Blue Glow

Salon's TV picks for Weekend, April 7-9, 2000

By Joyce Millman

Apr 7, 2000 | Series

On Making the Band (9:30 p.m. Fri., ABC), Paul continues to cheat on his girlfriend and two of the guys write a song together. The documentary series Right Here, Right Now (check local times, Fri., PBS) gives average people a video camera and has them tell their life stories. On a new episode of The Simpsons (8 p.m. Sun., Fox), Homer develops an inferiority complex (doh!) when Barney quits drinking to live a fuller, richer life. David Duchovny got his turn to play director, now Gillian Anderson gets hers, on The X-Files (9 p.m. Sun., Fox). Anderson also wrote this episode, in which Scully meets up with someone special from her past. The Sopranos (9 p.m. Sun., HBO) has its season finale. After last week's shocking and too sudden resolution to Tony's Richie problem, it's anybody's guess what the writers are going to spring on us now.

Specials

Eric Idle hosts the two-hour "Biography" special, Life of Python (8 p.m. Sun., A&E), a retrospective of the trailblazing British comedy troupe that includes interviews with the surviving members, clips from their TV shows and movies, testimonials from famous fans like Robin Williams and David Frost and a performance of Python tunes by Meat Loaf, who could at least have changed his name to Spam for the occasion. John Lithgow has the title role in a new production of Don Quixote (8 p.m. Sun., TNT), which also stars Bob Hoskins, Vanessa Williams and Isabella Rossellini. The Matrix (9 p.m. Sat., HBO) has its cable premiere. See the Oscar-winning special effects that turned Keanu Reeves into a human bendy straw! George Clooney produced and acts in Fail Safe (9 p.m. Sun., CBS), a live production (on the East Coast), presented in black and white, that re-creates the 1964 Cold War thriller of the same name about an accidental launch of a U.S. nuclear warhead aimed at the Soviet Union. Richard Dreyfuss plays the president; with Noah Wyle, Harvey Keitel, Hank Azaria, Don Cheadle, Brian Dennehy and James Cromwell. The 10-hour series The American President (check local times, Sun., PBS) profiles all 41 presidents; earlier POTUSes are represented by archival material, with celebrities reading their speeches and letters. Which gives us such delightful oddities as George Will playing John Quincy Adams and, later, Don Imus as the voice of Andrew Johnson.

Sports

Baseball:
Giants at Braves (7:35 p.m. Fri., 7:05 p.m. Sat., 1:05 p.m. Sun., TBS)
Dodgers at Mets (3 p.m. Sat., FX)
Indians at Devil Rays (8 p.m. Sun., ESPN)

Basketball:
Knicks at Magic (8 p.m. Fri., TNT)
Timberwolves at Kings (10:30 p.m. Fri., TNT)
Spurs at Lakers (8:30 p.m. Sat., NBC)
76ers at Magic or Pacers at Hornets (12:30 p.m. Sun., NBC)
Jazz at Rockets (3 p.m. Sun., NBC)
Knicks at Heat or Suns at Kings (5:30 p.m. Sun., NBC)

Hockey:
Bruins at Flyers (2 p.m. Sat., ESPN2)
Kings at Mighty Ducks or regional action (3 p.m. Sun., ABC)

Talk

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Robin Williams, Elizabeth Perkins
David Letterman (CBS) Edward Norton, Faith Hill
Jay Leno (NBC) Claudia Schiffer, Terry Bradshaw
Politically Incorrect (ABC) David Arquette, Diamond Dallas Page
Dennis Miller (HBO) Eric Idle
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Bonnie Hunt, No Doubt

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