Here are a few programs to look out for in the upcoming week ...
WEDNESDAY 8 P.M. War Stories, NBC. This made-for-TV movie is also the pilot for a new series starring the always likeable Jeff Goldblum, who plays a journalist covering a war in Uzbekistan.
FRIDAY 10 P.M. The Go-Gos, WE. The '80s girl group rocks New York's Central Park in a concert taped from 2001.
FRIDAY 10 P.M. It Happened Here: Date with Destiny, Travel Channel. Visit the sites where tragic moments made history. In Dallas, Dealy Plaza, the Book Depository and a grassy knoll mark the site of President Kennedy's assassination. In northern France, a market square bears the memory of Joan of Arc's burning.
SATURDAY MIDNIGHT. Dilbert, Comedy Central. This half-hour animated series brings Scott Adams's famous comic strip back to TV life, if only in rerun form. Daniel Stern voices our hero. Dated already in some spots (they battle the Y2K bug in one episode), it still holds up well.
SUNDAY NOON. Alaska's Bermuda Triangle, The History Channel. There's something about Alaska that the tourist bureau doesn't want you to know. In Alaska, people, planes and ships disappear -- suddenly, inexplicably and permanently! Natives say that shape-shifting spirits kidnap lost travelers. Scientists tell of giant crevasses that swallow the unwary. Others tell of conspiracies to wreck aircraft. Maybe it's the vast rugged terrain and extreme weather conditions ... just a thought.
SUNDAY 8 P.M. Turf Rockets: The Cutting Edge, Discovery. Welcome to the mow-down of the mow-lennium (a horrid pun courtesy of the Discovery publicists). This program follows lawnmower enthusiasts to the Challenge of Champions in Celina, Ohio, where tricked-out, geared-up lawnmowers vie for the title of speediest mower in the country.
SUNDAY 3 P.M. Arena League Football, NBC. OK, so the XFL thing didn't work out for the peacocks. This seems to be a better fit. Esquire magazine claims this is the best run pro sports league in North America "even if it is a little weird." They've been at it for 17 years (!) so they must be doing something right.
SUNDAY 6 P.M. NFL Pro Bowl, ABC. The last hurrah of the 2002 campaign. A big backyard barbeque in Hawaii as the best players from the NFC battle the best from the AFC. The over/under on players yelling "shaka-bro" into the camera is currently at 14.
MONDAY-FRIDAY 6 P.M. Roswell, Sci-Fi. Sci-Fi is re-running the show's three seasons in this time slot. Too bad they couldn't have kept it in production. Then again, maybe someone didn't want them to ...
NEWS & NOTES: NBC bids Friends farewell in 2004 as the show's 10th season will be its last according to the network. ... Madonna guest stars on Will & Grace during (you guessed it) the May sweeps. ... The Simpsons will live on for at least two more seasons, making it the longest running sitcom ever.
-- P.F. Wilson
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