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.Wednesday, June 1, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Great Inventions. Join us for a survey of the world's greatest inventions in which we examine the wheel, steam engine, railroad, automobile, airplane, printing press, electric light, wireless telegraph, telephone, TV, and computer. Then, travel back in time to the labs, candle-lit offices, and garages to see how these marvels were created. 8-10pm -- Rumrunners, Moonshiners... - Heroes who fight tax collectors and moral crusaders, or just common criminals? Like it or not, America was built by rumrunners, moonshiners, and bootleggers--even founding father John Hancock was a smuggler. In the 1920s, Prohibition turned fishermen into rumrunners and two-bit gangsters into millionaires, and moonshine haulers in their souped-up cars helped create NASCAR. Rare archival footage and photos help weave the compelling tale of our nation's love-hate relationship with illegal alcohol. 10-11pm -- Automaniac - Gangster Cars. They are the cars that appeal to a certain kind of "businessman"--the kind that has a lot of enemies. Smooth, sleek, and glamorous, they've helped make outlaws like John Dillinger, Al Capone, and John Gotti look like gentlemen instead of killers. Some did zero to 60 faster than any police car could and others were bulletproof. Today, science enables these cars to withstand a bomb blast or the punch from a 9-millimeter automatic. Ride along as we explore Gangster Cars--built to keep their owners from getting clipped! ____________________________________________________ Thursday, June 2, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Technology of Kitty Hawk. Two brainy bicycle makers...a remote North Carolina moonscape...and an impossible dream. On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright took wing at Kitty Hawk and flew--as none before had--unraveling a complex problem that had defied history's most inventive minds, from Leonard da Vinci to Edison. How did these high-school dropouts from Dayton, Ohio do it? Experts at the controls of full-scale replicas explain how they worked--or didn't--and historians recount the brothers' heated arguments. 8-10pm -- Alaska: Big America - Alaska--a land of extremes. Its size is staggering--nearly 600,000 square miles, or more than twice the size of Texas. Its vast distances, extreme weather, imposing landscape--all helped shape its history and the lives of those who come under its spell. Our 2-hour special heads to far-flung corners of the 49th State to hear compelling stories of life in the bush--from Russian expeditions in the 1700s to building of the Alcan Highway to the WWII Battle for the Aleutian Islands and 1959 statehood. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - The Alcan Highway. Today, vacationers travel from British Columbia north through the Yukon Pass on their way to Fairbanks, Alaska, thanks to one 2-lane roadway, the 1,522-mile long Alaska Highway. A bit treacherous in spots and best driven in the few summer months the region provides, it's an unrivaled engineering feat that took 11,000 soldiers, nearly 4,000 of them black, only eight months to build! Travel back to 1942 as they bulldoze their way into history while connecting the Lower 48 to the Alaskan Territory. ____________________________________________________ Friday, June 3, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Howard Hughes Tech. An in-depth look at the technology conceived or developed by America's first billionaire. A passionate aviator, Howard Hughes built and flew planes that broke speed records, and developed war machines, spy aircraft, and commercial airliners. Despite the impressive heights reached by his technological empire, his health and mental well-being were fragile. During his last years, he wasn't seen publicly or photographed, rarely left the hotel suites he occupied, and was terrified of germs. But when Hughes died in 1976, he left a huge legacy in aviation and technology. When we board an airliner, view TV via satellite, or marvel at America's military might, we might do well to remember the risk-taker who flew faster than his peers and was at heart an aviator obsessively dedicated to both the art and science of flight. 8-9pm -- The Last Days of WWII - June 3-9. In this episode of our series focusing on the winding-down of the Second World War, US forces make further advances against the Japanese in the Philippines, while fanatical Japanese troops continue to hold out on the Pacific Island of Okinawa. King Haakon of Norway makes a triumphant return to his country after five years of exile. In Europe, the Big Four--the US, UK, Soviet Union, and France--meet to discuss the division of Germany into four main occupation zones. Meanwhile, Allied troops make several startling discoveries, and the Soviets announce they've found the charred remains of Hitler's body. The "Weapon of the Week" is the Goster Meteor, and the "Personalities of tbe Week", Stalin and de Gaulle. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Machines of D-Day. June 6, 1944--the greatest machine of World War Two springs into action. It is made up of thousands of ships and aircraft, tens of thousands of men and millions of tons of steel and concrete. This is Operation Overlord--the invasion machine that will send Allied soldiers dropping from the skies and storming the beaches of Normandy. Each piece of this machine has been designed to fulfill a specific task in the air, on land, or at sea. The success of D-Day depends on it. Interlocking with pinpoint precision, the men and machines of Overlord overcome not just Hitler's beach defenses, but nature itself in the greatest assault the world has ever seen. Using archive film, and color reenactments, we reveal the phenomenal hardware of D-Day. 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - Gator Navy: #75. At the US Naval Base Coronado, host R. Lee Ermey ships out with the "Gator Navy"--the seafaring men and women of the amphibious assault fleet--and opens the episode from the deck of an LCU [Landing Craft Utility] about to dock with its mother ship, one of the Navy's newest LAAS [Landing Amphibious Assault Carrier], the USS Belleau Wood. The crew takes us through a fire drill and a close-quarter drill--"Battle Stations!" to landlubbers. In San Diego at the Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, he gets an A-to-Z rundown on ship repair, before looking back to WWII to answer the question--Was there a real Rosie the Riveter?" Lee narrates the thrilling story of the Battle of Coral Sea, the first aircraft carrier battle in history. Then, he fast-forwards to Operation Desert Storm--the last time a US battleship fired its guns in anger. 10:30-11pm -- Mail Call - Guided Missile Destroyer/WWI Aircraft & Aces/Marine Corps Fast Teams: #42. Onboard the USS Preble, one of the Navy's newest destroyers, R. Lee Ermey explains its Aegis Fire Control System, and the history of the Navy's first guided missile, the Loon. He reviews the most effective WWI aircraft and the best pilots, like US Ace Eddie Rickenbacker and Germany's Red Baron; checks out the curves of a Gibson Girl, a WWII emergency transmitter; meets the elite Marines of the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Team, who guard nuclear material on docked subs; and flips his Challenge Coin. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, June 4, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Automaniac - Bikes from Hell. These are motorcycles for the hardcore biker. Bikers who join clubs or gangs want the best, fastest, or nastiest of the breed. These are their bikes of choice. From the rare to the nitrous enhanced, we'll take you on a ride packed with pure adrenaline. So strap on your helmets and hold on tight. You'll be tearing up the pavement in the ride of your life. 8-11pm -- Windtalkers - (Movie) World War II drama about Navajo Indians trained to use their native language as code to help US Marines battling the Japanese in the Pacific. Nicolas Cage plays a Marine with difficult orders: Protect the life of one of the Navajos, but kill him if he's about to be captured to protect the code. With Adam Beach, Christian Slater, and Noah Emmerich. (2002) ____________________________________________________ Sunday, June 5, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Mystery of the Missing Ace - Wing Commander Adrian Warburton was one of the most glamorous and highly-decorated pilots of World War II, known as the "Lawrence of Arabia of the Sky". He became a living legend on the besieged Mediterranean Island of Malta, where he flew daredevil reconnaissance missions and fell in love with a beautiful cabaret dancer. But his disappearance in 1944, at age 26, sparked a 60-year mystery. How could the RAF's "most valuable pilot" vanish without a trace after flying a controversial American mission with the blessing of the President Roosevelt's son? In this special, we reveal the extraordinary detective story behind the mystery of the missing ace, who was finally laid to rest in 2003. 8-10pm -- Time Machine - On June 6, 1944, Allied aerial photo reconnaissance flew 25 sorties along the Normandy beaches to record hour-by-hour progress of D-Day. Recently rediscovered and included in our 2-hour special, the photographs had only been seen by a handful of people. Now, for the first time in 60 years, the images reveal history in the making. Using revolutionary computer software to bring the aerial photos alive, we fly along the D-Day beaches. Features firsthand accounts from US, UK, and German veterans. 10-11pm -- The Conquerors - Cromwell: Conqueror of Ireland. He called himself Oliver Protector, while many said he was a cruel traitor, usurper, and hypocrite. Still others found him broad-minded, tolerant, passionately religious, and ferociously moral. Cromwell's influence as a military commander and politician during the English Civil War dramatically altered the British Isles' landscape. His suppression of Royalists in Ireland during 1649 still resonates. The massacre of nearly 3,500 people in Drogheda after its capture--comprising around 2,700 Royalist soldiers and all the men in the town carrying arms, including civilians, prisoners, and Catholic priests--has fuelled Irish-English strife for over three centuries. Cromwell felt justified in ordering the massacre because the city's defenders had continued to fight after the walls had been breached. With cunning precision and military mastery, Cromwell effectively brought Ireland to its knees. ____________________________________________________ Monday, June 6, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Machines of D-Day. June 6, 1944--the greatest machine of World War Two springs into action. It is made up of thousands of ships and aircraft, tens of thousands of men and millions of tons of steel and concrete. This is Operation Overlord--the invasion machine that will send Allied soldiers dropping from the skies and storming the beaches of Normandy. Each piece of this machine has been designed to fulfill a specific task in the air, on land, or at sea. The success of D-Day depends on it. Interlocking with pinpoint precision, the men and machines of Overlord overcome not just Hitler's beach defenses, but nature itself in the greatest assault the world has ever seen. Using archive film, and color reenactments, we reveal the phenomenal hardware of D-Day. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - Kecksburg UFO. What came down in the forest outside the sleepy hamlet of Kecksburg, Pennsylvania on December 9, 1965? Some residents claimed to see an acorn-shaped metal object with strange, hieroglyphic writing on its side, half-buried on the forest floor. Astronomer Von Del Chamberlain wrote that the Kecksburg object was a meteorite. NASA consultant James Oberg theorized that it was a failed Russian probe, but now also thinks it was probably a meteorite. Often called the "Pennsylvania Roswell" in UFO circles, the debate raged until, in late December 2003, NASA finally released 39 pages of material and the Air Force released 2,800 pages on the case from its files. The only thing the government documents conclusively prove is that the object was not a Russian probe. But for UFO enthusiasts and researchers, many questions remain unanswered. 9-10pm -- Digging for the Truth - Nefertiti: The Mummy Returns. Queen Nefertiti was once the most beautiful and powerful woman in Egypt, renowned throughout the ancient world. But she vanished without a trace, lost to the sands of Egypt for more than 3,000 years. Only in the last century did archeologists discover that this legendary queen really lived at all. Since then, though, only fragments of her story have emerged. Host Josh Bernstein, an explorer and survival expert, is determined to put the pieces together and uncover the true story of Queen Nefertiti. Who was this mysterious woman? Why did she disappear? And can her mummy still be found today? To find out, he'll follow a trail of clues into Egypt's most sacred and secret places, exploring dark tombs and coming face-to-face with the truth of at least one ancient mummy's identity. 10-11pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - D-Day Troops: Lost at Sea. On June 7, 1944, the troopship USS Susan B. Anthony transported nearly 3,000 Army and Navy men on their way to reinforce paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines on D-Day. Suddenly, two explosions hit the Susan B. just off the coast of "Bloody Omaha" in an area marked safe for passage. Stephen Ambrose called it "the German Army's greatest success of disrupting the landing of American reinforcements." Our Deep Sea Detectives John Chatterton and Richie Kohler dive this wreck 60 years later in hopes of unlocking the answers to what sank the Susan B. Anthony, and the story behind one of the most daring and amazing rescues at sea. ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, June 7, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Non-Lethal Weapons. They stun, debilitate, immobilize--providing police and peacekeepers with options other than shouting or shooting. From the ancient caltrop--a multi-pointed contraption hurled by foot soldiers into a horseman's path--to sting-ball grenades, electrical shock devices, and sound, light, and energy weapons, we examine non-lethal weapons that disperse crowds and take down criminals. And in a whiff of the future, we see why the government thinks stink bombs might prove useful in the war against terror. 8-9pm -- Wild West Tech - Saloons. Saloons were the Wild West's strip malls of sin--your one-stop shop for gambling, booze, and sex. Behind those swinging doors hid technology that titillated...and terrorized. In an action-packed hour, host David Carradine exposes the role that saloon engineering played in the death of the West's most prolific killer, John Wesley Hardin, technology of the saloon brawl, and the secret techniques used by bare-knuckle saloon boxers as they fought in the bloodiest prizefights in American history. 9-10pm -- Breaking Vegas - Prince of Poker. The biggest and most important annual poker event, the World Series of Poker draws more than 500 players vying for a pot worth $1.5-million and up. With a $10,000 buy-in, the stakes are high for any player--but when you're a down-and-out writer with four kids, making it to the final table could mean a fairy-tale ending. Join us for an exhilarating, nail-biting, roller-coaster ride with amateur player Jim McManus as he battles the odds in the 2000 World Series of Poker. Sent by Harper's magazine to cover the tournament, McManus uses his writing fee to enter the satellite tournaments for a chance in the big leagues. When McManus makes it into the World Series, the competition gets tougher--to beat the 500-to-1 odds, he must defeat champion T.J. Cloutier. Will McManus snare the $1.5-million pot, or go home empty-handed and devastatingly in debt? Features interviews with McManus, poker legend Cloutier, and surprise challenger Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 7. Engineers and architects reveal what went wrong in five engineering disasters, including Baldwin Hills Dam that suddenly gave way, spilling liquid havoc in a quiet LA neighborhood; a mysterious plane crash that killed all aboard (Lockheed Electra); a massive freighter's shuddering crash into Tampa Bay's Sunshine Skyway Bridge; the 1994 Northridge, California earthquake that shook down poorly engineered buildings; and a 4-decade old coal mine fire that turned Centralia, Pennsylvania into a ghost town. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, June 8, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 6-8pm -- Abraham Lincoln: Preserving the Union - A special 2-hour rare look at Lincoln's personal life, including his abusive father and his "living hell" of a marriage. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel. Named one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern age, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel connects Virginia proper with its easternmost landmass. Stretching 17 miles across the historic Chesapeake Bay, the structure represents a man-made boundary between the Bay and the Atlantic. The structure includes two 2-lane highways supported mostly by trestles, four man-made and one natural island, two truss bridges, and two revolutionary sunken tube tunnels. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - John Hancock Center. A steel giant standing 1,107 feet high on broad shoulders, this vertical city houses 1,200 people. Join us as we explore how a young architectural team from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill conceived of an innovative 100-story, multi-use tower. A construction crisis halted the project for six months, but once it resumed, it took just four years and 50 million man-hours to complete the John Hancock Center. In the heart of Chicago, the John Hancock Center rises 100 stories above the luxury shops and restaurants that line the famous Magnificent Mile. It opened on May 5, 1970 with 237,657 square feet of retailing, 812,160 square feet of offices, 703 rental apartments (converted to condominiums in 1974), 507-car parking garage, and an ice skating rink! There are 1,250 miles of wiring and 11,459 panes of glass. Nicknamed "Big John", it cost $100-million and took 46,000 tons of steel to build. 10-11pm -- Automaniac - Moonshine Cars. Ride along as we relate the racy history of the cars that were run for bragging rights on Sunday afternoons...and the men who trusted those same cars with their lives come Sunday night. It's a story about searching for any edge...boring a block, milling a head, boosting the springs--anything to gain an advantage over the hated federal revenuers. We'll learn tricks of the trade--such as the "bootlegger turn"--and see how model after model of Detroit's finest were made better by back-road innovation. We'll see how moving "shine" created a whole new breed of automobile that ushered in stockcar racing and led to the birth of today's NASCAR. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, June 9, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Castles & Dungeons. Some of the most imposing structures ever built, medieval castles withstood both bloody assaults and the test of time. Designed like machines with nearly every architectural detail devoted to defense, castles represented the perfect fusion of form and function. Journey back to that unruly era as we examine the complexity of their construction and the multipurposes they served--homes to kings and nobles, economic centers, courthouses, treasuries, prisons, and torture chambers. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Taxidermy. It began as a tool used by prehistoric man to attract animals to the hunt. Over time it became an invaluable study aid for the natural scientist and a popular hobby for hunters and fishermen. Join us for a tantalizing look at the history of taxidermy, the craft of preserving animal skins and using them to recreate a still life of the animal as it appeared in life. We also check out fiberglass reproduction, which is gaining popularity as fish and game regulations become stricter. Finally, we examine human subjects in taxidermy. Using the very latest process of plastination, the once taboo science and art of preserving and displaying human corpses now draws crowds in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., proving the age-old practice continues to mesmerize us! 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - The Butcher. In a carnivorous world, a butcher is a necessary link in the food chain, carving a carcass of unsavory flesh into mouthwatering cuts. We trace the grisly trade's evolution--from yesteryear's butcher-on-every-corner to today's industrial butcher working on a "disassembly" line. We tour the infamous remains of the Chicago Stockyards, where Upton Sinclair, Clarence Birdseye, and refrigeration changed butchering forever; witness high-speed butchering; and travel to a non-stop sausage factory. And if you're still squeamish, a USDA inspector offers the lowdown on HACCP--the country's new system of checks and balances on everything from quality grading to E. coli, Salmonella, and Mad Cow Disease. Finally, we visit the last bastion of old-school butchering--the rural custom butcher, who slaughters, eviscerates, skins, and cuts to his customer's wishes. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Commercial Fishing. Battered and fried or simply raw--seafood is a popular dish, no matter how you serve it. Americans consume more than 5-billion pounds yearly, an order that takes more than a fishing rod to fill and worries conservationists. We follow the fish, the fishermen, and the science trying to preserve fisheries for future generations--from ancient ships on the Nile to a modern technologically sophisticated factory trawler on the Bering Sea to the University of New Hampshire's open-ocean aquaculture research project. And we witness a wide variety of fishing methods--from gillnetting and longlining to lobster trapping. Hop aboard and sail through time and around the globe as we explore the harsh conditions of life at sea and experience firsthand one of history's deadliest jobs. Brace yourself and feel the ice-cold, salt spray on your face as we explore commercial fishing! ____________________________________________________ Friday, June 10, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Cemeteries. More than 2-million people die in the U.S. each year. That works out to about 5,500 burials a day, with roughly 80 percent taking the long goodbye in a casket, and the remaining 20 percent electing to be cremated or finding some alternative method of crossing eternity's threshold. We take a look at dealing with the dead throughout the centuries, and at today's $20-billion funeral industry. Any way you look at it, it's a healthy business, with new generations of customers year after year! 8-9pm -- The Last Days of WWII - June 10-16. On Okinawa, US victory is now in sight. Japanese troops on the Pacific Island are mounting an increasingly desperate defense against the relentless advance of the US. In the Philippines, the Japanese are holed up in the Sierra Madre Mountains. In Frankfurt, Germany, Marshal Zhukov confers the Soviet Order of Victory--made of diamond-encrusted platinum--on Eisenhower and Montgomery. Eisenhower is awarded the Order of Merit--Britain's most prestigious honor--and is given the Freedom of the City of London. After warning Truman about the "iron curtain" falling over Europe, Winston Churchill is informed by the American President that the US cannot go back on the tripartite agreement for the post-war occupation of Germany approved by FDR. The withdrawal of American troops from the Eastern Zone will not be delayed. Soviet authorities start the forcible expulsion of ethnic Germans from the Sudetanland. 9-10pm -- 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. Join us for the underground history of smart bombs, and a glimpse into the future of precision weapons. 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - B-2: #76. At Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, host R. Lee Ermey gets to do something only a few hundred humans have done before him--take a ride in a B-2 Stealth Bomber on a mock bomb run! The Gunny sets the stage for his historic flight by giving us the facts and stats on what makes the B-2 the greatest bomber in the history of aviation. Then, we go along on Lee's pre-flight training as he prepares to get airborne. From the cockpit, he shows viewers what it's like to fly in a stealth bomber. The Whiteman crew the Gunny flies with are part of the 509th Bomber Group, the same squadron that flew the first atomic bomb missions back in World War II. In his tribute to the 509th, the Gunny shows how the Enola Gay and other bombers got the mission done. 10:30-11pm -- Mail Call - F-15 Eagle/Flying Platform/Atomic Annie/Army Missiles/Tommy Gun v. Burp Gun/Bullets: #37 R. Lee Ermey rides in an F-15 Eagle, courtesy of the Oregon Air National Guard--and proudly returns all three of his airsickness bags empty! Find out about a wacky single-man vertical flight machine tested in the 1950s--the Hiller Flying Platform; Atomic Annie, a howitzer that fired both conventional and nuclear warheads; why the Army controlled missile programs in the 1940s and '50s; which WWII submachine gun was better, the US Tommy Gun or German Burp Gun; and the terms used to measure bullets. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, June 11, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 6-8pm -- American Eats: History on a Bun - Join us for a 2-hour tasty tour of the fascinating history of food, with a special focus on home-cooked American treats. Find out if "Scorecard Harry" really invented the hot dog, the Earl of Sandwich's culinary contribution, and how an Italian immigrant began the pizza craze. Get out your fork and knife and relish our fabulous feast! 8-11pm -- The True Story of Alexander the Great - 334 BC--a 20-year-old military commander from Northern Greece set out to conquer the known world. During the next 12 years, King Alexander of Macedon led 40,000 troops more than 20,000 miles, defeated the world's most powerful ruler, King Darius of Persia, and conquered West Asia before dying at age 32. In a 3-hour special, host Peter Woodward explores the true story of Alexander the Great--a tale of conquest, love, hate, revenge, and ultimately tragedy. He visits locations of Alexander's youth, temples dedicated to Greek gods where Alexander sought divine counsel, and actual battlefields, as well as demonstrating his signature battle plans and weaponry. How could one man accomplish so much at such a young age? What led to his demise? These questions drive our analysis of Alexander's complex character, delicately balanced between genius and insanity. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, June 12, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- The Search for Eternal Egypt - Combining interviews with top Egyptologists, specially shot location footage, dramatized reenactments, archival images, and computer graphics, this special tells the dramatic story of the development of Egyptology over the last 200 years. Starting in 1798 with the arrival of Napoleonic scholars, we reveal how their systematic survey of the country became the cornerstone of modern research into ancient Egypt. We also cover development of modern archaeological techniques, featuring the story of the "father of modern archaeology", Flinders Petrie, and Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. After bringing the story up to date, highlighting some of the most fascinating discoveries of the last 20 years, we explore the threat posed to the remains of ancient Egypt by population growth, pollution, and mass tourism. Find out about "Eternal Egypt", an ambitious project to document Egypt's past and make it available to a worldwide audience over the Internet. 8-10pm -- Hell: The Devil's Domain - Our in-depth History of Hades begins with the story of a negative near-death experience, in which a man thinks he went to Hell after being declared clinically dead and before resuscitation. Following Lucifer's trail from cave paintings in France circa 6,000 BC to current portrayals in popular culture, our 2-hour exploration shows how Hell and the Devil remain powerful forces--at a church in Texas, where souls are delivered from Satan's grip; in talks with a survivor of the 1980s recovered memory craze, who "recalled" attending Witches' Sabbaths that practiced cannibalism; and at the modern Church of Satan. We review literary landmarks that expanded our ideas of the Underworld, from Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost to Mark Twain's anti-hero, and trace development of Christian, Moslem, Jewish, and Buddhist conceptions of the afterlife. 10-11pm -- The Conquerors - King David. King David's reign of conquest begins in 1,000 BC when King Saul dies after having never succeeded in uniting the tribes of Israel. King David, the slayer of Goliath of Gath, fights his way to the top besting all contenders to the throne of Israel. In rapid succession, King David defeats the Philistines, the Moabites, the Aramaeans, the Edomites, and finally the Ammonites, establishing Israel as an independent national state and greatly extending its territories. In 995 BC, King David succeeds in capturing the Jebusite city of Jerusalem, making this the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel. David maintains his hold on power in the same manner he attained it--by removing anyone who gets in his way. ____________________________________________________ Monday, June 13, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Overseas Highway. A spectacular roadway nearly 120 miles long, the Overseas Highway links mainland Florida with the Florida Keys, and contains 51 bridges, including the Seven-Mile Bridge. A boat was the only mode of travel from Miami to Key West until oil tycoon Henry Flagler completed his railroad line in 1912. After a 1935 hurricane destroyed 40 miles of track, the scenic highway was built using Flagler's bridges. A $175-million refurbishment that ended in 1982 resulted in today's remarkable Overseas Highway. 8-10pm -- Absolute Evel: The Evel Knievel Story - His life story reads like a soap opera script. Born Robert Craig Knievel, this wild, young man from the rough mining town of Butte, Montana dreamed of becoming rich and famous. After years of struggle, Bobbie's alter ego Evel Knievel became the world's most famous daredevil. His exploits are legendary and it's unlikely his accomplishments--or notoriety--will ever be duplicated. Now, he's paying a high price for the life he led. He lives in constant pain from the incredible abuse his body suffered during his daredevil days. As he enters the twilight of life, this 2-hour special may be his last chance at a public forum. He's a man who is outspoken, outrageous, at times hilarious, but always fascinating. From humble beginnings in Butte to iconic status and everything in between, Evel candidly shares every aspect of his life. The aging daredevil reflects on his incredible experiences and how he would like to be remembered. 10-11pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - Another Atlantis? Settled 2,500 years ago, the Nan Madol site is a living memorial to the prehistoric Micronesians that once inhabited Pohnpei. 100-feet high basalt structures rise from the deep waters to form artificial islands serving as ritual, trade, and hierarchical centers. Deep below the surface, ancient lore proposes that underwater tunnels connect this complex and are filled with untold riches and ancient artifacts. With only canoes and crude tools, how did the Micronesians build this imposing fortress? Where did they quarry these raw materials? Do the tunnels exist as an answer to the secrets of this complex network of civilization and tradition? And can we find them? Join veteran divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler as they investigate this underwater mystery. ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, June 14, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. In the land of Mardi Gras, jambalaya, and zydeco, exists an engineering marvel called the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway that seems to go on forever. Two ribbons of concrete span the largest inland body of water in Louisiana, and at nearly 23.87 and 23.88 miles long, these two spans form the world's longest automobile bridge. At midpoint--12 miles out--water surrounds travelers who are unable to see either shoreline. The bridge is so long, it actually transverses 1/1000th of the earth's circumference! 8-9pm -- Wild West Tech - Gang Tech. In the Wild West, no single lawman could possibly stop a gang of desperate outlaws. Host David Carradine recreates stories of the bravest and most brutal hoodlums that ever roamed the rowdy and reckless western wilderness. From the stagecoach bandits of gold-rush California to the bloody scalp-hunters of the Southwestern border, we explore the various personalities, motives, and crimes of each gang. And we examine the sophisticated arsenal that these desperadoes employed to pull off their criminal capers, including the 1841 Mississippi Rifle, the Remington Model 8 Semiautomatic, bulletproof vests, and the deadly Arkansas Toothpick--a long, heavy, balanced dagger synonymous with the American frontier. 9-10pm -- Breaking Vegas - Dice Dominator. From the physics behind the flight of dice to the eight critical steps to mastering the act of tossing two dice, we reveal the true story behind Dominic LoRiggio's phenomenal rise to riches through a seemingly impossible challenge--to control the outcome of a craps game with the flick of a wrist. While most casinos laugh off the notion, LoRiggio (later known as "The Dominator" and "The Man with the Golden Arm") knows that practice makes perfect and sets out to prove them wrong. First, he hooks up with dice-control master Chris Pawlicki--founder of "Rosebud", the first team approach to craps ever attempted--and soon becomes their ace player. But LoRiggio grows dissatisfied with the team's approach to small-but-steady winnings. In 2003, he partners with Frank Scoblete, another player with a penchant for big bets and bigger wins. When LoRiggio defies the odds and dominates the dice at table after table, however, the casinos vow to stop him....no matter what. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 8. Join us for a devastating but enlightening hour as we delve into complex and often-tragic engineering failures that have shaped our world. Five dramatic events unfold as we discover the causes of: the 1983 collapse of New England's Mianus Bridge; the sinking of the Ocean Ranger offshore oilrig in 1982; the crash of a Learjet 35 private plane carrying pro-golfer Payne Stewart in 1999; the 19th-century failure of South Fork Dam that resulted in the flooding of Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and the 1988 PEPCON (Pacific Engineering Production Company of Nevada) jet fuel plant explosion. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, June 15, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - George Washington Bridge. When opened on October 25, 1931, the George Washington Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Today, standing as a main traffic artery between Manhattan and New Jersey, the bridge referred to by locals as the "GW" is the busiest in the world, carrying nearly 320,000 cars each day. We'll examine the construction methods employed that made the bridge an anomaly, coming in both under budget and ahead of schedule, and see why the GW is distinguished in a city of great bridges. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Hoover Dam. The task was monumental: Build the world's largest dam in the middle of the desert, and tame the river that carved the Grand Canyon--all in seven years! When the Hoover Dam was completed in 1935, it was the largest dam in the world. We'll reveal how this engineering wonder of the world was conceived and built. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - The Cape Cod Canal. In a battle against the ferocious Atlantic or safe passage through waters where ships wrecked and lives were lost, it was an engineering feat that many believed impossible. This is the story of the Cape Cod Canal and the men who braved the natural elements and the Great Depression by venturing into new engineering territory. In 1909 excavation began on what would become one of the greatest success stories of our time. The evolution of the Cape Cod Canal into what it is today--a major commerce and recreational route of the Intracoastal Waterway--is a tale of determination, ingenuity, and the American spirit. Through historical photographs and expert interviews, the Canal's story unfolds, and while traveling along on an Army Corps of Engineers Patrol Boat and Coast Guard vessel we see firsthand what happens on the Canal on a daily basis. And we meet the people who make the Canal and its bridges functional and safe, keeping the legacy of the early engineers alive. 10-11pm -- Automaniac - Super Cars. They are the super-fast, super-charged, and super-beautiful. We're talking ultimate sports cars. These bad boys go so far beyond the speed limit, they're practically illegal while just standing still! And we're not talking custom or concept. These are production cars--the ideal marriage of art, engineering, and passion. It took a century of automotive history to get here, and what a ride it's been. Now, as technology continues to carry us beyond our wildest dreams, these super-cars are sleek, sexy, powerful expressions of affluence and freedom. Want to get away from it all in just seconds flat? Then get in and come take a ride! ____________________________________________________ Thursday, June 16, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Apollo 11. As mankind's greatest achievement of the 20th century, Apollo 11 stood as the apogee of science, exploration, flight, and technological prowess. In scarcely 10 years, America went from rocketing monkeys to landing a man on the moon. Leaving Earth on July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Mike Collins pushed the limits of skill and endurance. See and experience the flight of Apollo 11 through the eyes of the astronauts, mission controllers, engineers, and designers who made it happen. 8-10pm -- Wake Island: The Alamo of the Pacific - It's a story of survival on a desert island--and it helped change the course of WWII! Within hours of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, about 1,600 US marines and civilians found themselves under surprise attack from Japan on a tiny Pacific Island. In a 2-hour special, we take six survivors of the siege of Wake Island back to the scene of their heroic stand. They retrace those horrific days in which they suffered eventual capture, beatings, and imprisonment--yet survived to tell their stories. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Secret Japanese Aircraft of WWII. In the 1930s, Japanese designers created a range of warplanes, culminating in the legendary Ki-43 Oscar and the A6M Zero. As the war turned against Japan, designers created the rocket-powered Shusui, the Kikka jet fighter, and the experimental R2Y Keiun. We also disclose frantic preparations to assemble a secret airforce of jet and rocket planes to counter an anticipated US invasion in 1945, and chronicle post-war aviation and the birth of the Japanese rocket program in the 1950s and '60s. ____________________________________________________ Friday, June 17, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Egyptian Pyramids. Constructed as tombs for the ancient pharaohs, over 100 pyramids remain in Egypt. Built during a span of well over 1,000 years, they stand as cultural and engineering marvels of staggering proportions. But many things about these monuments, including the exact methods used to construct them, remain tantalizingly obscure. Travel back in time as we investigate their evolution--from the earlier mastaba to the Step Pyramid, Bent Pyramid, and of course, the magnificent necropolis at Giza. 8-9pm -- The Last Days of WWII - June 17-23. Join us for a day-by-day look at the last days of WWII. In this episode, 4-million residents turn out to cheer Eisenhower as he makes a triumphal 35-mile motorcade around New York City. In the Philippines, Appari, the last port held by the Japanese, falls to US forces, who now make contact with Filipino guerrillas. After three months of some of the bitterest fighting of the entire war, the Japanese finally cease trying to defend Okinawa against US forces. At dawn the Japanese commander, Lt. General Mitsuru Ushijima emerges from his bunker in a cave and commits ritual suicide in front of his shocked and demoralized staff officers. Victory at Okinawa places US forces just 400 miles from mainland Japan. Lt. General Simon B. Buckner, commander-in-chief of the US 10th Army, is killed by shrapnel as he visits frontline troops. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Bulletproof. How do you stop a speeding bullet? From body armor to armored cars and trucks, we review the history of the race between the bullet and a successful way to stop it. It's not exactly easy to design material that can catch gunfire traveling up to 3,000 feet per second. We'll look at little-known advances like bulletproof layering hidden in walls, futuristic smart materials that "remember" how to stop a bullet, and a system that deploys a shield within milliseconds when it detects an oncoming round. 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - #77. Host R. Lee Ermey heads to the Marine Corps Weapons Training Center for a live fire exercise with the Abrams M1-A1, the US military's main battle tank, and gets a chance to put the heavily armored vehicle through its paces and fire its enormous cannon. Next, the Gunny takes viewers through the first major engagement between Americans and Germans in WWII. During the Battles of Kasserine Pass and El Guttar in North Africa, the US got their butts kicked, but the lessons they learned were put to good use in future battles against Rommel in the African desert. North Africa was also the first stop for America's best-loved war correspondent, Ernie Pyle, the reporter who brought the war home. Ermey also introduces a new kind of full body armor being tested that will, literally, save life and limbs. With a new miracle fabric stronger than Kevlar, the armor is lighter and provides better protection than what's being fielded right now. 10:30-11pm -- Mail Call - MP5/WWII Marine Corps Paratroopers/Pilot Headgear: #54. With his bulldog Harley by his side, the Gunny demonstrates the firepower of the MP5--the gun of choice for Special Forces when they're in close-quarter battle. And we see the MP5 in action during a Navy SEALs live-fire training exercise. Next, R. Lee Ermey gives the often-overlooked Marine Corps paratroopers of WWII their due, and relates the story behind the photo of the Iwo Jima flag-raisers. Then, fighter pilots demonstrate the new state-of-the-art hands-free helmet system. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, June 18, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 3-4pm -- Wild West Tech: Gang Tech. In the Wild West, no single lawman could possibly stop a gang of desperate outlaws. Host David Carradine recreates stories of the bravest and most brutal hoodlums that ever roamed the rowdy and reckless western wilderness. From the stagecoach bandits of gold-rush California to the bloody scalp-hunters of the Southwestern border, we explore the various personalities, motives, and crimes of each gang. And we examine the sophisticated arsenal that these desperadoes employed to pull off their criminal capers, including the 1841 Mississippi Rifle, the Remington Model 8 Semiautomatic, bulletproof vests, and the deadly Arkansas Toothpick--a long, heavy, balanced dagger synonymous with the American frontier. TVPG V 7-8pm -- Automaniac - Gangster Cars. They are the cars that appeal to a certain kind of "businessman"--the kind that has a lot of enemies. Smooth, sleek, and glamorous, they've helped make outlaws like John Dillinger, Al Capone, and John Gotti look like gentlemen instead of killers. Some did zero to 60 faster than any police car could and others were bulletproof. Today, science enables these cars to withstand a bomb blast or the punch from a 9-millimeter automatic. Ride along as we explore Gangster Cars--built to keep their owners from getting clipped! 8-12am -- Apocalypse Now - Movie. Using Joseph Conrad's masterpiece The Heart of Darkness as a starting point, this is Francis Ford Coppola's surrealistic and symbolic cinematic journey into the confusion and horror of the Vietnam War. The story follows Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a highly classified mission into Cambodia to assassinate the renegade Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has gone native and established himself as a god to a local tribe. The incredible cast includes Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, and Scott Glenn. (1979) ____________________________________________________ Sunday, June 19, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 6-7pm -- Wild West Tech: Cowboy Tech. A no-bull episode that roams the range hunting for the gritty truth behind the Old West's most enduring figure. Host Keith Carradine examines the cowboy's trade tools--from saddle to spurs--and undergoes the dangers of a cattle drive. Reenactments show off cowboy skills, including roping, riding, shooting, and branding, as we see how the tradition lives on in rodeos. And, we shoot down reputations as we look behind the myths of legendary cowboys like John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, and Tom Horn. TVPG 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Junkyard. It's the place where one man's trash is truly another man's treasure. Enter the strange and mysterious world of the junkyard, where many pieces actually do add up to a whole. Uncover how junkyard operators create order out of seemingly random piles of junk. 8-10pm -- Boneyard: Where Machines End Their Lives - Where do machines go when they die? From B-52 Bombers to massive aircraft carriers, from passenger cars to Cold War cruise missiles and remnants of the Twin Towers, all that we manufacture has a lifespan. But reaching the end of their original purposes can be just the beginning. Join us on a fascinating visual journey as we follow some of our greatest achievements in manufacturing, design engineering, and construction to their after-lives and final resting places. 10-11pm -- The Conquerors - Napoleon's Greatest Victory. His name is, without question, synonymous with that of "Conqueror", though he never considered himself as such. He said he was a liberator, bringing enlightenment to the people of Western Europe. Yet his actions and prowess as a military commander rank him among the greatest conquerors of all time. From his ascension to power in France, to campaigns in Italy, Egypt, Austria, and Russia, Napoleon Bonaparte rose from commoner to general to king to emperor. At the height of his power, he ruled most of Western Europe. In this episode, we consider his stunning victory at Austerlitz. ____________________________________________________ Monday, June 20, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Racetrack Tech. A look at the "science of safety" as applied to Indy or NASCAR racing. From tires to roll-cages to hood flaps, we examine the incredible technology that's helping prevent crashes and enabling drivers to survive the inevitable ones. See how today's innovative minds digitally reconstruct crashes and design new technology that keeps pushing the limits of racing. The drivers may grab the glory, but they wouldn't dare get behind the wheel if it weren't for the guys in white lab coats. (1-hour version) 8-9pm -- UFO Files - Majestic Twelve: UFO Cover-Up. What really happened in Roswell, New Mexico in the summer of 1947? Did a flying saucer crash in the vast desert scrubland? The initial Army Air Force press release claimed they had recovered a flying disk. But a day later, the story dramatically changed--now they called it a weather balloon! In 1987, secret documents surfaced indicating the existence of the "Majestic 12"--an elite group of scientists and military and intelligence officials, allegedly brought together by President Harry Truman. Did the MJ-12 truly exist? If so, did these men forever trivialize the most talked-about UFO event in history, as well as all UFO sightings thereafter? 9-10pm -- Digging for the Truth - Hunt for the Lost Ark. For centuries, adventurers, and archaeologists--the devout and determined, and even Indiana Jones--have all searched for the Bible's most sacred lost treasure: the Ark of the Covenant. Yet, despite all its fame, it mysteriously disappeared from the pages of history tens of centuries ago. How could something so powerful and holy simply vanish? That's what host and adventurer Josh Bernstein is determined to find out when he follows a trail that starts where the Ark's story begins--on Mount Sinai. Next, he explores a secret maze beneath Jerusalem's streets and visits Deir es Sultan, an Ethiopian monastery located on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In Ethiopia, he climbs up a sheer cliff to reach Debre Damo, one of the country's most ancient monasteries, and travels across Lake Tana to the place where some say the Ark is kept today. But how close can he get to this mighty and mysterious treasure? 10-11pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - More Secret Underwater Caves. For more than a thousand years, the Taíno people flourished on the islands comprising the Greater Antilles--modern-day Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Five centuries ago, they seemingly vanished--millions of people gone in the blink of an eye. The DSD team explores the archaeological record, a lost city deep in the jungle, disturbing legends, and secret water-filled caves to learn how a people rich in natural resources could so quickly fall victim to malnutrition and unspeakable violence. The most sacred of their caves, known as "eyes of the beast", hold artifacts in their murky depths that may reveal the true fate of the Taíno. ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, June 21, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Runways. What do you think about when you gaze out the window as your plane takes off? Probably not about the least heralded part of our infrastructure--airport runways. But runways play a vital role as the backbone of aviation. They're where rubber meets road and land gives way to sky. Did you know that airports like JFK train falcons to keep little birds from becoming a hazard to the big, shiny birds? Join us for an engrossing look at the brawny concrete and asphalt runways that make aviation possible. 8-9pm -- Wild West Tech - Freak Show Tech. The deformed didn't ask to be born...and sometimes, they weren't! Sure, Wild West freak shows featured plenty of people who were different through the circumstances of their birth. But many so-called "freaks" were man-made. Technology helped pull the wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting masses. Freak show operators used every trick in the trade to provide some of the most disturbing "entertainment" the West would ever see. From pickled severed heads to mummified outlaws, we look at the wild, the woolly, the weird, and the swindlers who assured that the freak shows would be unforgettable. Hosted by David Carradine. 9-10pm -- Breaking Vegas - The Ultimate Cheat. Imagine the ultimate cheating move--so outrageous, audacious, and simple that not even the best casino detective can come close to catching the genius behind it... In this hour of a series profiling people who took Vegas for lots of cash, we meet Richard Marcus, who perfected the craft of casino cheating from the 1970s through the early `90s. Join Marcus and teammates Mark "Balls" Abromowitz and Pat Mallery on a raucous robbery romp through the world's toniest casinos. Their primary scheme? Past-posting--laying down or swapping out chips after a winning bet is known. Hot on their tail is casino investigator Andy Anderson who's made it his mission to bring them down. We also explore past-posting's history, security systems' evolution, and the psychology of casino cheating. Features exclusive interviews with Marcus, Abromowitz, and Mallery, and their nemesis, high-tech cheating sleuth Anderson. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - James Bond Gadgets. His movies are legend, his women beautiful, and his toys the best in the world. Whether James Bond is foiling villains in space-age flying machines or eavesdropping on his enemies with ultra-sophisticated spy gear, British Secret Agent 007 is always guaranteed to have the most outrageous and wonderfully creative gadgets ever to grace the silver screen. Bond had it all. But as we see in this exclusive look at his gadgets, it takes a lot to save the world! ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, June 22, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Breaking the Sound Barrier. For decades, the sound barrier loomed as an impenetrable wall against manned flight that buffeted planes with shock waves as they approached the speed of sound. Scientists thought the barrier couldn't be breached--until the development of jet technology and rocket fuel at the end of WWII. This is the dramatic story, told through the eyes of many who were there, of the work leading up to October 10, 1947, when 24-year-old test pilot Chuck Yeager smashed through the sound barrier in a Bell XS-1 aircraft. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Earthmovers: The Power to Move Mountains. Feel the earth move under your feet and dig into the fascinating history of earthmoving equipment--from invention of the simple spade to today's powerful steam shovels. Meet the legendary giants like John Deere, Jerome Case, and the founders of Caterpillar, who helped forge America's monolithic construction industry. 9-10pm -- Automaniac - Muscle Cars. Ever since the first automobiles rolled off the assembly line, enthusiasts have been trying to make them more powerful and faster. But that art was fine-tuned in the 1960s when Detroit started putting enough juice under the hood to turn average cars into Muscle Cars. From the GTO to the Camaro to the Mustang, these powerful wheels with large engines have never lost their appeal. And today, rare Muscle Cars like the 1970 Cobra Jet Mach 1 Twister and the 1970 Superbird are highly collectible and worth more than $100,000 each. They're also fun to drive. So strap on your seatbelt and get ready for a racy hour as we test-drive the cars that put the "oomph" into motoring. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Future Tech. A paper-thin, wall-sized holographic television...a car that runs on processed seawater...an army of robotic killing machines...outer-space luxury resorts and a cleaning droid controlled by your mind? Buckle-up for safety as we race into the near future--where fantasy becomes fact. There have always been visionaries, futurists, and dreamers predicting the world of tomorrow--flying cars, space-station colonies, and android personal assistants. But time has proven the fallacy of many of their predictions. So what future technology can we realistically expect? With the help of 3D animation, we present some pretty far-out predictions and take you to various research labs to see working prototypes of these technologies in their infancy. Join us on a rollicking ride through the entertainment room, down the road, over the battlefield, through the mind, out in space, and into the future, where science fiction becomes science fact. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, June 23, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Monster Trucks. Ride shotgun in our rollicking history of the Monster Truck, and meet the father of the mythic beast, Bob Chandler, whose Bigfoot gave birth to the sport in a cornfield years ago! Weighing 10,000 pounds, the behemoths entertain using brute force. Thrill to breathtaking stunts in California, Indiana, and Florida, as mounted cameras demonstrate the shakes, rattles, and rolls drivers experience; and meet the men who race these mechanical mammoths in one of the world's fastest-growing motorsports. 8-10pm -- Time Machine - February 1929: Al Capone takes on "Bugs" Moran in a battle for Chicago's underworld. Then: a burst from a Tommy gun and only one boss remained. Rare films and recreations offer the inside dope on organized crime's greatest mass murder. Narrated by Paul Sorvino. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Gadgets. Close cousins to machines and tools, gadgets are mechanical or electronic devices that make life a bit easier. While they don't always fall into clear categories, we know one when we see one. We'll view the craziest, cleverest, and most brilliant gizmos, meet the often-quirky gadgeteers, and glimpse gadgetry of the future. ____________________________________________________ Friday, June 24, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- 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! 8-9pm -- The Last Days of WWII - June 24-30. In Moscow, during a victory parade, more than 200 captured Nazi banners are ceremonially dragged across a rain-soaked Red Square and thrown to the ground in front of Lenin's tomb to the rumble of hundreds of drums. British bombers destroy the bridge over the River Kwai that the Japanese, using extreme cruelty, had forced weak and suffering Allied POWs to build. A Chinese envoy is the first of 50 delegates to sign the charter of the newly-formed United Nations. And as the bitter campaign in the Philippines drags on, President Truman approves a plan to invade mainland Japan. Five-million troops, mainly American, will take part. 9-9:30pm -- Mail Call - Benelli M4 Shotgun/1st Air Cav in Vietnam/Germany's WWII ME-163 Komet & Kubelwagen: #78. Host R. Lee Ermey shows off what he does best--shoot stuff! The Gunny's weapon of choice this week is the Marine Corps' brand new military shotgun, the Benelli M4. Then, in tribute to a fallen hero, Lee profiles Sergeant 1st Class Paul Smith, the first Medal of Honor recipient during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Next, Lee takes us back to the Vietnam War for a blow by blow description of the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major battle of the war. Ia Drang was the debut for the First Air Cavalry and the beginning of a long history of fighting wars with helicopter gun ships. And in a grudging tribute to German engineering, the Gunny turns back the clock to show viewers the ME-163 Komet, the first rocket-powered fighter plane. And he gets behind the wheel of a vintage Kubelwagen, the Porsche-designed German version of a WWII Jeep, and takes it for a spin. 9:30-10pm -- Mail Call - Grenades/.30 Caliber Machine Gun/Flyer 21/Shrapnel/D-Day Paratrooper Gear/Jetpacks: #14. Shot on location, R. Lee Ermey reads viewers' questions about the armed forces on air and then sends them out to military experts in the field for answers and brief demonstrations. In this episode, we learn how grenade launchers work; how a .30 caliber machine gun compares to a .50 cal; watch Ermey behind the wheel of a Flyer 21--part dune buggy and part heavily-armed Jeep; and discover the origin of the word shrapnel, what gear was unique to D-Day paratroopers, and if the military ever used jetpacks. 10-12am -- Modern Marvels - Greatest Movies Gadgets. Cars that fly and drive themselves. Spiffy spy tools that see under doors and through walls. Water "Harleys" that fly above and below the surface. Only in the movies, right? Hollywood may have dreamt these things up, but regular guys are making them for real as we see in a 2-hour special combining clips of recent blockbusters and hilarious old movie serials, along with a look at real-life creations, including intelligence-gathering "insects" and undersea robots. Gadgets lovers beware your bank accounts! ____________________________________________________ Saturday, June 25, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 3-4pm -- Wild West Tech: Freak Show Tech. repeated from Tuesday, June 21 7-8pm -- Automaniac - Moonshine Cars. Ride along as we relate the racy history of the cars that were run for bragging rights on Sunday afternoons...and the men who trusted those same cars with their lives come Sunday night. It's a story about searching for any edge...boring a block, milling a head, boosting the springs--anything to gain an advantage over the hated federal revenuers. We'll learn tricks of the trade--such as the "bootlegger turn"--and see how model after model of Detroit's finest were made better by back-road innovation. We'll see how moving "shine" created a whole new breed of automobile that ushered in stockcar racing and led to the birth of today's NASCAR. 8-10pm -- The French Revolution - 18th-century France was the world's wealthiest nation with the most powerful king, best-educated population, and strongest army in Europe. But it also boasted an exploding national debt (partly due to the King's support of the American Revolution) and an increasingly restless middle and lower class. On July 14, 1789, the festering boil of discontent erupted when a ragtag mob of Parisians stormed the Bastille, seizing arms and gunpowder and instituting a decade of revolutionary ideals and a murderous cycle of carnage. The French Revolution shook the very foundations of monarchy, destroyed the last vestiges of feudalism, and planted the seeds of modern politics, diplomacy, and nationalism. Travel back to the heady days of the guillotine and meet the rebels and rebelled against, including Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVI, Maximilien Robespierre, Jean-Paul Marat, Georges Danton, and Charlotte Corday. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Death Devices. The hangman, guillotine, gas chamber, firing squad, and electric chair are just a few of the ways in which societies have rid themselves of those who committed capital crimes. And throughout history, a select few have developed the devices that have carried out the mandate of the people. This is the dark story of those inventors and the macabre history of execution mechanics--from the first "stone" of antiquity, the dungeons of the Inquisition, and Nazi death camps to today's sterile injection chambers--with a peek at the future of death technology. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, June 26, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Secrets of Soviet Space Disasters - An investigation into one of the 20th century's most shocking hidden stories--the dismal failure of the Soviet space program, which led to more than 150 recorded deaths. Much has come to light from declassified files. We see how personal rivalries, shifting political alliances, and bureaucratic bungling doomed the program. 8-10pm -- Siberia: How the East Was Won - While a neophyte United States expanded west, Russia conquered an inhospitable territory to its east--Siberia, a vast land of majestic beauty and abundant natural resources. This is the little-known story of how the east was won, Russian-style--from settlement by ancestors of North America's indigenous people; 16th-century Cossack invasion; the 1890s, when the Trans-Siberian Railroad enabled convict labor; Communism's arrival in 1917; and the rush to develop heavy industry. And when the Iron Curtain finally fell, capitalism arrived--accompanied by crime, drugs, prostitution, abandoned children, and AIDS. Yet our 2-hour special reveals Siberia's sense of hope and promise. Buried deep beneath Siberia's frozen soil lies oil--and Siberia has sprouted dozens of Wild East Towns to exploit it! 10-11pm -- The Conquerors - Caesar: Conqueror of Gaul. In 58 BC, the Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar pushed north from Rome into the wild and unruly lands of the barbarians (current-day France), and in less than eight years, extended the border of the Roman Republic's territories as far west as the Atlantic, even making raids and incursions into Britain. The key element to Caesar's victory in Europe lay not in the superiority of the Roman war machine--the Gallic cavalry, horseman to horseman, was probably far superior to the Roman legions. Rome's military superiority derived from mastery of strategy, tactics, discipline, and military engineering. And there was no master of strategy greater than Julius Caesar. According to Plutarch, Caesar's campaign resulted in 800 conquered cities, 300 subdued tribes, a million slaves, and 3-million dead on the battlefield--all this, not to mention becoming First Man in Rome. ____________________________________________________ Monday, June 27, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Landmines. A major battlefield weapon since the American Civil War and the stuff of nightmares ever since, the civilian toll from landmines remains immense. Inflicted by an enemy that can't be seen, landmines are littered throughout 64 countries, making life a game of Russian roulette for two-thirds of the world's poorest nations. Featuring an interview with Jerry White, co-founder of Landmine Survivor's Network, who lost a leg due to a landmine in Israel. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - The Day after Roswell. Delve into the aftermath and repercussions of the 1947 Roswell incident, when many believe an alien spacecraft crashed in New Mexico. Based on The Day after Roswell by Lt. Col. Philip J. Corso and William Birnes, we explore if technologies like the laser, fiber optics, the integrated circuit, super-strong fibers, and night vision were developed with the aid of aliens. Career officer Corso claims his first alien encounter came on July 6, `47, while on late-night security rounds at Ft. Riley, Kansas, where he saw bodies of EBEs (extraterrestrial biological entities) inside shipping crates. In 1961, as Chief of Foreign Technology in the Army's department of Research and Development, his job included analyzing alien technology from Roswell, then introducing it into America's technological mainstream--thus, reverse-engineering alien artifacts. And we talk to many scientists involved at the time, who credit hard work, not alien contact, with these technological advances. 9-10pm -- Digging for the Truth - The Holy Grail. For all its fame, the Holy Grail remains shrouded in mystery. What exactly was it? Could it have survived to this day? Why has it inspired so many treasure seekers? To Christians, it is the holiest of objects, the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, also believed to be the chalice that Joseph of Arimathea used to catch Christ's blood as he died on the cross. Though now thought of as a goblet, the actual word "grail" comes to us from the Latin word gradalis--a flat dish or shallow vessel brought to the table during various courses of a meal. The story itself did not originate until medieval times, when it helped inflame the Crusaders' quest. Host and adventurer Josh Bernstein follows the Grail's trail from Holy Land to medieval French castles to a dark chapter in the Nazi saga, when Hitler financed a search for the Grail to unite a secret society of knights. On the way, Josh learns its true meaning and power. 10-11pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - U-Boat Mystery. Wick, Scotland, February 16, 1945--Allied convoy escorts sink a type-VIIC U-boat in the Moray Firth. But which U-boat is it? Exploring the unidentified U-boat wreck just recently discovered, we have the chance to finally determine the identities of the 50 sailors aboard and bring closure to the story. Join our intrepid deep-sea detectives as they use cutting-edge technology to make a wreck "tell its story." ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, June 28, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Combat Training. Sign up at the ultimate survival school, where soldiers learn to kill or be killed, and learn how 21st-century warriors are training today for the battlefields of tomorrow. We follow combat training throughout history, reviewing survival skills and psychological tools--from ancient Rome to World Wars One and Two--and learn how modern training is enhanced by advanced technology and computer simulation. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - New UFO Revelations: The Gray's Agenda. According to ufologists, the Grays--beings from another world--abduct humans, implant devices, and conduct reproductive experiments. The most "familiar" aliens, we see their images in every media. What do they want? Where are they from? Do alien life forms kidnap humans in order to replicate their dying race? Is our government in collusion with extraterrestrials in exchange for advanced technology? Hundreds of eyewitnesses swear they encountered aliens and dozens claim they have actual physical proof. To test their claims and sift fact from fiction, we conduct a hypnotic regression in which abductees relive shocking alien encounters, witness surgery to remove a foreign object, and sweep the night sky looking for possible alien-inhabited planets. So join us as we go in search of the Grays and their alien agenda. 9-10pm -- Breaking Vegas - Slot Buster. Ron Harris worked for the Nevada Gaming Control Board but became disillusioned with the NGCB's lax attitude towards criminals he worked so hard to capture. He began reprogramming computer chips in slot machines the Board asked him to test and then directed accomplices to the rigged machines to collect the cash. As the winnings accumulated, Harris set his sights on the "random" number generator in the keno game. His plan? To create a program to replicate the "pattern" of a given keno board--a program that could take a series of winning numbers, decipher the code, and predict the next set of "random" winning numbers. Using a network of cell phones, calculators, and a laptop, Harris and partner John O'Connor meticulously prepare to beat the system for millions. But will it work? 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 9. What happens when the calculations of builders and engineers prove wrong and their constructs come tumbling down? In this episode, we examine the 1987 failure of the Schoharie Creek Bridge in New York; the partial destruction by a runaway freighter of the Riverwalk Marketplace in New Orleans in 1996; the roof collapse of the Rosemont Horizon Arena in Illinois in 1979; the deadliest grain-dust explosion on record in Westwego, Louisiana, when a grain elevator exploded in 1977; and the crash of the British R101 airship in the 1920s. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, June 29, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 10-11am -- Wild West Tech: Hunting Tech. The Wild West was a vast and bountiful frontier, filled with animals, fur … and opportunity. The men who kept up with the latest advances in technology had a big advantage as they tried to tame the West. Whether it was a change in beaver trap production, a new method of making skinning knives, or increases in the power and accuracy of buffalo rifles, the tools of the hunter shaped the story of the West. On WILD WEST TECH: HUNTING TECH, we look at the evolution of hunting tools and weapons, and how advances in technology made the unthinkable -- the near-extinction of the bison -- a reality. TVPG All 3 episodes repeated in 6 hours, 4pm-7pm 11-12pm -- Wild West Tech:Disaster Tech. The frontier was full of rivers that needed taming and mountains begging to be blasted--and our forebears hoisted a hefty bag of tools to help them do it all. But of course, no one expected a frontier so dangerous--or so tempting! Trains, ships, towns--nothing could stop our expansion, until those technological monsters started biting back. Even then, we didn't always learn, and sometimes, it took massive disasters to teach us some very tough lessons. In this episode, we'll see how man's folly, pride, and stupidity led to some of the Wild West's worst catastrophes. TVPG 12-1pm -- 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. TVPG 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Arch. Join us as we explore the vast and varied world of the arch, one of the strongest and most versatile structures made by man. Deceptively simple, an arch can support tremendous weight because its structure is compressed by pressure, and it provides a much more spacious opening than its predecessor--post and lintel construction. Although ancient Egyptians and Greeks experimented with the arch, the Romans perfected it. Medieval Arabs incorporated it into stunning mosque architecture, soon followed by Europe's great medieval churches. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the steel arch became a favorite of architects and structural engineers. Dam builders employed it horizontally, using the water behind the dam to provide the pressure to compress it. And tomorrow, the arch will continue to serve mankind in every form--from nanotechnology to domes on Mars and beyond. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - New UFO Revelations: Cattle Mutilations. A rancher's nightmare, the mysterious murder of livestock has plagued farmlands worldwide for generations. Commonly known as cattle mutilations, these bizarre deaths happen to horses, goats, sheep, rabbits, and others, though the most frequent victims are cattle. Most often, udders, ears, tongues, and eyes are somehow surgically removed from the animal without spilling a drop of blood! We explore the prevailing belief that extraterrestrial beings bear responsibility for these grotesque, bloodless slaughters. Alien presence provides an explanation for the manner of killings and the ability to perform the delicate operation so consistently and so precisely. Viewers will watch an actual field investigation unfold as we delve into the history of the cattle mutilation phenomenon and its connection to UFOs. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Edison Tech. He was the father of the future...electric lights, power systems, motion pictures, recorded sound--even the tattoo pen. Life as we know it would be inconceivable without the prodigious output of the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Alva Edison. His intense focus on his work came with a hefty personal price, but his reward was a world forever changed by his genius. Years after his death, Edison's effect is seen, heard, and felt everywhere. We follow descendants of his motion-picture camera to the tops of Earth's highest mountains, to the bottoms of its deepest oceans, and even into outer space. We track his innovations in recorded sound to CDs, iPods, sophisticated movie sound, and satellite radio. And we illuminate his world of electric light, powering the world and turning night into day. Along the way, we discover a little Edison in corners of modern life less well-known and even look at his failures. From the Internet to the stock market to pay-per-view; the Wizard is everywhere. 10-11pm -- Automaniac - Death Cars. Ever since the first automobile rolled off the assembly line, cars have been an exciting part of life. But all too often, they've been associated with death. This episode explores some of the most infamous demises brought about by automobiles. From James Dean, who died in his Porsche Spyder, nicknamed "The Little Bastard", in September 1955, to sex-goddess Jayne Mansfield, killed a decade later in her Buick Electra, to comedian Sam Kinison, who perished when drunken teenagers smashed into his Pontiac Trans Am, we recall stars and the cars they drove on the deadly highways of America. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, June 30, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Strategic Air Command. With the ironic motto "Peace is our Profession", the Strategic Air Command was in charge of US nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was the ultimate Cold War military machine, at its height controlling thousands of nuclear weapons, planes, and missiles, and boasting over a quarter-million personnel. We travel to the Strategic Air and Space Museum, located 20 miles from SAC's old headquarters in Nebraska, and walk through the cavernous bomb bay of SAC's workhorse, the B-52 Bomber. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - New UFO Revelations: China's Roswell. Legends from China tell of 716 mysterious stone discs, known as "The Dropa Stones". Some believe the stones hold secrets about ancient contact with extraterrestrials. Discovered in a cave in 1938, each 12" disc contains a double spiral of tiny hieroglyphs that are said to contain the historical record of an alien race called the Dropa that crash-landed in an isolated region of China 12,000 years ago. The story of the Dropa Stones is an amazing tale filled with mystery, deceit, and conspiracy, and today, skeptics and true believers wage an ongoing battle over what they are, what they mean, and if they even exist at all. Regardless, the Dropa Stones continue to consume the imaginations of scientists, journalists, historians, UFO buffs, and stargazers in general. 9-10pm -- UFO Files - Roswell: Final Declassification. In 1947, a strange object fell from the sky near Roswell, New Mexico, and controversy brewed over what it really was. In November 2001, we convened a team of experts at the National Archives for an exclusive first look at the top-secret government files of the UFO incident. We unveil the remaining classified files--11 boxes with 17 notebooks of declassified files, photos, transcripts and audiotapes of dozens of witnesses, and 22 films and videos--in a definitive statement on the 50-year-old mystery. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - ET Tech. In 2003, with Mars closer to Earth than it had been in 60,000 years, scientists launched three life-seeking planetary landers. If the long journeys prove successful, all should be hard at work on the Red Planet's surface by January 2004. NASA's Spirit and Opportunity and the European Space Agency's Beagle 2 represent the pinnacle in the history of the search for extraterrestrial life. Leading scientists, who believe life may exist beyond Earth, explain skepticism about ETs having visited Earth.
For info on UFOs, check out the interview on MonsterVision's Mars Attacks page
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