THURSDAY 27

7:30 (2) Basic Black: A Conversation with Johnnie Cochran. Host Darren Duarte chats with the lawyer who’s made a career of defending " high-profile celebrities of color. " Which is a nice way of referring to Michael Jackson (charged with child molesting), O.J. Simpson (stabbing this wife), and Sean Combs (dating a bigger-selling recording artist). (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) American Roots Music: All My Children of the Sun. The series ends with a nod to contemporary roots music — Cajun, Tejano, and Native American. Why they took the title from a 1969 Pete Seeger song is not immediately apparent. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: A Class Divided. A 1985 documentary that, we’re told, is among the most requested Frontline editions of all time ( " all time " spanning the series’s 20 years). The subject is third-grade teacher Jane Elliott’s famous 1968 classroom exercise where, prompted by the Martin Luther King assassination, she rewarded blue-eyed kids and dumped on their brown-eyed peers in an attempt to drive home a lesson on racism. This show talks to her grads some 16 years later. (Until 10 p.m.)

FRIDAY 28

9:00 (2) Now with Bill Moyers. All attempts to get particulars about this increasingly popular weekly news show continue to fail. So we’ll just give Bill a general recommendation (watch, okay?!) and fill his listings space with a " Hot Dots " Current-Events Quiz. Who said: " Why of course the people don’t want war. . . . But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. . . . Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. " Multiple choice: (a) George W. Bush; (b) Henry Kissinger; (c) Hermann Goering; (d) Pauly Shore. The answer is in " The 525th Line, " below. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (4) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. On tape from a concert in Barcelona, Bruce and the gang revive some old favorites and showcase new stuff from The Rising. (Until 10 p.m.)

Midnight (2) Masterpiece Theatre: Foyle’s War: Eagle Day. Repeated from last week. Foyle investigates a murder at a radar station where his son is doing top-secret war work. (Until 2 a.m.)

SATURDAY 1

1:00 (5) Basketball. Syracuse versus Georgetown.

1:00 (44) Sandwiches That You Will Like. A thoroughly entertaining sandwich travelogue from Rick Sebak. He even discusses chipped ham (a Pennsylvania favorite). (Until 2:30 p.m.)

4:00 (4) Basketball. Texas versus Texas Tech.

4:30 (44) Lawrence Welk: God Bless America. A salute to America, a celebration of freedom, a bunch of jingoistic war-loving crap, a Welkian rehash of American history. Shame on all involved. (Until 7 p.m.)

6:30 (2) When I Fall in Love: The Best of Nat King Cole. Cole was the first African-American to have a network variety show, and for the 1950s, it was pretty cool. He was amazingly hip with his humor and was obviously goofing on the new medium. This special presents his vocal performances from that era remastered from the ancient kinescope recordings. (Kinescope: they aimed a movie camera at a TV screen.) To be repeated on Monday at 7 p.m., and on Wednesday at 10 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) American Soundtrack: Rhythm, Love, and Soul. Another big show from Pittsburgh, featuring Aretha Franklin, Gloria Gaynor, Jerry Butler, Lou Rawles, Mary Wilson, and more. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) As Time Goes By: You Must Remember This. The ATGB clip show with Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, now married and retired, reminiscing about things that happened in earlier shows. To be repeated on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

11:00 (2) In the Life. This month’s edition of the gay/lesbian/bi/whatever magazine-format show is guest-hosted by slam-poet Staceyann Chin and includes features on the post–riot grrrl DIY music scene and the late civil-rights activist Bayard Rustin; an interview with NYPD Blue’s Bill Brochtrup; Martina Navratilova speaking out on coming out; a visit to South Africa’s Takalani Sesame to meet the world’s first HIV-positive Muppet; and Tony winner Harvey Fierstein explaining why Homer Simpson can’t sleep over at his house. (Until midnight.)

1:00 a.m. (44) Austin City Limits. Featuring music from Keb’ Mo’ and Willis Alan Ramsey. (Until 2 a.m.)

SUNDAY 2

Noon (4) Basketball. Duke versus St. John’s, followed by Wisconsin versus Minnesota, followed by Connecticut versus Pitt.

3:30 (44) As Time Goes By: You Must Remember This. Repeated from Saturday at 9 p.m.

8:30 (2) Mwah! The Best of the Dinah Shore Show. Dinah ruled TV with her weekly variety show from 1957 through 1963. This special features landmark musical numbers (Shore and Ella Fitzgerald, for example) plus interviews with the Chevy lady’s friends and family. To be repeated on Thursday at 10 p.m. (Until 10 p.m.)

8:30 (44) Mario Frangoulis: Sometimes I Dream. More often, he sings. The Greek tenor does a selection of romantic songs. This is clearly a fundraising period for PBS, and it’s long been established that people who love tenors give money to public broadcasting. Has anyone written a thesis on why? (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (4) Salem Witch Trials (movie), part one. Another telling of the Crucible plot with, of all people, Kirstie Alley as the mother of an accused witch in 1692 Salem. Shirley MacLaine helps out. The concluding installment has yet to be spotted on the CBS schedule, but you know what happens. (Until 11 p.m.)

MONDAY 3

7:00 (2) When I Fall in Love: The Best of Nat King Cole. Repeated from Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

8:00 (5, 7) Dog Eat My Folks and Get the Celebrity Out of Here. No idea what’s in the heads of ABC and NBC programming execs. The entire prime-time schedule for this week is taken up by the most uninteresting junk we’ve encountered in years. Can’t even stand to watch a minute of these " reality " shows. What’s so real about being dropped in a vat of vole and eating pigs’ lips anyway? Or having your dad give your date a polygraph test? (Until somebody wises up.)

8:30 (2) Bill Monroe: The Legend Lives On. A Ryman Auditorium tribute to bluegrass’s father (who died in 1997). Ricky Skaggs, the Del McCoury Band, Connie Smith and the Whites, Ralph Stanley, and Charlie Daniels keep the circle intact. To be repeated on Wednesday at 10 p.m. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:30 (44) Carole King: A New Colour in the Tapestry. The woman behind several generations of pop in concert, in 1993, in Hartford. Carole does a selection of everything from her 40-year career of making hits. (Until 11 p.m.)

TUESDAY 4

8:00 (2) J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of the Rings. Or " The Ringmaster, " right? A new Tolkien special that mixes interviews with the author and members of his scholarly following with a tour of Middle Earth through illustrations and computer animation. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Michael McDonald: A Gathering of Friends. Steely Danster and Doobie Brother McDonald gets on stage with Patti LaBelle, Patti Austin (coincidence? we think not!), Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, and more to take it to the streets next to LA’s Shrine Auditorium. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

10:30 (44) The American Tenors. Tenors everywhere you look these days . . . These Yankee contenders — Nathan Granner, Daniel Montenegro, and Mauricio O’Reilly — for the tenor throne will sing a typically unfocused selection of tunes, including " Luck Be a Lady, " " Funiculi Funicula, " and " Amazing Grace. " (Until midnight.)

WEDNESDAY 5

7:00 (2) Great Performances: Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel: Music Under the Stars. The American soprano teams up with the Welsh bass-baritone for a selection of Broadway tunes (from Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, The Music Man, and The King and I) performed in North Wales. Hey, speaking of The Music Man: did you catch that Disney abomination of an update on ABC last week? Now it may be disturbing in the post-Stonewall age to see Robert Preston prancing around with young boys, but Matthew Broderick as a laid-back Professor Harold Hill took all the spunk out of the production. And Kristin Chenoweth as Marian?! Why was she made up to look 55? Meredith Willson’s musical is, beneath the catchy tunes, a wonderful tongue-in-cheek exploration of an ancient-cultures clash — traditional American parochial stubbornness versus city-slicker ballyhoo and hucksterism. Take away the exaggeration and the campy enthusiasm and the story dissolves into pointless trivia. Never mind that supporting actors from the 1962 film version like Paul Ford, Hermione Gingold, and Perth Kelton pretty much own their MM roles for all time. Bad job, Disney. (Until 8:30 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Bill Monroe: The Legend Lives On. Repeated from Monday at 8:30 p.m.

10:00 (44) When I Fall in Love: The Best of Nat King Cole. Repeated from Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY 6

8:30 (2) Bill Cosby: Mr. Sapolsky, with Love. Cosby does his old school-days material in a special designed to honor educators. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Mwah! The Best of the Dinah Shore Show. Repeated from Sunday at 8:30 p.m.

The 525th line. About the quiz (see listing for Now with Bill Moyers, Friday, above): if you guessed (a) George W. Bush, you have an inflated notion of the range of our president’s vocabulary. There’s no shame in answering (b) Henry Kissinger, because he certainly supports the sentiment. Pauly Shore (d) is many evil things, but probably not a fascist. So the correct answer is (c) Herr Goering, who offered this explanation at — where else? — the Nürnberg war-crimes trials. Thanks to our friend, Memphis Flyer publisher Ken Neill, for passing this pithy quote along to us.

And thanks to reader George Mokray for his way-too-long e-mail of quotes from Sebastian Haffner’s Defying Hitler supporting the notion that the Bushies are just a Reichstag fire away from repeating a very unwelcome part of history.

Like our unelected president, we’re losing patience with all this. Seems to us that UN inspectors should stop looking for weapons of mass destruction and find Saddam Hussein’s weather machine. Given that the Mideast dictator’s longest-range delivery system is the Iraqi post office, it makes sense that he’d turn his attention away from gas bombs and toward less conventional far-flung assault technologies. Iraqi scientists, having seen too many Batman movies, have obviously developed a way to paralyze Washington with winter. New York and Boston were just collateral damage; all that white powder (coincidence?) that hit the East Coast on Presidents’ Day (coincidence?) was meant for DC. Not such a bad tactic — fighting a snow job with a snow job.