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.Saturday, May 15, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 6-8pm -- Breaking Vegas - They were "Whales"--the highest of high rollers. Treated like royalty by casinos worldwide, they won millions throughout the early to mid-1990s. And nobody had a clue that they were MIT students, part of an underground blackjack team--card counters who used mathematical wizardry to win. This is the true story of the rise and fall of the MIT Blackjack Team, featuring interviews with Ben Mezrich, author of "Bringing Down the House", casino executives, security experts, and actual members of the team. 8-9pm -- Time Machine - Grand Canyon Journey back through time for a look at the human history of the Grand Canyon, one of earth's great natural wonders. Learn how the Canyon began forming billions of years ago, and how man discovered, settled, yet continues to be humbled by its wild and unforgiving landscape. The Colorado River runs at its bottom, winding through 277 miles of the Grand Canyon National Park--mecca for over 5-million tourists, hikers, archaeologists, geologists, and river runners each year. (1-hour version) 9-10pm -- The Louisiana Purchase - On April 30, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson completed one of the greatest real estate deals in history when he acquired the Louisiana Purchase, buying more than 800,000 square miles west of the Mississippi from France for $15 million. The product of an unlikely chain of events born of mishap, backroom bargaining, and the whims of a few colorful personalities, this monumental deal heralded Napoleon's downfall and the twilight of European dominance in North America, and the U.S. rise in power. Photo Credit Jendra Jarnagin 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - The Technology of Lewis and Clark Explore the technology and survival techniques used by the men of Lewis and Clark on their landmark journey to the Pacific. From their 15-ton supply ship to the 193 pounds of dehydrated soup they carried to Lewis's prototype airgun and experimental iron boat, take a close-up look at the guns and gear behind this combination of 19th century high-tech and pioneering grit. Filmed on location along the Lewis and Clark Trail, the program features an interview with William Clark's great-great-great grandson. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, May 16, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 6-8pm -- Barbarians - Barbarians: Mongols/Huns In this 2-hour special, shot in film on location, we examine the barbarian hordes that swept across Europe, Asia, and Africa, from the 9th Century BC through the 14th Century AD. First, we look at "The Mongol Catastrophe"--the invasion by nomadic warriors that swarmed out of the east overwhelming the Ottoman Empire. Then, we examine the mysterious Huns, who fell upon the European continent like the vengeance of God. Some say the Chinese built the Great Wall to keep them out. 8-10pm -- The True Story of Troy - It's the site of history's most legendary war and the Western world's oldest adventure story. According to myth, it began with a rigged beauty contest and ended with a giant wooden horse unleashing utter destruction. Now, archaeologists, literary detectives, and military analysts are uncovering evidence suggesting the war was really waged. From archaeological trenches at ancient Troy and the citadel fortress of King Agamemnon, from Homer to Hollywood, we search for the true story of Troy. 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - Bren Gun & Carrier/Special Forces School Final Exam/Beasts of Burden/Predator/1st RPV: #52 R. Lee Ermey rolls up to HQ toting a WWII light machine gun, the Bren Gun, and rides in a "Tankette", the armored vehicle that carried the Bren and its 2-man team. At the Army's Special Warfare Center and School, he checks out "Operation Robin Sage", the final exam--a 14-day "war" waged in North Carolina. Lee learns that Green Berets are training to handle pack beasts like camels and donkeys, and looks at the leading remote-powered vehicle, the Predator, and the first RPV, WWII's "Weary Willy". 10:30-11pm -- Tales of the Gun - Million Dollar Guns The treasures of a select few, each tells a story of human triumph or desperate tragedy, cast forever in iron, steel, and wood. A few are so prized and historic that their values have soared to monumental prices. They are the million-dollar firearms. We view Catherine the Great's pistols and Hitler's gold pocket pistol, among others. (Half-hour version) ____________________________________________________ Monday, May 17, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Black Hawk: Night Stalker For over 20 years, the Black Hawk has been the U.S. Army's frontline utility helicopter for air assault, air cavalry, and medical evacuation. The Black Hawk remains today the world's most advanced twin-turbine military helicopter and flies wherever duty calls, from hot deserts to the icy Arctic. This is the dramatic story of how post-Vietnam, in the 1970s, the U.S. designed and built a new generation of sophisticated helicopters. 8-8:30pm -- Mail Call - Bren Gun & Carrier/Special Forces School Final Exam/Beasts of Burden/Predator/1st RPV: #52 R. Lee Ermey rolls up to HQ toting a WWII light machine gun, the Bren Gun, and rides in a "Tankette", the armored vehicle that carried the Bren and its 2-man team. At the Army's Special Warfare Center and School, he checks out "Operation Robin Sage", the final exam--a 14-day "war" waged in North Carolina. Lee learns that Green Berets are training to handle pack beasts like camels and donkeys, and looks at the leading remote-powered vehicle, the Predator, and the first RPV, WWII's "Weary Willy". 8:30-9pm -- The Color of War - Anchors Aweigh For the sailors who fought in WWII, combat at sea differed radically from any previous conflict. The jobs they performed were far more complex and technically more demanding than ever before, and the threats they faced were much more lethal. Utilizing vivid color film and photographs unearthed from archives and personal collections, along with firsthand accounts from veterans, we recall the remarkable stories of these sailors and the battles they fought. Peter Coyote narrates. (Half-hour version) 9-10:15pm -- Band of Brothers - Replacements Fresh replacements join Easy Company in time for a massive paradrop into German-occupied Holland. The Dutch townspeople of Eindhoven welcome them as liberators, but when Easy and a cluster of British tanks move into a nearby town, a superior German force inflicts many casualties and forces a retreat. As they move onto another assignment in Holland, Capt. Winters (Damian Lewis) laments the retreat, and Capt. Nixon (Ron Livingston) thinks that the ambitious Allied operation seems to have failed. 10:15-11:15pm -- Investigating History - Napoleon's Mass Grave In March 2002, in Vilnius, Lithuania, construction workers uncovered a mass grave filled with close to 2,000 skeletons. Scientists determined that the remains belonged to the last remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army retreating from Moscow in 1812. The find offers new insight into Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the largest military disaster ever recorded. Follow scientists as they seek to learn who these people were and how they died. Was it a massacre, an epidemic, or the result of brutal cold? ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, May 18, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Gangster Guns During the 1920s and '30s in big cities and small towns alike, they earned a fierce reputation in a blaze of bullets. They were the best friends of criminals such as John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Al Capone, and Bonnie and Clyde. Handle their Colt 45s and 38s, Tommy guns, Whippets, and Browning automatic rifles as we uncover the stories of gangster guns. 8-9pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - Destroyer Down! In 1943, the USS Murphy, along with seven other destroyers and two battleships, left New York Harbor to accompany a supply convoy headed to England. The convoy sailed dark on that moonless night--not even a cigarette could be lit on deck. Suddenly, the Murphy was struck and sliced in half. The bow sank and took 35 men down, but incredibly, the stern stayed afloat. We follow a team of divers who found the bow in 2000 as they piece together what happened, and talk to survivors of that deadly dark night. 9-10pm -- Tactical to Practical - Balloons/Army Engineers/Command Centers: #17 Many think manned flight began with the Wright Brothers, but it really began 200 years earlier. As early as 1783, balloons were used in everything from espionage to bombing. Host Hunter Ellis takes a ride on a cluster balloon and looks at the revival of the hot air balloon for civilian use. Next, we see how the Army Corps of Engineers has paved the way from Bunker Hill to Iraqi Freedom. And we compare military command centers to their civilian counterparts used for transportation and energy systems. 10-11pm -- Wild West Tech - Train Tech Nothing affected settlement of the American West more than construction of the transcontinental railway that connected the Wild West to the civilized East. We spotlight tools as well as techniques used to build tracks, bridges, and tunnels through mountains of solid granite. We also explore technology developed to make trains less vulnerable to bandits and train wrecks--better tracks and rails, arming mechanics with guns, and use of the telegraph as a warning system. Keith Carradine narrates. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, May 19, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Telephone An exploration of the intense competition, romance, success, and disappointment that led to the miracle of long-distance communication. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - The Aircraft Carrier The dramatic story of how the Essex-class aircraft carriers rose like a phoenix after the Pacific Fleet's destruction at Pearl Harbor. Weighing in at over 27,000 tons, and over 800 feet in length, they were known as floating cities--and the spearhead of every naval battle in the Pacific Theater of War. Despite their huge size, each carrier was terrifyingly vulnerable, holding tens of thousands of gallons of fuel. Though the target of kamikaze assaults, no carrier was sunk by the Japanese. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - T-34: Russian Victory Born out of a desperate need to defend the Motherland, Stalin enlisted the ideas of an American engineer J. Walter Christie to develop in total secrecy one of the most formidable tanks in history. In 1941, straining under Operation Barbarossa, Stalin ordered his new weapon into the fray and changed the course of WWII. Using detailed reenactments and interviews, we reveal what life was like inside Russia's "secret" weapon, the T-34, and the horrifying reality of combat on the Eastern Front. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Guns of the Russian Military Forged in Europe's shadow, Russian small arms were once dismissed as crude copies. Often lacking the finish of Western counterparts, Russian guns have been battle-proven worldwide, with their emphasis on robustness and simplicity of design. Review the long history of Russian small arms--from Peter the Great to the Cold War. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, May 20, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Police Technology When police forces were born in the 1800s, British "bobbies" made due with a billy club. Public wariness and institutional resistance to change held back technological advances for much of the 20th century. But in the last decades, police have been swept up in a technological revolution that has transformed nearly all aspects of crime fighting. 8-9pm -- Time Machine - Hitler's War: The Western Front: The Longest Day Our series depicting WWII's Western Front begins on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The invasion caught the Germans off-guard, but bad weather caused many bombs and shells to land too far inland leaving German defensive positions intact and Allied soldiers open to machine-gun fire. Former U.S. pilots tell of recurring nightmares, French voices criticize the bombardment that killed 10,000 civilians, Montgomery's adjutant Sir Carol Mather admits Allied mistakes, and family of combatants on both sides comment. 9-10pm -- Time Machine - Hitler's War: The Western Front: The Battle for Monte Cassino On February, 15, 1944, the U.S. Air Force reduced the monastery at Monte Cassino to rubble. Built in 529 by St. Benedict, it sheltered about 800 refugees and wounded. The Allies called it "a key installation, equipped with heavy artillery." Nazi propaganda declaimed the destruction of "the cradle of civilization" around which they had established a 300-meter secure zone to protect it. Eyewitnesses shed light on the controversy, including Bradford Evans, who piloted the lead bomber. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - The Subs of WWII Meet the U.S. Navy submariners of WWII--hunters who lived under the sea in cramped and claustrophobic quarters as they stalked their victims. We'll see how Navy designers struggled to achieve a submarine design that ultimately proved to be the best underwater craft to fight in the war. Included are stories of the Squalus, whose crew was the first to be rescued from a disastrous sinking, and the Argonaut, the largest submarine built until the advent of nuclear subs in the 1950s. ____________________________________________________ Friday, May 21, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Frontline Reporting In March 2003, embedded civilian correspondents rolled along with the U.S. military convoy as it invaded Iraq. Equipped with satellite and video phones, digital cameras, and lightweight satellite uplinks, frontline reporters dispatched the news of war as it happened. Reports of war are as old as war itself; once the exclusive province of soldier-scribes like Julius Caesar, the accounts were usually written after the fact. Join us as we review the history and preview the future of frontline reporting. 8-9pm -- Time Machine - Hitler's War: The Western Front: The Battle for Paris On August 19, 1944, Paris erupted against German occupation that held the crippled city in its grip. Without warning, Parisians erected barricades, ambushed soldiers, and attacked tanks with Molotov cocktails. But Hitler would much rather see Paris reduced to rubble than abandon the site of his greatest victory, and the rebels learn there will be no Allied support. We depict the dramatic events of those days when Frances' fate hung by the thinnest of threads, and how the city was finally liberated. 9-10pm -- Time Machine - Hitler's War: The Western Front: The Bridge at Arnhem In late Summer 1944, routed German units flee to Holland and Germany's borders. The Allies believe the war might be over by Christmas. But in the months to come, they confront bloody surprises--the British are defeated at Arnhem, the U.S. advance stalls at Aachen, and on December 16, the Battle of the Bulge begins. Civilians and veterans offer recollections, including U.S. officer Harry W.O. Kinnard, who details why General McAuliffe replied "Nuts!" to the German demand for surrender at Bastogne. 10-11pm -- Time Machine - Hitler's War: The Western Front: The Final Act In March 1945, war returns to the country where it began six years earlier. In the east, the Red Army is attacking over the River Oder, while the U.S. and British have reached the Rhine in the west. German forces blow up bridges that cross the Rhine, but when U.S. forces take the bridge at Remagen, the German front is breached. We detail the final chapter of the war in Europe, up to Hitler's suicide and Germany's unconditional surrender, hearing from German and Allied witnesses and participants. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, May 22, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Investigating History - The Holy Grail Rennes le Chateau is a small village in the Pyrenees of Southern France. It's a quiet place until tourists arrive hunting its secrets. According to legend, the Knights Templar brought the Holy Grail here for safekeeping. Those who come on pilgrimage think the Grail is very different than history records. Was it proof of marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene? Did it verify their bloodline survived? Permission has been granted to dig in Rennes le Chateau...and history or legend is about to change. 8-10pm -- Movies in Time - Attila, Pt. 1 Movie. Shot in Lithuania, this 2-part movie portrays the life of one history's most feared men--Attila, King of the Huns in the 5th century--and the Western World's fate, represented by a rapidly diminishing Roman Empire. Part 1 follows young Attila, who survives the murder of his chieftain father and the slaughter of his village, and goes on to become a great warrior whose exploits draw the attention of Roman General Flavius Aetius. Starring Gerard Butler, Powers Boothe, and Alice Krige. (2001) 10-12am -- Movies in Time - Attila, Pt. 2 Movie. After defeating his brother, Attila becomes king and marries N'Kara--who tragically dies in childbirth. Attila grows in power, and after a series of triumphs over Roman fortifications in Gaul, finally meets Aetius on the battlefield. The fate of each man is intertwined in a tangled web of revenge, deception, and betrayal--and the outcome of the Battle of Chalons will decide the fate of Western civilization. Starring Gerard Butler, Powers Boothe, Tim Curry, and Simmone Jade MacKinnon. (2001) ____________________________________________________ Sunday, May 23, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - Japanese Sub at Pearl Harbor The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a move of unprecedented aggression that shook the U.S. out of its peaceful slumber and into WWII. But for 60 years, veterans of the destroyer USS Ward claimed they sank an enemy submarine outside the harbor more than an hour before the aerial attack began. The wreck was never found, and the story was dismissed. In August 2002, a dive team crossed its path and their find made headlines worldwide. We travel to Pearl Harbor to investigate the midget sub mystery. 8-10pm -- Time Machine - Tora, Tora, Tora: The Real Story of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, was an historical turning point--the world was forever changed after the fateful Japanese attack against the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It resulted from a combination of interrelated and complicated factors--and at any point, the dangerous operation could have been called off before its commander radioed back the code words "Tora, Tora, Tora" (Tiger, Tiger, Tiger), which meant complete surprise had been achieved. Here is the real story of the "Day of Infamy". 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - Blimp/Military Shotguns/Navy Graveyard/Poop Deck: #41 R. Lee Ermey flies in a new hi-tech blimp the military is testing as an anti-terror surveillance platform that can hover over areas for hours, and he examines the first aerial recon balloon from the Civil War. Then, he loads up and takes aim with military shotguns. Next, Lee goes where ships go to die in Washington State--water storage for many WWII and Vietnam-era ships. And finally, Lee finds out why the Navy has so many terms involving the word "Poop"--which dates back to Ancient Rome. 10:30-11pm -- Tales of the Gun - Naval Guns Perhaps one of the greatest expressions of weapons, naval guns first encouraged nations to develop the concept of "sea power". From sail, to steam, to steel, the warships of the world exist for one purpose--to overpower the enemy at sea. Step aboard as we test the mighty force of enormous guns at sea. (Half-hour version) ____________________________________________________ Monday, May 24, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Inventions of War Arising from the horrible carnage, deprivation, and suffering caused by war is a countless array of everyday items--from hairbrushes to microwaves--that directly descend from wartime innovations. Wartime research and development have revolutionized communication, transportation, and medicine. From Spam to nuclear power to hairspray and cell phones, life as we know it ironically owes a lot to war. We'll follow the day-to-day life of an ordinary woman and see the influence of war on her life. 8-8:30pm -- Mail Call - Golden Knights/WWII Army Air Force or Air Corps?/Flying Tigers/AC-130U "Spooky": #40 Join R. Lee Ermey as he prepares to jump with the Air Force's Golden Knights--and find out if he's too chicken! Since people get confused about what to call the Air Force during WWII, when it was a part of the Army, he digs into the history. Then, Lee focuses on the Flying Tiger volunteers who risked their lives in China before America entered WWII. And, he profiles the modern gunship AC-130U. Terrifying to the enemy, it flies at night, hence its nickname "Spooky". 8:30-9pm -- The Color of War - Why We Fight After all of the training and discipline, the soldiers of WWII weren't simply cogs in a huge war machine. They were men whose thoughts and actions revealed their true attitudes about their experiences in the armed forces. In this episode, we learn why they fought on, sometimes against their better instincts. Peter Coyote narrates our compelling journey into WWII through the eyes of those who lived it, with color film and photographs unearthed from archives and personal collections. (Half-hour version) 9-10:10pm -- Band of Brothers - Crossroads Capt. Winters (Damian Lewis) leads a contingent of Easy Company men on a risky mission over a Dutch dike that results in a "turkey shoot" of fleeing Germans, and is promoted to Battalion Executive Officer, leaving Easy Company in the hands of Lt. "Moose" Heyliger (Stephen McCole). After moving back off the line to France, Lt. Nixon (Ron Livingston) insists that Winters take a break and see Paris. But when Winters returns, news comes in of a massive German counterattack in the Ardennes Forest. 10:10-11:10pm -- Investigating History - Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral Virtually unknown to history before Hollywood crafted his saga in the 1930s, Wyatt Earp was an itinerant gambler, convicted horse thief and pimp, sometime saloonkeeper, and occasional lawman. We investigate this last incarnation and the shootout with the Clanton gang in Tombstone's O.K. Corral. Did Earp hide behind his tarnished badge to settle personal scores? Using court records of the gunfight investigation, we cut through the lingering gunsmoke to recreate the reality of the bloody gunfight. ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, May 25, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Bible Tech Arguably the most influential book ever written, the Bible provides a glimpse into the origins of ancient technology and its use to withstand the elements, build great structures, wage war, and conserve precious water. We examine the technological plausibility of biblical structures and machines--including the Tower of Babylon, the Temple of Jerusalem, ancient bronze and iron forging, and shipbuilding skills that might have been employed to build Noah's Ark. 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 2-masted merchant vessel, en route to St. Petersburg from Amsterdam, struck a rock and sank along with her cargo of fine Dutch art bound for Russian aristocrats. For nearly 230 years, she lay undisturbed on the seabed with little decay due to the Baltic's brackish nature. 9-10pm -- Tactical to Practical - Deep Sea Exploration/Blimps and Dirigibles/Snow Gear: #18 All submariners share a nightmare--being trapped alive on the bottom of the sea. Host Hunter Ellis takes an in-depth look at the history and technology of submarine rescue, and at famed treasure hunter Mel Fisher's search for the treasure of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which went down in 1622. Next, Hunter examines the history of dirigibles and their use by the military and for civilian exploration. Then, he explores military application of snow gear, and plays with cool new commercial snow toys. 10-11pm -- Wild West Tech - Gambling Tech Ride on a luxurious riverboat to the rough-and-tumble mining and cattle towns where prospectors and cowboys earned and lost fortunes as we explore Wild West games, techniques, and cheating devices. Meet professional players who made a living by outwitting others, including famous riverboat gamblers George Devol and Canada Bill Jones, and Tombstone duo Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Keith Carradine introduces the rules of each game and demonstrates the types of weaponry gamblers carried. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, May 26, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Machine Tools Machine tools, power-driven machines of all shapes and sizes, are used to make metal parts and have built our modern world. Life today would not be possible without them. Beginning with the story of the steam engine and traveling forward to modern-day "machining centers" that are used to make incredibly complex space shuttle parts, we'll examine the basic types of machine tools and their development. We'll also look at machine tools of the future that will change the way products are made. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Train Wrecks Throughout railroad history, disasters lay at the heart of progress, since expansion and profit proved the main goals of management. In 1875 alone, an average of 22 train accidents happened daily; in 1890, over 6,000 people were killed. We'll examine how safety, once a secondary consideration, became a primary goal. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Car Crashes In the mid-1960s, the U.S. lost an average of 55,000 people yearly to car crashes. Since then, the number of cars on the road has doubled, but fatalities have decreased by nearly a third. The dramatic reduction is the culmination of research and development that led to safer roads and cars and quicker emergency response. But car-crash technology's future involves removal of its biggest threat--human drivers! Find out if computers and radar can prevent everything from fender-benders to pile-ups. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Plane Crashes When the most sophisticated machines fail, they do so horrifically, plunging to earth with a terrifying loss of life. From the beginning of manned flight, plane crashes have plagued the aviation industry and terrorized the public. But the truth is, passengers have never been safer because of the brightest minds, best technology, and billions of dollars focused on preventing air disasters. Using famous crashes like TWA Flight 800, we examine safety improvement and what still needs to be done. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, May 27, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Plane Crashes When the most sophisticated machines fail, they do so horrifically, plunging to earth with a terrifying loss of life. From the beginning of manned flight, plane crashes have plagued the aviation industry and terrorized the public. But the truth is, passengers have never been safer because of the brightest minds, best technology, and billions of dollars focused on preventing air disasters. Using famous crashes like TWA Flight 800, we examine safety improvement and what still needs to be done. 8-9:30pm -- Time Machine - The Crash of Flight 191 What happens when an airline and federal agency detect a design or mechanical flaw in an airliner and choose to ignore the "acceptable risk" because it's costly to fix and may not cause a problem? On May 25, 1979, 271 people fastened their seatbelts for a flight from Chicago to LA. Almost as soon as the DC-10 took off, it plummeted to earth, exploding in flames. It's a story of greed and deceit, arrogance and spin control, and how the fallout brought aviation giant McDonnell-Douglas to its knees. 9:30-11pm -- Broken Wings - Broken Wings Historian and adventurer Pat Macha introduces us to the world of aviation archaeology, bringing to life once-majestic planes and the men and women who flew them. "Airplane wrecks that remain undisturbed for years provide us with a sobering opportunity to consider the power of nature and the mistaken judgements of man," Macha explains. Teaming up with forensic experts and aviation authorities, Macha transports us to the past at crash sites and pieces together the puzzle behind the twisted metal. ____________________________________________________ Friday, May 28, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 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 -- Movies in Time - Midway Movie. Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, and Robert Mitchum head an all-star cast in this epic WWII drama depicting America's first major victory against the Japanese in the Pacific. Near the tiny Island of Midway, an outnumbered U.S. Navy defeats a massive Japanese flotilla, turning the tide of the Pacific Theater. (1976) ____________________________________________________ Saturday, May 29, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 6-8pm -- Time Machine - Highway Hangouts: Celebrating America's Roadside Attractions Hitch a ride and travel America's byways to discover the wacky highway attractions that formed a roadside culture that fed, housed, and amused us for decades. Visit dinosaur theme parks, coffee pot-shaped diners, and truck stops extraordinaire; and view a snapshot of who we are as a nation. Based on John Margolies's books. 8-10pm -- Time Machine - Making a Buck Making a buck and faking a buck have always gone hand in hand as we see on a 2,600-year journey--from the earliest known counterfeiters of ancient Greece to the latest in anti-counterfeiting technology. In this 2-hour history of a crime as old as money itself and as current as the cash in your wallet, we capture the combination of seriousness and whimsy inherent in the subject through some of counterfeiting's most remarkable stories, schemes, and characters. 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - Tank/Gatling Gun/Samurai Sword: #1 R. Lee Ermey, who played the sergeant in "Full Metal Jacket", applies his gruff sense of humor in this half-hour series that answers viewers' mail about what the armed forces were, and really are, like! Shot on location, Ermey reads the questions on air and then sends them out to military experts in the field for answers and brief demonstrations. In this episode, he finds out how to steer the WWII tank M5A1 (the Stuart); how fast a Gatling gun can fire; and why the samurai sword is so powerful. 10:30-12am -- Godfathers - Godfathers A panoramic and global overview of the phenomenon known as Cosa Nostra--from the mass immigration of Italians to the U.S. at the end of the 19th century up to the arrests in 2000 on the New York Stock Exchange, where the Mafia was laundering money. What becomes evident in a chain of stories depicting the most renowned "godfathers" is their uncanny ability to act as political representatives of an illegal state within the legal state and to exploit major cycles and crises throughout history. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, May 30, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Investigating History - Napoleon's Mass Grave In March 2002, in Vilnius, Lithuania, construction workers uncovered a mass grave filled with close to 2,000 skeletons. Scientists determined that the remains belonged to the last remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army retreating from Moscow in 1812. The find offers new insight into Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the largest military disaster ever recorded. Follow scientists as they seek to learn who these people were and how they died. Was it a massacre, an epidemic, or the result of brutal cold? 8-9pm -- Save Our History: WWII Memorial - The National World War II Memorial The National World War II Memorial is the first national memorial dedicated to all those who served in WWII. Established by the American Battle Monuments Commission, it honors all military veterans, citizens on the homefront, the nation at large, and the high moral purpose and idealism that motivated the nation's call to arms. Dedicated on May 29, 2004, we detail its history and talk to those involved in its conception and the fundraising that made it possible. 9-11pm -- Nostradamus: 500 Years Later - Nostradamus: 500 Years Later The life story of Nostradamus unfolds in medieval Europe at the time of the Great Plague and The Inquisition. He lived in an age of superstition and magic and believed that he could foretell the future. For this he was labeled both a prophet and a heretic, and his cryptic journals continue to inspire controversy just as they did in the 16th century. In this 2-hour examination of his life, we visit his birthplace in France and trace his career as doctor, astrologer, father, and seer. ____________________________________________________ Monday, May 31, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- History Alive - Unsung Heroes of Pearl Harbor The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was so overwhelming in its surprise and force that almost every U.S. soldier, sailor, or marine that rallied to resist it became part of a doomed and heroic last stand. These unsung heroes were let down by luck, fate, and bureaucracy. This gripping special takes viewers to the actual locations were these heroes fought and died, with blow-by-blow accounts of the tragedy from the men who lived that terrible day. 8-10pm -- Barbarians - Barbarians: Vikings/Goths From the 9th Century BC through the 14th Century AD, barbarian hordes on horseback thundered across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Shot in film on location, we examine their conquests and also their cultures, leaders, and roles in shaping history. In a 2-hour special, we shatter myths about the Vikings, and see how they became agents of social and political change, and the Goths, who sacked Rome itself, and ironically, maintained Roman art and culture in their Goth kingdoms as the Empire faded away. 10-12am -- Barbarians - Barbarians: Mongols/Huns In this 2-hour special, shot in film on location, we examine the barbarian hordes that swept across Europe, Asia, and Africa, from the 9th Century BC through the 14th Century AD. First, we look at "The Mongol Catastrophe"--the invasion by nomadic warriors that swarmed out of the east overwhelming the Ottoman Empire. Then, we examine the mysterious Huns, who fell upon the European continent like the vengeance of God. Some say the Chinese built the Great Wall to keep them out. Sorry, no descriptions received for 1 to 14 of monthFor more on UFOs, check out the interview on MonsterVision's Mars Attacks page
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