blue glow
SALON'S TV PICKS FOR
WEEKEND, MARCH 26-28, 1999
BY JOYCE MILLMAN

S P E C I A L S

The documentary Arguing the World (check local times, Fri., PBS) profiles New York intellectuals Daniel Bell, Nathan Glazer, Irving Howe and Irving Kristol. The new TV movie Balloon Farm (7 p.m. Sun., ABC) is a "Wonderful World of Disney" adaptation of the children's book about a drought-stricken agricultural town, a mysterious stranger and a bumper crop of balloons. Mara Wilson, Rip Torn and Laurie Metcalf star. Dustin Hoffman and Mimi Rogers were the executive producers for the new cable movie The Devil's Arithmetic (8 p.m. Sun., Showtime), an intense adaptation of Jane Yolen's novel about an American teenager (Kirsten Dunst) with no interest in her Jewish heritage who passes out at a Seder in 1999 and wakes up in a Polish concentration camp in 1941. The new TV movie Mutiny (9 p.m. Sun., NBC) is the true story of an incident at a Naval base near San Francisco in 1944. After 320 sailors, most of them black, were killed in a powerful explosion while loading munitions onto a WWII ship, the surviving black sailors refused to load another ship for safety reasons and were court-martialed for mutiny. Morgan Freeman executive produced. John Ritter plays a doubting minister who is hailed as a miracle worker in the new TV movie Holy Joe (9 p.m. Sun., CBS). The two-hour documentary The Vatican Revealed (9 p.m. EST/10 PST, Sun., A&E) looks at the political power of the tiny nation that's spiritual headquarters of the Catholic Church.

S E R I E S

A 20-year-old case of Giardello's is reopened on a new Homicide: Life on the Street (10 p.m. Fri., NBC). Also, Bayliss becomes the target of ridicule when he asks a male sergeant for a date. Vince Vaughn is the host on a rerun of Saturday Night Live (11:30 p.m. Sat., NBC), with music from Lauryn Hill. Matt Groening's new animated sitcom "Futurama (8:30 p.m. Sun., Fox) premieres. A pizza delivery boy (voice of Billy West) is cryogenically frozen on Dec. 31, 1999, and defrosted on Dec. 31, 2999, and, boy, New York City sure looks different. A hilarious opening episode. On a new X-Files (9 p.m. Sun., Fox), Mulder and Scully investigate murders that appear to be caused by an ancient breed of wild dog. Is there a more perfect subject for Behind the Music (9 p.m. Sun., VH1) than Vanilla Ice? I don't think so. An attempt is made on Tony's life in the season's penultimate episode of The Sopranos (9 p.m. Sun., HBO). The firm is appointed to defend a man accused of savagely murdering a nun on The Practice (10 p.m. Sun., ABC). An evil Nikita double gains access to the Section while the real Nikita is held hostage on a new La Femme Nikita (10 p.m. Sun., USA).

S P O R T S

NCAA Tournament (women's):
Final Four (7 p.m. Fri., ESPN); championship game (9 p.m. Sun., ESPN)

NCAA Tournament (men's):
Final Four (5:30 p.m. Sat., CBS)

Basketball:
Knicks at Suns (8 p.m. Fri., TNT)
Kings at Lakers (10:30 p.m. Fri., TNT)
Knicks at Lakers (6:30 p.m. Sun., NBC)

Hockey:
Bruins at Maple Leafs (7 p.m. Sat., ESPN2)
Devils at Panthers (6 p.m. Sun., ESPN2)

Figure skating:
World Championships (Noon Sat., ESPN; 3:30 p.m. Sat., ABC; 8 p.m. Sat., ABC)

T A L K

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Jenna Elfman
David Letterman (CBS) Ron Howard, Charlotte Church
Jay Leno (NBC) Kirsten Dunst, Alana Davis
Politically Incorrect (ABC) Janine Turner, John Fugelsang
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Norm Macdonald, Placebo
Tom Snyder (CBS) Tom's farewell show
SALON | March 26, 1999

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Blue Glow for Thursday, March 25, 1999