BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 26

7:30 (2) Basic Black: Ujima: Black Solidarity Day. Continuing its trip down memory lane to the days when this African-American ’GBH show was called Say, Brother, the Basic Black–sters offer a 1972 installment that tried to get Malcolm X’s birthday off the ground as a holiday called Ujima. Can’t find that on our 2004 calendar, but it was a nice try. (Until 8 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: The Invasion of Iraq. A one-year-anniversary of our invasion of Iraq covering the highlights, strategies, battles, etc. from both sides. Special attention will no doubt be paid to Saddam’s brilliant counter-intuitive strategy of not using all his weapons of mass destruction when the largest army in the world started blowing up his country. To be repeated tonight at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44, and on Channel 2 on Sunday at 9 p.m. (Until 11 p.m.)

FRIDAY 27

8:00 (64) Celebrity Spelling Bee. The two-hour finale. This is actually pretty entertaining to have on in the background. Watching for two hours may be asking a bit much. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:30 (2) Fred Rogers: America’s Favorite Neighbor. Child-empowerment wonder Fred Rogers died a year ago today, and that’s provoked a re-airing of this excellent Fred retrospective. Michael Keaton (who we believe once played the part of the trolley on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood) hosts, and the clips hark all the way back to the early 1950s, when Rogers virtually invented responsible kids’ TV at then-struggling, then-community-owned WQED in Pittsburgh with a daily show called The Children’s Corner. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

5:30 a.m. (2) Fiesta in the Sky. Lily couldn’t see over the stone wall that divided her father’s mansion from the slums whose inhabitants had made him rich by gathering guano from the nearby cliffs, but she longed to be transported from her life of privilege. The hot-air balloon that aero-hobbyist Uncle Maurice had parked behind the stables gave her the opportunity, and she took it. Hovering above the squalor surrounding the Lechtman estate, Lily cried for the injustice of it all. (Until 6 a.m.)

SATURDAY 28

1:00 (5) Basketball. Wake Forest versus Maryland, Memphis versus Louisville, or Oregon versus Stanford.

2:00 (12) Basketball. Texas Tech versus Texas.

4:00 (12) Basketball. Notre Dame versus UCLA.

8:00 (6) Forrest Gump (movie). Tom Hanks learns how life is like a box of chocolates — you can find cheap ones at CVS, but things are better in Europe. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Jack Paar: Smart Television. A retrospective of TV-talk pioneer Jack Paar, an odd and neurotic-seeming man who nevertheless kept TV honest for a lot longer than its investors wanted it to be. If you grew up with Leno and Letterman, you’ll be amazed at what Paar got away with in terms of not underestimating his viewers’ brains. You’ll also be amazed to learn that he was temporarily thrown off the air for telling a dumb joke about a "water closet" (i.e., bathroom). Yes, the ’50s were different. (Until 11 p.m.)

11:00 (2) Colorvision: Identity. Tonight’s selection of films by non-white filmmakers includes Diwali, in which an Indian man confronts his assimilated (US) identity in the course of courting a woman from the old country, plus three vignettes about Hawaiian women and their corporeal and physical identities. (Until midnight.)

Midnight (2) Austin City Limits. Featuring music from Robert Plant. (Until 1 a.m.)

SUNDAY 29

Noon (12) Basketball. Ohio State versus Michigan.

2:00 (12) Basketball. Oklahoma versus Kansas.

4:00 (12) Basketball. Syracuse versus Pitt.

6:15 (6) Relentless Oscar Coverage. First, we find out what the stars are wearing (or "who" they’re wearing). Then at 7 p.m., Barbara Walters does a sort-of Oscars show by interviewing Oscar host Billy Crystal, multi-winner Diane Keaton, and (for reasons unclear) Matt LeBlanc. At 8 p.m., there’s some sort of "countdown to the Oscars" thing (probably more clothes talk). And then at 8:30 p.m., the awards actually begin. Good luck to those Mystic River guys. And if not them, then the Lost in Translation folk. But as much as we enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, there’s no way in hell it belongs in the Best Picture category. (Until midnight or so.)

8:00 (44) The Yearling (movie). The deer dies. Enough said. (Until 10:10 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: The Invasion of Iraq. Repeated from Thursday at 9 p.m.

9:00 (12) Rules of Engagement (movie). William Friedkin’s 2000 war movie about the trial of an Army guy accused of killing civilians. Tommy Lee Jones stars as the lawyer defending Samuel L. Jackson as the alleged war criminal who once saved Jones’s life. (Until 11:32 p.m.)

10:10 (44) Gaslight (movie). For the umpteenth time, WGBX gives us the 1944 thriller about a husband’s plot to drive his wife nuts, with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman plus Joseph Cotten as the Scotland Yard detective and Angela Lansbury as a cockney maid. (Until midnight.)

Midnight (44) Globe Trekker: Outback Australia. Trekker Ian Wright messes with camels and kangaroos and more Down Under wonders. (Until 1 a.m.)

MONDAY 1

8:00 (44) Globe Trekker: South Africa and Lesotho. Trekker Justine Shapiro returns to South Africa (where she grew up) to look at the improvements since apartheid fell apart. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (6) The Mystery of Natalie Wood (movie). The enigmatic bio of the only Hollywood actress to have her name rhymed with "Pontiac hood" (John Prine). Justine Waddell tries to play Natalie. Warren Beatty, Robert Vaughn, and other people from the star’s past do cameos. Directed for TV by Peter Bogdanovich, and it might be better than average. No promises. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (2) The American Experience: Miss America. There she goes. A history of the legendary pageant, from its Atlantic City Boardwalk beginnings (1921) through its national notoriety in the TV age to its current slightly self-conscious and occasionally embattled status as a generally unimportant institution. Featuring interviews with former contestants and an attempt to equate the beauty show’s cultural standing with the changing status of women in America. To be repeated tonight at 12:30 a.m. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Hitler’s Victory. Don’t worry; we really did win World War II. But what if Hitler had made it into Great Britain? What then, huh? Thanks to computer graphics, lots of German archival material, and some imaginative historians, this show is able to fabricate what might have been. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

10:00 (10) Average Joe, Hawaii — Finale. In which all the Joes shed their fat suits and teach even the producers a lesson. (Until 11 p.m.)

TUESDAY 2

7:30 (2) La Plaza: Becoming a Diva. In this case, that’s an opera diva, not a pop diva. A repeat look behind the scenes as budding vocalist Jossie Pérez gears up for the starring role in Boston Lyric Opera’s 2002 Carmen on the Common. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Nova: Life and Death in the War Zone. We’ve come a long way from M*A*S*H. A look at the modern-day chaos, conflict, and drama at a combat-support hospital in Iraq. "Son, as your doctor, I’d say the best cure for all this is to get the hell out of the military and never look back." To be repeated tonight at 1 and 4 a.m., and on Channel 44 at 1 and 4 a.m. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Innovation: Hi-Tech War. We are promised, "How a new generation of weapons is changing the face of war." Yes, modern technology has given us innumerable new ways to cause disfiguring injuries and kill people we don’t even know. Swell. To be repeated tonight at 2 and 5 a.m., and on Channel 44 at 2 a.m. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Indie Select: My Feminism. A look at feminism "in a global context" through the words of Gloria Steinem, Urvashi Vaid, bell hooks (see Thursday at 7:30 p.m.), Mary Becker, and more. From filmmakers Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Nova: Russia’s Nuclear Warriors. Continuing tonight’s needless-death-and-destruction theme, ’GBH gives us this somewhat scary look at the leftover nuclear technicians and military folk who’ve been put in charge of Russia’s missiles. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (44) Independent Lens: Sentencing the Victim. A film by Liza Oakley and victims’-rights advocate Joanna Katz; the latter sent her rapists to prison and still testifies at their annual parole hearings. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m. (Until 11:30 p.m.)

WEDNESDAY 3

8:00 (2) Gino Vannelli: Canto. A 2002 concert in which the Canadian hitmaker (okay, we never heard of him either) sings his bulleted single "I Just Wanna Stop" and stuff from his latest album, Canto. Apparently, this CD is a departure that marks a new direction for Gino. Who knew? (Until 8:30 p.m.)

8:00 (44) Secrets of the Dead: Killer Flu, The Syphilis Enigma, and Mystery of the Black Death. The dead aren’t holding much back tonight with this trio of shows about 1) the 1918 flu epidemic (100 million fatalities) and why it spread so fast; 2) the "myth" that Native Americans introduced syph to Europeans; and 3) why some people managed to survive the plague in mediæval Europe. Killer Flu to be repeated tonight at 3 a.m. (Until 11 p.m.)

8:30 (2) Art Close Up. This, we believe, used to be called Greater Boston Arts, and that caused many people (including us) to shun it because they feared it had something to do with Emily Rooney. No Emily. New title. Tonight’s show is about dance on film, with short pieces by independent filmmakers. To be repeated tonight at 12:30 a.m. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Great Performances: Concert for George. That’s Harrison, not Bush, if you please. An Albert Hall concert commemorating the first anniversary of the Skinny Beatle’s death and featuring tribute tunes from Jeff Lynne, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Billy Preston, Tom Petty, Anoushka Shankar and Ravi, and Ringo Starr. Plus a special visit from Harrison buddies Monty Python. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m., and on Channel 44 at 4 a.m. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (6) Kingdom Hospital. Winner of this season’s At Least It’s Different Award is this Stephen King series about ghosts and psychics and rattling chains in a hospital. A two-hour kickoff edition. (Until 11 p.m.)

THURSDAY 4

7:30 (2) Basic Black: A Conversation with bell hooks. Too bad, no more ancient Say, Brother editions. Back in the present, we have host Darren Duarte interviewing author and social critic hooks. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Conquistadors with Michael Wood: The Fall of the Aztecs. Cruel and bloodthirsty as they were, the Aztecs didn’t stand a chance against Hernán Cortés and his Spanish invaders. Historian Michael Wood hosts this four-part series on the brutal destruction of America’s native people in the name of exploration. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain. Why do kids act different from grown-ups? Aside from all the stifling unfairness and exploitative forces that define their lives, it apparently has something to do with maturing brain chemistry. To be repeated tonight at 5 a.m., and on Channel 44 at 2 and 4 a.m. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Frontline: Fat. Can fat be beautiful? Can the overweight be healthy? Can you pass the potatoes, please? (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (10) Princess Diana: The Secret Tapes, part one. In which the late Lady Diana Spencer confesses to the Lindbergh kidnapping and reveals her secret childhood marriage to Johnny Depp. (Until 11 p.m.)