Hot Dots

by Clif Garboden

Special this week: 1904 World's Fair links. Really.
Plus a related "Hot Dots" bonus page.

FRIDAY

9:00 (2) Bogart: The Untold Story. Previously aired on one of the Turner stations. Humphrey's son, Stephen, hosts a bio/tribute to the screen legend. To be repeated on Sunday at 1 p.m. (Until 9:50 p.m.)

9:50 (2) To Have and Have Not (movie). From 1944 with Humphrey Bogart and a first-time-on-screen Lauren Bacall. Corny and obvious Howard Hawks WW2 plot but colorful enough to rank among the most enjoyable films ever made. If Walter Brennan's rummy/crackpot routine doesn't stick with you, Hoagy Carmichael's lovable racist ragtime piano number will. And Bacall, it's safe to say, got the entire planet's attention with a debut performance falling somewhere between Lillian Gish and Ida Lupino at their most appealing. To be repeated on Sunday at 1:50 p.m. (Until 11:30 p.m.)

SATURDAY

11:00 a.m. (38) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (movie). Since the days when everyone who actually graduated from high school chose to ignore this 1982 Sean Penn teen comedy, some critics have found unexpected virtue in it. Compared with what, we ask. Co-starring Jennifer Jason-Leigh. (Until 1 p.m.)

1:00 (38) National Lampoon's Animal House (movie). What can we say about a classic? John Belushi and Tim Matheson highlight this irreverent romp from 1978. Broad comedy, for sure -- the lasting humor is in the details. (Until 3 p.m.)

3:00 (2) Back to School (movie). Rodney Dangerfield plays an obnoxious millionaire who goes to college with his son. (Until 5 p.m.)

8:00 (44) Masterpiece Theatre: The Buccaneers, part two. Repeated from last week. Les girls take over Runnymede, fortunes are reversed, loves are lost, vows are exchanged, gold is dug. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (2) All of Me (movie). For a while we had a spate of movies about people inhabiting other people's bodies -- Tom Hanks's Big being the most memorable. And in that genre we have this overly routinized 1984 comedy with Lily Tomlin as a rich bitch too mean to die whose spirit takes over the body of her lawyer (Steve Martin). Carl Reiner directed. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

10:00 (44) Great Performances: Guys and Dolls: Off the Record. Frank Loesser's "Luck Be a Lady," "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," and more with Faith Prince and the G&D revival cast in the RCA recording studios. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:30 (2) American Masters: Jack Paar: As I Was Saying. Repeated from last week. High points from the unsteady career of late-'50s Tonight Show host Paar, a neurotic and temperamental comic whose bitter tiffs with NBC were no publicity stunts. Paar is the sort of guy who deserves to be remembered, though, so check it out, kids. To be repeated on Sunday at 4 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 12:30 a.m.)

Midnight (38) Teen Witch (movie). Before there was Sabrina, there was this 1989 tale of a high-school sorceress who uses her powers to get a date with a football star. Robin Lively and Zelda Rubinstein star. (Until 2 a.m.)

SUNDAY

7:00 (5) Angels in the Outfield (movie). Danny Glover plays the manager of the hard-luck California Angels in this faithful 1994 remake of the 1951 Clarence Brown comic fantasy about a major league team (in the original, it was the then cellar-dwelling Pirates) and its sudden and unexpected winning streak. With Tony Danza and Christopher Lloyd (as the divine interventionist). (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Spirits of the Jaguar: Forging of the New World. Deep breath . . . A four-part series (airing nightly at 8 p.m. through Wednesday) designed to advance our awareness and appreciation of Central America and the Caribbean, which the 'GHB hyperbole squad describe as "a rich tapestry of volcanoes, rain forests, deserts, and coral reefs -- stunning landscapes that gave rise to some of the greatest civilizations in human history." Personally, we think volcanoes and deserts are crummy environmental attributes and those great civilizations didn't leave much behind. Anyway, this series lays it all out -- the geology, the climatology, the sociology, the fine art of human sacrifice, and, of course, the cats. To be repeated on Monday at midnight. The whole four parts will be repeated next Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Masterpiece Theatre: The Buccaneers, part three. Nan's unhappy; Conchita's unhappy. Poor Nan; poor Conchita. Virginia is expecting -- again. End of series. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (4, 12) The Last Don (movie), part one. Mario Puzo's novel becomes a Godfather wanna-be, with Don Domenico Clericuzio (Danny Aiello), daughter Rose Marie (Kirstie Alley), nephew Pippi (Joe Mantegna), and Pippi's wife, Nalene (Penelope Ann Miller) all trying to avoid sleeping with the fishes. To be continued on Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 9 p.m. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (5) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (movie), part one. Michael Caine plays Captain Nemo in this new adaptation of the Jules Verne classic. To be concluded on Monday starting at 9 p.m. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (7, 10) TimeCop (movie). If you outlaw time travel, only outlaws will travel in time. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars. (Until 11 p.m.)

MONDAY

8:00 (2) Spirits of the Jaguar: Forests of the Maya. The Mayans rose from a simple hunting group to a mighty civilization. Then they jumped into history's footnotes. Their story. To be repeated on Tuesday at midnight. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) The American Experience: Gold Fever. In the 1890s, roughly 100,000 prospectors headed north to Alaska to pan for nuggets in the Klondike. It wasn't easy. A film by Susan Steinberg. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (44) America on Wheels: Driving Force. One of those really nice nostalgia documentary series about Americans and their cars -- this one peppered with some insider industry dope that puts everything from tailfins to downsizing in perspective. The first show of the set looks at Henry Ford's introduction of the assembly line and how GM Alfred P. Sloan invented something even more culturally destructive -- mass-consumerism. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (5) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (movie), part two. The conclusion, with Patrick Dempsey falling for Mia Sara. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (7, 10) Survival on the Mountain (movie). Avalanche in the Himalayas. Digging out. Lots of snow. A true story. Markie Post and Dennis Boutsikaris star. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Chicano! The History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement: Fighting for Political Power. The series ends with a look at the emergence of Latino power in American government and the influence of La Raza Unida (United People). (Until 11 p.m.)

TUESDAY

8:00 (2) Spirits of the Jaguar: Hunters of the Caribbean Sea. The conveniently forgotten story of the Taino, a peaceful Native American people enslaved and destroyed by Columbus and his followers. To be repeated on Wednesday at midnight. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (44) Masterpiece Theatre: Middlemarch, part six. Dorothea's ambitions thwarted once again. The Lydgates' marital woes increase. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:30 (7, 10) Caroline/Frasier/Caroline. The season closer for the pointless but appealing Caroline in the City comes in two parts, flanking an episode of Frasier. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: Little Criminals. A feature report on the case of Ignacio Bermudez Jr., an infant severely injured by a six-year-old assailant, broadening the issue to how society deals with the increase of violent crimes done by very young children. We figure supervision is key. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (4, 12) The Last Don (movie), part two. The hits keep coming, and Daryl Hannah (as Athena Aquitaine) and k.d. lang get involved. We didn't even know they were Italian. More tomorrow starting at 9 p.m. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Viewpoint: Browsing Through Birke's. Profiles of Lowell department-store owners Nathan and Sally Birke. Should be interesting, if only to figure out why the subjects were chosen. (Until 11:30 p.m.)

10:00 (44) The Year of My Japanese Cousin. A comedy about a wanna-be female rock star enduring a visit from her competitive cousin from Japan. Funkier than it sounds. (Until 11 p.m.)

WEDNESDAY

8:00 (2) Spirits of the Jaguar: The Fifth World of the Aztecs. Recounting what we know of the highly evolved Aztec culture -- charming human sacrifices and all -- and how its civilization was toppled in short order by Spaniard Hernán Cortés. The series finale. To be repeated on Thursday at midnight. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Great Performances: Burt Bacharach: This Is Now. Thanks for the timely tip, Burt. The other side of the '60s recalled in this first-ever tribute to the man who composed "Anyone Who Has a Heart," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Walk On By," and the theme from Alfie. Featuring Dionne Warwick, lyricist Hal David, and silly trumpet player Herb Albert. Narrated by Dusty Springfield. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (4, 12) The Last Don (movie), part three. The conclusion. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Bontoc Eulogy. Cool. At the 1904 World's Fair, they actually had a exhibit of "primitive" tribesmen from various faraway cultures -- specifically from what's now the Philippines. Filmmaker Marlon E. Fuentes, whose grandfather was one on display, explores the fate of the specimens after the public was done gawking at them. An amazing story that deserves more attention than this time-slot will afford. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:30 (5) Ellen. The season finale. Perhaps Ellen will wake up in bed with Brad Pitt and discover that that entire lesbian thing was a dream. (Until 10 p.m.)

THURSDAY

8:00 (4, 12) Grumpy Old Men (movie). Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon star as the title characters, who are locked in rivalry for the unlikely-to-be-offered hand of Ann-Margret. Pretty unpleasant, but you have to admit the guys are funny. (Until 10 p.m.)

8:00 (44) The New Explorers: The Most Dangerous Science. Talk about your death-wish expeditions. A trip through the longest underwater cave system in the world. You guys go on ahead; we'll catch up. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Mystery: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: The Cardboard Box. A woman's sister vanishes, and then someone sends a gruesome Christmas present. Holmes steps in. Jeremy Brett stars. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (44) Scientific American Frontiers: About All You Can Eat. A survey course on dinner, including a visit to the infuriating folks at Plimoth Plantation for their annual harvest fest. Of course, the Plimoth gang speak only in 17th-century idiom, so you can't get a straight answer even if you threaten to pummel them. (Until 11 p.m.)

FRIDAY

9:00 (2) Evening at Pops. An old Pops concert with Itzhak Perlman playing music from Schindler's List (guess who wrote that) and clowning around with musical madman Peter "P.D.Q. Bach" Schickele. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (4, 12) The 1997 Miss Universe Pageant. The sequel to Robin Cook's Invasion. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (5) Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (movie). The season finale. Aside from the adolescent charms of Melissa Joan Hart, it's hard to figure why people -- especially it's target junior-high demographic -- don't hate this silly cornball show. Then again there might be honest appeal lurking in being predictable and nonthreatening. (Until 9:30 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Around the World in 80 Days: Far East and Farther East. Michael Palin crosses the International Dateline on a container ship and undergoes a bizarre initiation ritual for first-time time-shifters that we suspect the crew made up on the spot when they saw the BBC camera crew. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Evening at Pops. Actually not so much a concert as a documentary from 1979 celebrating Pops originator Arthur Fiedler's half century of conducting the orchestra through pieces the players were probably sight-reading. (Until 11 p.m.)