Here are a few programs to look out for in the upcoming week ...
WEDNESDAY 8 P.M. Star Trek: Enterprise, UPN. It's the season, and perhaps the series, finale for the latest ST franchise. The crew prepares to battle a reptilian fleet. Producers and fans battle network execs. Ratings haven't been, er, stellar. But what are the odds that UPN will come up with something that's going to draw a much bigger audience? Or more loyal for that matter?
WEDNESDAY 11 P.M. The Search for Life on Mars, History Channel. Throughout history, our planetary next-door neighbor Mars has captured our imagination — from little green men to "man-made" canals and satellite photos revealing a giant "face." As one of the most likely spots in our solar system where some form of life might exist or have existed, we have spent billions on missions designed to disclose the red planet's closely held secrets.
Trace man's journey of discovery of this fascinating planet, and focus on NASA's great successes and heartbreaking failures. The Weekly World News claims there's all kinds of life on Mars.
THURSDAY 4 P.M. Classic World Series Film, ESPN Classic. Re-live the Reds last trip to the World Series. Enjoy. It might be a while until this comes around again.
SATURDAY 10 P.M. Rain Man, TCM. Loads of Cincinnati stuff to see because much of this film was, of course, shot here in the Tristate. There's the (now sad) scene of Hoffman saying, "Bam! 97X, The Future of Rock & Roll." He and Cruise are apparently headed to the airport, though they're heading the wrong way down Columbia Parkway. Maybe they got confused and went to Lunken first.
SUNDAY 8 P.M. Biography, A&E. "Saturday Night Live." An unprecedented, two-hour behind-the-scenes look at how the famed comedy show is put together. Harry Smith takes viewers through all the stages of an SNL production, hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow. Viewers see the Monday morning pitch meeting, rehearsals, the all-night writing sessions, the costume fittings and make-up tests and the opening moments of the live telecast. All-night writing sessions? And they still can't make it any funnier?
SUNDAY 10 P.M. Columbus: An Enigma Revealed, Discovery. Christopher Columbus, the most famous explorer in history, discovered the New World and is hailed as one of an illustrious line of Italian navigators who changed the known world forever. But behind the adulation hides a dark secret that 21st-century science might finally unravel. Throughout his life, Columbus kept a carefully hidden secret: his identity. No one knows where he really came from, and the story of his birth remains an enigma to this day. This one-hour special explores his hidden life of the greatest explorer of all time. Well, "great" is a relative term. He was searching for a route to India and never found it, though for a long time he thought he had.
MONDAY 10 P.M. Limos Unlimited, Travel Channel. From the tackiest ride in town — a 1970s flashback with shag carpeting, disco balls and lava lamps — to high-tech presidential limos, the Travel Channel explores limos of all kinds. Viewers can tag along with the stars of the hit daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless, as they head out to a swanky Manhattan cocktail party. To call this a great TV program would be a stretch.
NEWS & NOTES: Shirley Jones, David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce are on board as VH-1 gears up the bus to cast an all-new Partridge Family for a seven-episode reality series. Casting calls will be held in Orlando, New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles in mid-July to find actors to portray the lead roles of Shirley, Keith, Laurie and Danny.
