blue glow
SALON'S TV PICKS FOR
MONDAY, FEB. 1, 1999
BY JOYCE MILLMAN

S P E C I A L S

The six-part documentary series I'll Make Me a World (check local times, PBS) chronicles a century of African-American contributions to the arts, focusing on the differences of opinion among black artists about whether art should be used to uplift the race or whether racial identity should be secondary to artistic expression. The first installment looks at black minstrel show performers, early jazz and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Vanessa Williams narrates; Spike Lee, Wynton Marsalis and Cornel West are among the luminaries providing commentary. The new TV Guide Awards (8 p.m., Fox) hands out meaningless trophies to America's favorite TV performers, as chosen by the readers of TV Guide, a News Corporation Company. It airs on Fox, a News Corporation Company, "coincidentally" on the same day that the new TV Guide Channel (a News Corporation Company) debuts its screen-scroll listings and celeb dish. If you didn't quite get the message during yesterday's Fox, er, Super Bowl -- Rupert Murdoch has appointed himself king of the world in a bloodless coup. The four-hour miniseries Tom Clancy's 'Netforce' (9 p.m., ABC) finds the master of patriotic paranoia fretting over our dependence on big, bad computers. Set in a near future in which every aspect of society's business is conducted online, "Netforce" stars Scott Bakula and Joanna Going as FBI agents who uncover a plot to cause a global computer crash that will ultimately result in one evil man controlling the Internet. Top suspect: software mogul "Will Stiles" (Judge Reinhold). Who says Clancy doesn't have a sense of humor?

S E R I E S

The second week of the X-Files Complete Conspiracy (8 and 11 p.m., FX, a News Corporation Company) begins with Episode 63, "Piper Maru" (8 p.m.), in which the mysterious radiation deaths of crew members of a French salvage ship lead Mulder on a journey to Hong Kong in pursuit of Krycek, who still holds the encrypted file containing details of the alien-human cloning project. Significant point: The black oil makes its first appearance. The story continues in Episode 64, "Apocrypha" (11 p.m.), in which Mulder catches up with the black-oil-contaminated Krycek and more pieces are introduced into the puzzle (though they don't quite fall into place). Significant point: The young Cancer Man is played by Chris Owens, who now appears on the show as Agent Spender. Dr. Laura Schlessinger is profiled on a new Biography (8 p.m. EST/9 PST, A&E). Connie Chung and Charles Gibson are the anchors for the premiere of 20/20 Monday (8 p.m., ABC), which gets off to a rousing stop with a profile of Charlie Sheen. Dilbert (8 p.m., UPN) gets his dream job, but inexplicably misses being a pathetic cube monkey. Doug scrambles to put together a 30th birthday party for Carrie on The King of Queens (8:30 p.m., CBS). On a new Everybody Loves Raymond (9 p.m., CBS), square Robert suddenly turns hip after he starts hanging out with his black partner.

T A L K

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Kathy Griffin
David Letterman (CBS) Bill Cosby, Brendan Fraser
Jay Leno (NBC) Joseph Fiennes, Maria Bello
Politically Incorrect (ABC) Ricki Lake, Esai Morales
Conan O'Brien (NBC) David Spade (rerun)
SALON | Feb. 1, 1999

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Blue Glow for Weekend, Jan. 29-31, 1999