BY CLIF GARBODEN
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THURSDAY 12

9:00 [2] RAISING CAIN | It doesn’t take a scientific study to figure out that American boys have gotten dumber and more emotionally detached in the past decade, but just in case you trust only science, child psychologist Michael Thompson looks into the matter and comes up with some ideas for "bringing out the best" in young American males. To be repeated on Sunday at 6 pm | Until 11 pm

FRIDAY 13

9:00 [2] THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: CITIZEN KING | Courage, vision, and leadership are almost unheard-of qualities in today’s public figures. We have lots of people who are good at getting publicity; lots of people who are good at playing the angles; and lots (and lots) of people who are good at protecting self-interests and playing petty politics. But the Bobby Kennedys and Martin Luther Kings of yesteryear just aren’t part of the picture. Perhaps that’s because "they" made it clear back in the ’60s that anyone who got too real would be assassinated. This story — covering the five years of Reverend King’s life between his "I have a dream" speech and his murder — should shame a lot of people. Toward the end, King put the civil-rights struggle in a larger context and began seeing it as part of a greater movement toward a more just and humane America. Well, we couldn’t have that, could we? Watch this and be inspired or be ashamed. | Until 11 pm

10:00 [7] BOOK OF DANIEL | A new series about an Episcopal clergyman and his sinful family. We watched about 10 minutes of the opener, got disgusted, and went to bed. Our wife, Susannah, watched the whole thing and claims it "got funnier." Is up to you; we’re not going back. | Until 11 pm

SATURDAY 14

Noon [5] BASKETBALL | Georgetown versus UConn.

1:00 [4] BASKETBALL | Villanova versus Texas.

4:00 [5] US FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS | Without Michelle Kwan. But everybody else will be there. More tonight starting at 8 pm | Until 2 pm

4:30 [25] FOOTBALL | The Washington Redskins versus the Seattle Seahawks in the first NFC semifinal.

5:00 [44] FIDDLER ON THE ROOF | movie | Repeated from last week. "Life is like a fiddler on the roof. You can barely hear what it’s playing and then it slips in the rain gutter and falls off." Or so the old saying goes. Director Norman Jewison’s 1971 film version of the 1964 Broadway musical taken from the tales of Sholom Aleichem stars (Chaim) Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, and Molly Picon. | Until 8 pm

8:00 [4] FOOTBALL | The Pats versus the Denver Broncos in the first AFC semifinal.

8:00 [5] US FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS | Yet more. | Until 11 pm

8:00 [44] THE GREAT ESCAPE | movie | From 1963, with Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn. The basically true tale of a group of Allied POWs digging their way out of a Nazi prison camp. Excellent, and that’s McQueen doing most of the motorcycle stunts (as both the American escapee and the Nazi who’s chasing him). | Until 10:50 pm

10:00 [2] THE OFFICE | You asked for it. The original British mockumentary about life in a small branch office. Similarities between this and the US version with Steve Carell are far from coincidental, but as good as the US version is (and they managed to imitate the show without really ruining it), this is the real thing. Darker, and more disturbing, and more like the cinéma-vérité it pretends to be. Starring Ricky Gervais as the mad boss. | Until 10:30 pm

10:30 [2] COUPLING: "SIZE MATTERS" | Steve and Susan’s first (non-public) date. Still from the series’s old seasons. Funny, but you’ve seen them before. | Until 11 pm

10:50 [44] THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN | movie | One of the best Westerns ever made was being rewritten as it was being filmed. Yet every line is a classic, every character unforgettable. And the action sequences (especially for 1960) are stunning. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Brad Dexter, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Horst Buchholz, and James Coburn take on Eli Wallach and his evil gang. The opening scene when Brynner and McQueen bury the Indian is of itself worthy of being called "magnificent." | Until 1 am

11:00 [2] SOUNDSTAGE | Featuring the unusual sound of Cyndi Lauper. | Until midnight

SUNDAY 15

Noon [2] FRONTLINE: COUNTRY BOYS | Repeated from last week. The entire six-hour documentary, by David (The Farmer’s Wife) Sutherland, about two young men coming of age in rural Kentucky. To be repeated — all of it — immediately at 6 pm on Channel 44. | Until 6 pm

1:00 [4] FOOTBALL | The Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Indianapolis Colts in the second AFC semifinal.

1:00 [5] BASKETBALL | Pitt versus Louisville.

4:30 [25] FOOTBALL | The Carolina Panthers versus the Chicago Bears in the second NFC semifinal.

9:00 [2] MASTERPIECE THEATRE: HENRY VIII | part two | With Anne Boleyn out of the way, Henry heads for civil war and Jane Seymour, who dies just after giving birth to Prince Edward. From there, the fickle monarch marries Anne of Cleves, sight unseen, but when she turns out to be a dog, he annuls that one and tries Katherine Howard, who’s way too young to be faithful to the old guy. So he kills her and finishes off with Katherine Parr. Ray Winstone brings a sort of Teddy Roosevelt bravado to Henry’s cruelty. Worth watching. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44, and on Monday at 8 pm on Channel 44. | Until 10:30 pm

10:30 [2] MYSTERY: MALICE AFORETHOUGHT | part two | A TV adaptation of a 1941 Francis Iles mystery novel about a man whose wife stands between him and his love for a woman who won’t marry a divorcee. Ben Miller stars. | Until 11:30 pm

MONDAY 16

7:00 [5] RAISING THE ROOF | A celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, live from Jordan Hall, by the Boston’s Children’s Chorus, a Hubie Jones project that involves 131 young vocalists from Boston and surrounding communities. Once again, thanks to Channel 5 for remembering what "local" broadcaster means. | Until 8 pm

9:00 [2] THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT | Her looks and her voice alone made her too easy to parody, but behind that caricature was a powerful, influential, and socially responsible woman who did a lot of good for a lot of people. This show covers all that and promises to reveal some things about her much-unpublicized private life. To be repeated tonight at 3:30 am on Channel 44. | Until 11:30 pm

9:30 [44] MASTERPIECE THEATRE: THE VIRGIN QUEEN | part two | The conclusion of Anne-Marie Duff’s excellent teen-queen-to-deathbed portrayal of the feisty daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Probably the best-made historical drama to show up on Masterpiece Theatre in decades. To be repeated tonight at 1:30 am on Channel 2. | Until 11:30 pm

TUESDAY 17

7:30 [2] LA PLAZA: CONVERSATIONS WITH ILAN STAVANS: LUIS ALBERTO URREA | A discussion of Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway: A True Story, which is about a group of illegal Mexican immigrants most of whom perish in the Arizona desert while trying to walk to a new life in the US. | Until 8 pm

8:00 [2] NOVA: DEADLY ASCENT | Doctors, rescuers, and mountaineering exports investigate the rash of high-altitude deaths on Mount McKinley (a/k/a Denali). To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channels 2 and 44, and at 3 am on Channel 44, and 4 am back on Channel 2. | Until 9 pm

8:00 [44] GLOBE TREKKER: EGYPT | Trekker Megan McCormack is disappointed that they won’t let her shop for a pharaoh hat at the Valley of the Kings, which she had hoped was a discount shopping mall. But she’s right at home in the street markets of Cairo. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] FRONTLINE: PRIVATE WARRIORS | Our miserable GOP administration outsources everything — including warfare. Frontline embeds with the evildoers at Halliburton/KBR on the front lines and takes a look at other US contractors who’re profiting by helping the military run this benighted war. To be repeated tonight at 2 and 4 am on Channel 44. | Until 10 pm

WEDNESDAY 18

8:00 [44] WALKING THE BIBLE: TOWARD THE PROMISED LAND: 40 YEARS IN THE DESERT | Writer/historian Bruce Feiler continues his treks through the lands of the Bible with a trip across the Sinai Desert, making stops at the manna tree, the top of Mount Sinai (where God met Charlton Heston and told him he had a right to bear arms), the stone city of Petra, and Mount Nebo. To be repeated tonight at 1 am and tomorrow at 8 pm, both on Channel 2. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA: THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL and LIBERTY IN THE AIR | A history of slavery in America from the first instance, in 1619, through reconstruction. Tonight’s installments look at the myths and misconceptions about how it all began, its growth through Colonial times, and the first intimations of slave rebellion. | Until 11 pm

THURSDAY 19

7:30 [2] BASIC BLACK: A CONVERSATION WITH REVERENDS RAY AND GLORIA WHITE-HAMMOND | Host Howard Manly talks with the White-Hammonds, both doctors who left their practices for the pulpit of the Bethel AME Church in Boston. The couple founded the Boston Ten Point coalition to fight gang violence and helped free slaves in the Sudan, and they’ve made a serious impact on Boston communities of color. | Until 8 pm