blue glow
SALON'S TV PICKS FOR
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY,
NOV. 25-29, 1998
BY JOYCE MILLMAN

W E D N E S D A Y,  N O V.  2 5

Robert Cringely hosts Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet (8 p.m., PBS), a three-hour (that's brief?) survey of the Net from the '60s to the present. Celine Dion: These Are Special Times (9 p.m., CBS) finds the leather-lunged songstress in a Christmas mood. On the Thanksgiving episode of Chicago Hope (10 p.m., CBS), the docs have their hands full treating a teenage Buddhist spiritual leader, the delusional star of a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and Kronk's mother, who thinks she's pregnant. Babylon 5 (10 p.m., TNT) ends its run with a finale in which the dying Sheridan gathers his friends and loved ones to say goodbye.

T H A N K S G I V I N G  D A Y

Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Al Roker host the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (check local times, NBC). Let us give thanks for our glorious Warrior Princess with an 11-hour Xena/Hercules Marathon (beginning 9 a.m., USA), hosted by Lucy Lawless. The 12-hour X Files Secret Ballot Marathon (beginning noon, FX) counts down Mulder and Scully's 12 greatest adventures, as chosen by viewer vote. More marathon mania: Nine hours of Rocko's Modern Life and Kablam! (beginning noon, Nickelodeon), and if you have to ask, don't. Turkey Day football: Steelers at Lions (12:30 p.m., CBS), Vikings at Cowboys (4 p.m., Fox). The new Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving (8 p.m., ABC) finds Pooh and Piglet searching for a turkey for Rabbit's feast. Jodie Foster's 1995 comedy-drama Home for the Holidays (9 p.m., ABC) stars Holly Hunter as a single mom who expects the same old family angst at Thanksgiving, but gets a few surprises. With Anne Bancroft, Claire Danes, Dylan McDermott, Charles Durning and Robert Downey Jr.

F R I D A Y,  N O V.  2 7

Ice Wars: USA Against the World (9 p.m., CBS) features Tara Lipinksi, Brian Boitano, Nancy Kerrigan and Rudy Galindo against an international team that includes Oksana Baiul, Viktor Petrenko and Surya Bonaly. Dateline NBC (10 p.m., NBC) looks back at the 1978 Jonestown massacre that followed the murder of an American congressman on a fact-finding mission by followers of Jim Jones.

S A T U R D A Y,  N O V.  2 8

Country Music Association 40th: A Celebration (8 p.m., CBS) is a gala anniversary concert featuring Reba McEntire, Leann Rimes, Clint Black, Dixie Chicks, Vince Gill and lots more. Some of the best commercial spoofs from "Saturday Night Live" are unspooled in Saturday Night Live Goes Commercial, Volume 2 (10 p.m., NBC).

S U N D A Y,  N O V.  2 9

Tim Burton's 1993 stop-action animation musical The Nightmare Before Christmas (7 p.m., NBC) has its first network airing. The Coen Brothers' 1996 Oscar winner (for best original screenplay) Fargo (8 p.m., TNT) stars Frances McDormand (who won the best actress award) as a very pregnant police chief investigating a kidnapping gone bad. With William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi. The two-part documentary The Rise of Christianity: The First Thousand Years (9 p.m. PST/10 EST, A&E) surveys the religion through time. On a two-part X-Files (9 p.m., Fox), Mulder and an Area 51 official (played by Michael McKean) exchange bodies after a UFO passes over them. Kathy Baker guests as a baby-sitter accused of shaking a baby to death on The Practice (10 p.m., ABC)

T A L K

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Wed.: Drew Barrymore
David Letterman (CBS) Wed.: Gwyneth Paltrow, Peter Berg; Thurs.: Michael Caine, Jewel; Fri.: Salma Hayek, Marilyn Manson
Jay Leno (NBC) Wed.: Lara Flynn Boyle, Neil Diamond; Thurs.: Hulk Hogan; Fri.: David Hyde Pierce, Henry Winkler
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Wed.: Larry King, Jon Lovitz; Thurs.: Scott Thompson; Fri.: Wayne Gretzky, Judi Dench, Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach
SALON | Nov. 25, 1998

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Blue Glow for Tuesday, Nov. 24, 1998