ton pile of
scrap into an arbalest.
____________________________________________________
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- History Alive: Nickell/Taylor
When Stella Nickel inserted rat poison in her
husband's Excedrin gelcaps, she got away with
murder...until she got greedy. Next, we examine
the evidence surrounding the 1922 unsolved murder
of film director William Desmond Taylor, which
revealed the seamier side of Hollywood.
8-9pm -- Mavericks, Miracles & Medicine:
Transplants
Meet Ken Whelan, a 47-year-old man in need of a
liver transplant, and his 21-year-old daughter
who insists on being the donor. As we follow
Ken's story, we learn about William Harvey, a
17th-century doctor who discovered the
circulation of blood; Jean-Baptiste Denis, who
did the first blood transfusion from animals to
humans; Nobel Prize-winning doctor and scientist
Paul Ehrlich; the surgeon who performed the first
successful organ (kidney) transplant; the
scientist and sheep who birthed cloning.
9-10pm -- Modern Marvels: Bullet Trains
Traveling between 135 and 190 miles per hour with
an astonishingly high safety record, bullet
trains can be found throughout Europe, Japan, and
on the U.S. eastern seaboard. How high-speed
trains are propelled is rooted in fundamentals
that haven't changed since the first electric
trolleys appeared in the 19th century. We see how
scientists are looking at new alternatives to
electricity, including magnetic levitation that
can move passenger trains 345 miles per hour and
beyond!
10-11pm -- Modern Marvels: High Tech Sex
Join us for a walk on the wild side of the
history of sexual enhancement and
contraception--from Cleopatra's box of buzzing
bees to 17th-century condoms to Internet sex and
21st-century holographic pornography! In an
explicit exploration of the aphrodisiacs, drugs,
contraceptives, toys, and cyber-tech innovations
that have ushered in a brave new world of modern
sexuality, we talk to sexologists and historians
for ribald romp behind the bedroom's closed
doors.
____________________________________________________
Thursday, September 18, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- History Alive: Leopold & Loeb/D.B.
Cooper
This week's cases for our armchair detectives
include the nearly perfect "thrill killing"
committed by Leopold and Loeb, privileged youth
with extremely high IQs. Then, try to detect what
happened to D.B. Cooper, who skyjacked a Boeing
727, demanded $100,000 and four parachutes, and
then leapt from the plane into folk history.
8-9pm -- Mavericks, Miracles & Medicine: The
Brain
Our current case shadows severe epileptic Jim
Carella, who undergoes surgery to implant a
pacemaker for his brain. Historical stories
include: the scientist who proved that epilepsy
was not caused by demonic possession (15th
century); the scientist who discerned
localization of brain function (18th century);
the accident that led to the x-ray (19th
century); the first doctor to map localization of
brain function (19th century); and the first
implanted electrical pacemaker (20th century).
9-11:30pm -- Movie: Heartbreak Ridge Clint Eastwood stars as a tough Marine
leading raw recruits into battle in the invasion
of Grenada. With Marsha Mason. (1986) Heartbreak Ridge is available on video and DVD
____________________________________________________
Friday, September 19, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- History Alive: Hollywood
Robber/Kingsbury Run Murders
In the mid-1990s, when Seattle was plagued by
bank robberies, the most feared bandit was the
"Hollywood" robber and his band. An enormous task
force, including the FBI, teamed up to match wits
with one of America's most prolific and luckiest
criminals. And in 1935, Cleveland brought in
Eliot Ness to fight crime and police corruption.
But he was about to do battle with one of the
most brutal and devious serial killers in U.S.
history, the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run"--a
battle Ness eventually lost.
8-9pm -- Mavericks, Miracles & Medicine:
Infectious Disease
Follow the case of a 13-month-old child with
tuberculosis and the hunt for the person who
infected him. Going back in time, we meet: Robert
Koch, a 19th-century German country doctor who
first proved links between germs and disease;
Anton von Leeuwenhoek, the 17th-century Dutchman
who discovered the invisible world of
microorganisms; the notorious Typhoid Mary; the
Englishwoman who made the first smallpox vaccine
possible; and Selman Waksman, who discovered the
first antibiotic for TB.
9-10pm -- Deadmen's Secrets: Secrets of Hitler's
Wonder Weapons
In the last years of WWII, Hitler's war machine
turned in desperation to some of the strangest
weapons ever devised--an arsenal of advanced
technological weapons so secret that even today,
their true uses remain a mystery. We look at the
Messerschmitt 262, the first jet fighter; the V-1
flying bomb, ancestor of today's cruise missile;
and the V-2, the first ballistic missile. Perhaps
most extraordinary, we investigate the
possibility that the Nazis were sending UFOs into
the sky.
10-11pm -- Modern Marvels: Bombs
Bombs...the most feared and powerful weapon in
any nation's arsenal. What began as incendiary
devices in the 7th century has evolved into
weapons that can literally blow the human race
off the face of earth! From the use of diseased
carcasses flung over castle walls to Greek Fire
to today's smart bombs, we review the evolution
of bombs.
____________________________________________________
Saturday, September 20, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-7:30pm -- Conquest: Weapons of the Barbarians Barbarians came from many lands and used many
weapons to fight a common enemy. Their nemesis:
the Roman Empire. Now, Peter Woodward and the
Conquest Team examine the tactics and tools used
by barbarians in their neverending battles
against the forces of Rome.
7:30-8pm -- Mail Call: Armored Scout
Car/Water-Cooled Machine Gun/Fart
Sack/Battlefield Shuteye/Nazi U-Boats/Stealth
Ship (repeated from Monday)
8-9pm -- History Undercover: The Too Perfect Spy
The daring story of Fritz Kolbe, a secretary in
the German Foreign Office. In 1943, Kolbe's
patriotism for Germany and hatred of the Nazis
motivated him to contact OSS Chief Allen Dulles
with top-secret documents. Kolbe risked his life
to speed WWII's end, but no one believed a mole
this good could be genuine--except Dulles. Only
recently, the full bulk of the Kolbe-Dulle's
correspondence has been released, proving him
possibly the single most valuable human
intelligence source of WWII.
9-10pm -- Come Home Alive - Gateway of Death:
Mexico
In Mexico in 1997, three kidnappers confront
American geologist Stu Havenstrite and try to
force him into the trunk of his car. When he
fights back, the bandits shove him in the
backseat. For Havenstrite, alone and desperate in
a foreign country, his resistance is one of many
quick decisions he'll have to make over the next
72 hours--each of them a calculated gamble with
his life hanging in the balance. The kidnappers
demand a $5-million ransom, but Stu needs a dose
of good luck to come home alive.
10-11pm -- Dead Reckoning - DNA's Debut
Studying the history of DNA as a forensic tool,
we begin in 1987 in Virginia with the case of
serial rapist/murderer Timothy Spencer-- the
first American convicted in a capital murder case
solely on the basis DNA. In the years since the
landmark case, Virginia instituted a DNA databank
that contains the DNA profiles of all felons.
Now, more than 20 years after the unsolved murder
of Dorothy White, Virginia police reopen the case
and enter DNA from her crime scene into the
databank and make a hit!
____________________________________________________
Sunday, September 21, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Dead Reckoning - DNA's Debut (repeated from yesterday)
8-10pm -- Time Machine - Sink the Bismarck!
This 2-hour documentary joins the world's
greatest sea chase as the British pursue the
pride of the German navy, the battleship
Bismarck. Features interviews with Ted Briggs,
survivor of the Hood, which was sunk by the
Bismarck, the Bismarck's senior surviving
officer, and the only U.S. military man to
participate in the WWII chase.
10pm - Mail Call: Amphibious Assault
Vehicle/Jeep/Medieval Battering Ram/Urban
Warfare/Ball Turret Gunner/Nose Art
How can the Marines' 26-ton AAV (Amphibious
Assault Vehicle) stay afloat? Can a jeep float?
How did medieval battering rams work? What types
of tactics do the military use for urban warfare?
Who were the guys who fired guns from the bubbles
underneath WWII bombers? What's the story behind
all those pictures of girls and other stuff drawn
on WWII airplanes? R. Lee Ermey sends these
viewers' questions to military experts in the
field for explanations and short demonstrations.
10:30-11pm -- Conquest: Weapons of the American
Indians
Peter Woodward and the Conquest Team examine the
weapons and warfare of the North American Plains
Indians--a savage story of defiance and revenge
in which proud, fearless warriors waged
bloodthirsty battles against other Indian tribes
and the white man. Though nomadic, with no
concept of land ownership, the Plains Indians
defended themselves with both indigenous and
borrowed weaponry. Learn how to win...as Native
Americans, focusing primarily on the weapons of
the Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho.
____________________________________________________
Monday, September 22, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Sherman Tanks
From the D-Day beaches to the crushing defeat of
the German Army in France, the U.S. M-4 Sherman
tank fought in some of the bloodiest battles of
WWII. This is the dramatic story of America's
triumphant industrial mobilization and the
manufacture of a tank that would blast its way
into history and pave the way for the liberation
of Europe. Miniature cameras provide an inside
look at the horrifying reality of being inside a
Sherman tank in combat and under fire.
8-8:30pm -- Mail Call - #34
R. Lee Ermey returns as host for another season
of exciting answers to viewers' questions on
military technology. With American armed forces
deployed in the war against terrorism, this
season will focus on today's military. Shot on
location, Ermey answers viewers' questions about
military methods and technology with practical
demonstrations by military experts in the field.
8:30-9pm -- Guts & Bolts: Panama Canal
At the Panama Canal, host Tim Beggy gets
unprecedented access to the technology that
allows ships to travel across a continent from
one ocean to another. He unleashes 26-million
gallons of water with the flip of a lever when he
actually operates a canal lock. Then, Beggy
pilots the amazingly powerful harbor tug that can
manhandle ships 80 times its size. Once inside
the locks, ships are tethered to 55-ton
locomotives that keep them in line. Tim receives
on-the-job training and learns how they work.
9-10pm -- The SS - Power Struggle
The incarnation of terror and executor of mass
genocide, the SS, like no other Nazi
organization, embodied the murderous mania of the
"master race". In a 6-part story of unbridled
madness and inconceivable crimes, we watch the
Schutzstaffel (Defense Squadron), an
insignificant guard corps, transform into an
omnipotent evil empire. It began with a night of
murder--June 30, 1934, Night of the Long Knives,
when SS commandos, on Hitler's orders, executed
leaders of the Nazi Storm Troopers, the SA.
10-11pm -- The SS - Himmler's Mania
Presented in meticulous detail, our 6-part
investigation of the SS reveals film footage long
believed lost and eyewitnesses only now prepared
to discuss Hitler's sinister reign of terror.
Focusing on the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler,
we see how his penchant for the occult determined
his barbaric politics, and how he mixed
anti-Semitism with blood-and-soil mysticism. A
chicken farmer with an agriculture diploma, he
instigated "breeding" a new race and administered
mass genocide like a tax official.
____________________________________________________
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Disaster Technology
An examination of the historical development of
technological tools that help science mitigate
nature's fury. It's a survival story that begins
with comprehending the force of disaster. As
environmental calamities unfold, viewers witness
the urgency for change that each crisis compelled
and innovations designed to lower death tolls.
8-9pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - Slave Ship
Uncovered!
In July 1700, the Henrietta Marie, a slave ship
heading home after selling its cargo of "black
gold", met disaster off Florida's coast.
Historians believe a hurricane drove her into a
reef. Accidentally in 1972, remains of the ship
were found and over three decades divers
recovered a portion of the hull and artifacts. In
the summer of 2003, we go onboard and underwater
as researchers scour the waters off Key West,
determined to find the rest of her. With dramatic
animations of the ship's last moments.
9-10pm -- Tactical to Practical - #4
Hunter Ellis shows off the best in 21st-century
fighter jets, including the F-22 Raptor--the
stealthiest aircraft ever--and sees how business
and personal jets offer some of the same avionic
and design features. After demonstrating
prop-driven war machines of the past, Hunter hops
into an F-18 for some Top Gun fun with his Blue
Angel buddies. He also sees how animals are used
in combat and by civilian authorities, and how
surplus WWII air-filled pontoons developed into
white water rafting boats.
10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Torture Devices
For more than 3,000 years, emperors and generals,
dictators and police, criminals, clerics, and
even medical doctors have created and used a vast
array of torture devices--everything from the
ancient Greeks' Brazen Bull, which slowly
barbecued the victim, to the elaborate mechanical
apparatuses of the Spanish Inquisition. A medical
doctor who specializes in victims of torture
reveals how the human body responds to their
use--from the earliest devices to the more
modern.
____________________________________________________
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - High Voltage
Look closely at those tall metal towers that span
the country and you might see tiny specks
climbing up the soaring steel like spiders on an
enormous web. Meet the courageous linemen who
erect, string, and repair 250-foot high
electrical transmission towers, working with
energized power lines that can carry up to
765,000 volts!
8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - The Great Wall of China
Winding 6,000 kilometers through undulating
mountains, it is said to be visible with the
naked eye from the moon. But who called for the
Great Wall's construction and how was it
accomplished? Historians, engineers, and
scientists explore one of the wonders of the
ancient world.
9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - The Colosseum
Nothing symbolizes the Roman Empire at its height
or Rome in magnificent ruins more than the
Colosseum. Built in 70 AD, it seated 80,000
people, boasted a retractable roof, underground
staging devices, marble seating, and lavish
decorations. It still serves as the prototype for
the modern stadium. The complexity of its
construction, the beauty of its architecture, and
the functionality of its design made it the
perfect place for massive crowds to congregate
for the bloody spectacles it contained.
10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Machu Picchu
Perched on a ridge in the Peruvian Andes is the
engineering marvel Machu Picchu. Originally built
by the Incas, this magnificent structure remains
a mystery. Was it an observatory? Pleasure
retreat? Fortress? This program presents the most
current theory.
____________________________________________________
Thursday, September 25, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Million Dollar Tech
For millennia, luxury toys have functioned as
flashy instruments of affluence, authority, and
identity and driven many kingly consumers to
covet, create, and purchase these status symbols.
From the Roman Emperor Caligula's special barges
to Carl Faberge's impossibly intricate eggs, from
plasma screen TVs to $600,000 Bentleys and Rolex
watches, we examine spectacular personal
possessions--paeans to the lords of a consumer
culture that grows richer and technologically
more sophisticated daily.
8-11pm -- Movie: Battle of the Bulge
Epic story of the Nazi war machine's last
desperate offensive. Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw,
and Charles Bronson star. (1965) Available on video and DVD)
____________________________________________________
Friday, September 26, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Secrets of the
Acropolis
With a thrilling combination of dramatic
reconstructions and 3-D animation, we step back
in time to the Golden Age of Greece and the birth
of democracy, to an era of unparalleled human
creativity that produced the magnificent
architecture on the Acropolis. Powerfully evoking
the pagan rituals that made the Acropolis the
heart of Athenian life, we explore all four key
buildings: the Propylaia, the Erectheion, Athena
Nike, and the Parthenon--the most influential buildings in Western civilization.
8-9pm -- The Desert War
Go inside the desert battlefield as Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel's troops pitch a last-gasp effort to
turn back the tide of the British air and tank
campaign. Hitler's "miracle man" couldn't work
his magic against overwhelming opposition.
Hitler's orders to hold firm spelled the
pointless death of tens of thousands and ultimate
end of his army. Features exclusive interviews
with Rommel's chauffeur and first-time interviews
with Bedouins, who talk about the experience of
war in their homeland.
9-10pm -- Blackbird Stealth!
Designed in the late 1950s by aeronautical genius
Kelly Johnson at the mysterious Skunkworks, the
SR-71 Blackbird was the world's first stealthy
aircraft, designed to over-fly enemy territory
with impunity while photographing 100,000 square
miles in an hour. While serving 6 presidents, it
saw action on hot and cold war fronts alike.
Interviews with crews and commanders combined
with unbelievable footage puts viewers in the
cockpit of this amazing spy plane, flying at
speeds of 2,000 miles an hour. It even costarred with Clint Eastwood in the movie "Firefox" available on video and DVD
10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Machine Guns
The history of the machine gun from the first
Gatlings in the Civil War to today's high-speed automatic rifles.
____________________________________________________
Saturday, September 27, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-7:30pm -- Conquest: Weapons of the American Indians (repeated from Sunday)
7:30-8pm -- Mail Call - #34 (repeated from Monday)
8-9pm -- History Undercover - Hitler and Stalin:
Roots of Evil
An examination of the minds of two of the 20th
century's most brutal dictators and mass
murderers--Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Based
on recent psychological and medical studies, the
program explores the personalities of these
ruthless leaders, who were directly responsible
for millions of deaths--their paranoia,
suspiciousness, cold-bloodedness, sadism, and
lack of human feeling. Includes interviews with
Martin Bormann's son and Hitler's butler.
9-10pm -- Come Home Alive - Jungle Terror:
Ecuador
July 29, 1996--while on a guided tour in
Ecuador's Cuyabeno Wildlife Preserve, avid
birdwatcher John Heidema, his daughter, and 10
other tourists, are robbed by armed bandits. When
they threaten to take hostages, Heidema offers
himself in place of his daughter. Working with
the FBI, authorities finally zero in on his
location and after 38 days, an Ecuadorian SWAT
team rescues him. Birdwatchers beware--the
kidnappers were part of a group that picks its
targets by thumbing through tourist brochures!
10-11pm -- Dead Reckoning - Unusual Clues
When two prominent Dartmouth professors were
found murdered in their home in January 2001, the
case attracted national attention. The killers
left several significant clues in the couple's
study, enabling New Hampshire police and forensic
experts to solve the case in only three weeks.
Then, Massachusetts State Police call in an
arachnologist to help solve a murder when they
discover that the perpetrator brushed off part of
a spider web when he crawled through a cellar
window to reach his victim.
____________________________________________________
Sunday, September 28, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Dead Reckoning - Unusual Clues (repeated from yesterday)
8-10pm -- The Last Mission
Meet Jim Smith, radio operator on a B-29 that
flew WWII's final mission. Smith, attached to the
secret 315th Bomb Wing, flew the longest
continuous mission of WWII, six days after the
atomic bombs, ending the largest and most violent
conflict of arms in the history of mankind! On
August 14, 1945, the 315th Bomb Wing was ordered
to strike the Akita oil refinery, northwest of
Tokyo. Incredibly the mission blacked out Tokyo
in one precise moment of time that spared the
Emperor from being kidnapped by military rebels
who had taken over the palace. The rebels had
planned to isolate the Emperor and prevent him
from recording a war-stopping surrender message
to his people. Aided by historians, see how the
B-29 air strike unwittingly collapsed the coup,
saved Tokyo from nuclear strike, and ended WWII.
TV PG
10-10:30pm - Mail Call: Newest Coast Guard
Ship/Carrier Battle Group/Tanks/Sherman
Tank/XM-29 Rifle/WW2 V-Mail
R. Lee Ermey sends viewer questions to military
experts for answers and demonstrations. Go aboard
the Coast Guard's latest and greatest--the
multi-purpose 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB); find
out which and how many ships comprise a carrier
battle group; learn why we call a tank a tank and
not a toilet, and why the Sherman was considered
a deathtrap; get a look at the M-16's
replacement, the futuristic XM-29 rifle; and hear
how WWII V-mail didn't talk, but kept letters
flowing from the front to home.
10:30-11pm -- Conquest - Weapons of the Ninja
Meet the challenges of extreme competition and
find out if you are as tough as you think! Host
Peter Woodward, an actor and fight master, and
his team of combatants take on different
challenges each episode with one goal in mind--to
win! Peter focuses on the technology behind the
equipment being profiled and demonstrates its
practical use and the tactics needed to win. Shot
on location around the world, he reveals the
skills needed throughout history to emerge
victorious!
____________________________________________________
Monday, September 29, 2003
____________________________________________________
7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Military Movers
The challenge: Move millions of soldiers and tons
of cargo halfway around the world and into the
thick of action. How? Use the biggest ships, the
widest planes, and the strongest trucks. Today,
military planners move men and equipment further
and faster than ever. The United Sates
Transportation Command, answering to the
Department of Defense, runs military transport
like an efficient private shipping and travel
agency. From the Civil War to US Transcom, we
track the development of military logistics.
8-8:30pm - Mail Call: Deuce and a Half/Vietnam
Gun Truck/WW2 Household Fat/Missile Silos/C-17
Loadmaster/Scottish Kilts
What is a WWII "Deuce and a Half"? What's a
"Vietnam Gun Truck". Did the U.S. really use
household fat to make explosives in WWII? How do
missile silos work? What's the latest transport
aircraft? Did Scottish soldiers really wear kilts
in battle, and who did the Germans call the
"Girls from Hell" in WWI? R. Lee Ermey dips into
his viewers' mailbag and sends these questions
out to military experts in the field for answers
and brief demonstrations.
8:30-9pm -- Guts & Bolts - Inside the Arena
Nothing gets a crowd revved up like a Mechanical
Bull. Unless of course it's a real bull at a real
rodeo! Tim Beggy takes on both and gets the ride
of his life. Then, Richard Zamboni gives Tim a
spin on his father's famed ice resurfacing
machine to learn first hand how it works at
Iceland Ice Skating Rink in Paramount,
California.
9-10pm -- The SS - Death's Head
Regarded as SS elite and perpetrators of its most
diabolic crimes, Death's Head battalions were
deployed whenever particular cruelty and absolute
devotion to duty were required and were
responsible for the implementation of mass
genocide in Nazi extermination camps. We show how
willing henchmen were schooled to place
themselves body and soul, in the service of
unimaginable barbarity--and how, or if, these
atrocities weighed upon their consciences.
Features an interview with Simon Wiesenthal.
10-11pm -- The SS - Waffen-SS
Opinions still differ on the military arm of the
SS. Was the Waffen-SS the criminal terror
instrument of Nazi genocide, or were they
"soldiers like any others" as SS General Paul
Hausser claimed after the war's end? The
Waffen-SS found its true vocation in 1941 with
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet
Union. There, Himmler's "racial warriors" were
the vanguard, determined to implement the
"extermination of the Jewish-Bolshevik subhuman
hordes" as decreed by Hitler.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
7-8am Civil War Journal: Destiny at Ft. Sumter
Story of the first fateful battle of the Civil War: the South's 34-hour bombardment of Ft. Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1861.
8-10am Egypt beyond the Pyramids
Mansions of the Spirits/The Great Pharaoh and His Lost Children
Explore one of the greatest monuments to the dead ever built--Queen Hatshepsut's Deir el Bahari, and her Red Chapel, a smaller temple near Karnak. Our host Peter Woodward leads us into the inner sanctuaries of the Great Temple of Karnak, and epigrapher William Murnane shows how the art and decoration contributed to its holy power and political prestige. Then we visit the Ramesseum, Ramesses the Great's funerary temple, and KV5, the tomb of several of his sons and Egypt's greatest family mausoleum.
10-12pm Egypt beyond the Pyramids
The Daily Life of Ancient Egyptians/Death and the Journey to Immortality At the ancient port city Mendes, we speak with archaeologist Donald Redford, who has been uncovering the lives of farmers, priests, and merchants. We also visit the ancient craftsman's village Deir el Medina to learn more about the lives of workers who toiled in the Valley of the Kings. Then, we explore ancient places that reveal the secrets of the religion and its views on eternal life after death--the cemetery of the pyramid builders in Giza and the Valley of the Golden Mummies in Bahariyya Oasis.
12-1pm The Sphinx of Egypt
The brooding figure of the Great Sphinx stands guard over the pyramids of Giza. With the head of a man and body of a lion, this 240-foot ruin may depict Pharaoh Khafre, son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid. But speculation still abounds as to its birth. We'll use computers to flesh out its possible original face.
1-2pm Modern Marvels
Pyramids: Majesty and Mystery
Standing majestically for centuries, the world's great pyramids have long inspired and mystified scholars. Leading experts and historians explore the engineering genius that created some of the largest structures on the planet. From ancient Egypt to Central America, we visit these technological masterpieces.
2-6pm Egypt beyond the Pyramids repeated from 10am
6-7pm The Sphinx of Egypt repeated from noon
7-8pm Modern Marvels, Pyramids: Majesty and Mystery repeated
8-9pm Deep Sea Detectives
Lost Treasure Ship Found!
No tale inspires shipwreck hunters more than rumor of priceless treasure lying on the bottom of the sea. Such ships have been found, but few as unique as the 1999 discovery of the Vrouw Maria. Caught in a storm in October 1771, the two-masted merchant vessel, en route to St. Petersburg from Amsterdam, struck a rock and sank along with her cargo of fine Dutch art for Russian aristocrats. For nearly 230 years the vessel lay undisturbed on the seabed with little decay due to the Baltic's brackish nature.
9-10pm Tactical to Practical #2
Former Navy fighter pilot and series host Hunter Ellis explores technology, inventions, techniques, and products born in the military that went on to find useful and exciting applications in civilian life. In this episode, we see how tanks, satellites, and parachutes have been adapted into common usage.
10-11pm Modern Marvels: Smart Bombs
Precision-guided munitions, smart bombs were the media buzz of the first Gulf War and a major military and political driving force of the second. But their apparent sudden celebrity is deceptive. The history of smart bombs goes back to World War I and includes an ingenious, if eccentric, group of inventions and a cast of characters that boasts a Kennedy and a president of General Motors.
11-12am Love and Sex in the Hebrew Bible
On the sixth day of Creation, God pronounced the sexual union between husband and wife "very good." The Hebrew Bible is rich in tales of love and marriage, as well as rape, prostitution, adultery, and polygamy. Sometimes the Bible reads more like a tabloid than a holy book. What are the messages in these stories? Are there lessons to be learned from Solomon's excesses and David's adultery?
Watch Mail Call every week if you know what's good for you, scumbag, hosted by R. Lee Ermey of Full Metal Jacket (movie available on video and DVD)
Previous History Channel primetime listings: October 2003
Official HistoryChannel.com Homepage
From the invention of the electric battery in 1800 to the murdered remains of missing Washington intern Chandra Levy being discovered in a Washington D.C. park*, find out what happened when with our exclusive History of the World Timeline!
GO TO: HistoryChannel.com/worldtimeline
* Congressman Gary Condit (D), who reportedly told police he'd had an affair with Levy, is no longer considered to be a suspect in the case. Condit lost his bid for re-election in the Democratic Primary of 2002.
See if your favorite person, TV series or motion picture is available on video:
