SALON'S TV PICKS FOR
THURSDAY, FEB. 4, 1999
BY JOYCE MILLMAN

S E R I E S

Tonight's episodes in the X-Files Complete Conspiracy (8 and 11 p.m., FX) are Number 86, "Memento Mori" (8 p.m.), in which Scully is diagnosed with a rare cancer that Mulder believes was given to her during her abduction, and Number 96, "Gethsemane" (11 p.m.), the one where Mulder journeys to the frozen North (again) with an anthropological team to recover a perfect alien specimen frozen in the ice. On Friends (8 p.m., NBC), Phoebe meets her long-lost dad (played by Bob Balaban) at her grandmother's funeral. Also, Joey starts carrying a purse. In a desperate attempt to revive interest in the flagging Frasier (9 p.m., NBC), Woody Harrelson is called upon to reprise his old Woody Boyd role from "Cheers." The George Clooney Countdown begins on ER (10 p.m., NBC) as Doug and Mark have it out over the former's jeopardizing of hospital funding by prescribing experimental pediatric pain medication to a dying kid who was not part of the test group. Clooney leaves the show in two weeks. Also, Djimon Hounsou ("Amistad") joins the show tonight as a hospital janitor with a secret. Celebrity Deathmatch (10 p.m., MTV) kicks off its second season with Ice Cube vs. Ice-T and Al Pacino vs. Robert DeNiro.

S P E C I A L S

In the Robbie Knievel: Building to Building Death Jump (8 p.m., Fox), the stunt rider attempts a motorcycle jump from one 20-story building to another without a net. Did somebody say "Fox sweeps"? In the new TV movie Roswell: The Aliens Attack (8 p.m., UPN), a male and female alien survive the alleged 1947 spaceship crash and set out to destroy the Earth, except the male kind of likes it here, especially after he falls in love with a human, and loses enthusiasm for the mission. And then he changed his name to John Lithgow and got his own sitcom, and everybody lived happily ever after. The miniseries Tom Clancy's 'Netforce' (9 p.m., ABC) asks, Who is behind the plot to take over the Internet? Viewers ask, Could Tom Clancy find the Internet with a road map? Tonight: the explosive conclusion!

S P O R T S

Hockey:
Canucks at Rangers (10:30 p.m., ESPN2)

T A L K

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Pamela Anderson, Darryl Hannah, Eagle Eye Cherry
David Letterman (CBS) Mel Gibson
Jay Leno (NBC) Geena Davis, Rocky Horror Picture Show
Charlie Rose (PBS) Frank and Malachy McCourt
Politically Incorrect (ABC) Dave Foley, Maury Povich
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Gwyneth Paltrow
SALON | Feb. 4, 1999

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Blue Glow for Wednesday, Feb. 3, 1999