BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 16

7:30 (2) Basic Black: A Conversation with Michael Eric Dyson. A chat with "new breed" race historian Michael Eric Dyson. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:40 (10) Will & Grace. The season opener. (Until 9:20 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Wide Angle: An Honest Citizen. A profile of a Colombian minister of justice who fully expects to be exiled or murdered for his honesty in the face of a relentless civil war that claims 3500 lives a year. To be repeated tonight at 5 a.m., and at 2 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Stealing Home. A documentary about the state of contemporary Cuban baseball. (Until 11 p.m.)

5:00 a.m. (44) Soundstage. Featuring music from Steve Winwood. (Until 6 a.m.)

FRIDAY 17

9:00 (44) The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud with Dr. Armand Nicholi, part one. Repeated from last week. A complex documentary based on a Harvard course taught by The Question of God author Nicholi, with the atheist über-shrink and the world’s most convincing faith-by-reason theologian going at it. To be repeated on Saturday at midnight on Channel 2. (Until 11 p.m.)

2:00 a.m. (2) Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers: Forever Wild? Repeated from last week. Host Alan Alda meets with scientists "who are attempting to re-create ‘wild places’ and test the effects of atmosphere changes on rain forests and coral reefs." (Until 3 a.m.)

SATURDAY 18

Noon (6) Football. Cincinnati versus Nebraska.

1:00 (64) Baseball. The Sox versus the New York Yankees.

3:30 (12) Football. LSU versus Auburn.

3:30 (6) Football. Ohio State versus NC State.

6:30 (44) Radio Days (movie). Repeated from last week. A Woody Allen nostalgia piece about life on the fringe of Manhattan in the days when people first adapted radio into their daily lives. Some good moments and some funny characterizations from Michael Tucker, Julie Kavner, Don Pardo, Seth Green, and Josh Mostel. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (12) Football. Florida versus Tennessee.

9:00 (6) Miss America. Chris Harrison (something about The Bachelor) hosts the 50th televised Miss America extravaganza from Atlantic City. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:45 (44) Love and Death (movie). Woody Allen’s 1975 costume comedy with Woody and Diane Keaton confronting Napoleon during his invasion of Russia. Philosophical puns and arch cinema references abound. (Until midnight.)

11:00 (2) Soundstage. Featuring music from Joan Baez, Gillian Welch, and Nickel Creek. (Until midnight.)

SUNDAY 19

Noon (44) American Masters: Balanchine. A two-part, two-hour documentary made in 1983, just after the great choreographer’s death, and repeated here on the 100th anniversary of his birth. With old clips (rare and familiar) plus interviews with George Balanchine himself. (Until 2 p.m.)

1:00 (12) Football. The Indianapolis Colts versus the Tennessee Titans.

1:00 (64) Football. The Carolina Panthers versus the Kansas City Chiefs.

2:00 (44) Indie Select: Balanchine Lives! The Balanchine Trust has enabled dance companies around the world to produce the master’s works. Here we have a sampling of such stagings from Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Pittsburgh Theatre, Miami City Ballet, Toulouse Ballet, Bern Ballet, and Ballets de Monte Carlo. (Until 3 p.m.)

3:00 (44) Dance in America: Acts of Ardor — Two Dances by Paul Taylor. Black Tuesday, a piece about the Great Depression set to the Tin Pan Alley escapist hits of the day, and Promethean Fire, a nightmare vision of destruction and rebirth. (Until 4 p.m.)

4:00 (12) Football. The Pats versus the Arizona Cardinals.

4:00 (44) Art Close Up: Dance on Camera. A collection of short films in which noted dancers and choreographers bend the laws of physics with special effects to create a wider stage than the real world allows. (Until 4:30 p.m.)

4:30 (44) Dance in America: From Broadway — Fosse. A collection of productions from Broadway choreographer Bob Fosse’s career compiled by Ann Reinking and Gwen Verdon. (Until 6:30 p.m.)

6:30 (44) American Masters: Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer. A bio-doc of hoofer Kelly’s short (10 years) but influential screen career plus some revelations about the darker side of the white-soxed star’s personality. (Until 8 p.m.)

7:00 (2) Evening at Pops. The Pops and a few performers from Broadway mark the 70th birthday of composer Jerry Herman, the man who gave us Mame, Hello, Dolly!, and La Cage aux Folles. (Until 8 p.m.)

7:00 (6) Countdown to the Emmys. We think you’re safe from Joan Rivers if you stick with ABC. (Until 8 p.m.)

7:000 (10) Titanic (movie). James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster, like Jack and Rose’s shared heart, will go on . . . and on and on, with as many commercial interruptions as NBC can fit into a 250-minute presentation. (If you do the math, it comes to 56 minutes of ads.) Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet go down with the ship. (Until 11:10 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Evening at Pops. The second half of a Pops centennial tribute to Richard Rodgers, featuring songs he wrote with Lorenz Hart ("Isn’t It Romantic?", "Blue Moon") plus a new Mark Morris–choreographed production of Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (6) The 56th Annual Emmy Awards. Gary Shandling (that mysterious man who won Emmys even though only people in show business ever saw his show) hosts. This year, it’s Futurama versus SpongeBob SquarePants, lots of opportunities for Curb Your Enthusiasm (another limited-audience "hit"), Angels in America versus Ike: Countdown to D-Day, and James Gandolfini versus Martin Sheen. We just hope some of the winners bash Bush before they thank Mom during their acceptance speeches. (Until 11 p.m. if they control themselves.)

9:00 (2) Mystery: Inspector Lynley Mysteries: A Suitable Vengeance. Writer Elizabeth George’s mismatched Brit detectives — Earl of Asherton Thomas Lynley and poor-girl sidekick Barbara Havers (Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small) — tackle a spate of bloody murders among the upper crust. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44, and on Tuesday at 1 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

9:00 (44) P.O.V.: Freedom Machines. A look at how the world we build doesn’t suit the needs of people with special physical needs despite the promise of 1990’s Americans with Disabilities Act. (Until 10 p.m.)

11:00 (44) Austin City Limits. Featuring music from Susan Tedeschi and Ruthie Foster. (Until midnight.)

MONDAY 20

9:00 (2) History Detectives: Charlie Parker Saxophone, Prison Plaque, and Koranic Schoolbook. Tonight’s trumped-up "mysteries" involve an alto sax that might have belonged to bebop legend Charlie Parker, a plaque dug up in the ruins of a state pen in Philadelphia that’s dedicated to inmates who served in World War I, and a translation of passages from the Koran that belonged to a woman in Kentucky in 1800. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10 p.m.)

99:00 (6) Football. The Minnesota Vikings versus the Philadelphia Eagles.

9:00 (44) Colonial House: Regime Change and Shake Up. The team living the filthy lives of 17th-century American colonists lose faith in their governor, who gives up and heads for home. Next, the colony’s treasurer pays a visit and is dismayed by the group’s low productivity. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Extreme Oil: The Oil Curse. This series about the struggle to slake the world’s thirst for oil looks at two situations where the discovery of black gold proved to be more trouble than it was worth — at least, to the local populations. To be repeated tonight at 5 a.m., and at 2 and 5 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 11 p.m.)

TUESDAY 21

7:30 (2) La Plaza: Conversations with Ilan Stavans: Francisco Goldman. A interview with Boston-born novelist and journalist Goldman (half Guatemalan, half Jewish) about his latest work, The Divine Husband. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Nova: The Wright Brothers’ Flying Machine. Exploding the myth that the Wrights were tinkering bicycle repairmen who invented the airplane. The real story is . . . well, you’ll just have to watch. Plus a look at some flights in a replica Wright Brothers plane. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Live from Lincoln Center: The New York Philharmonic Opening Night Gala. Lorin Maazel leads the NY Phil through the Beethoven Violin Concerto, with Maxim Vengerov, and Dvoˇrák’s Symphony No. 9. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (12) The Amazing Race. The series finale. We haven’t followed too closely, but we do know that we recently lost the twins, Kami and Karli. If they’ve stayed in it, we’re rooting for Chip and Kim, the only likable people anywhere near this show. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (10) Law & Order Special Victims Unit. The season starter. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (44) Indie Select: Streb: Pop Action. A day in rehearsal with New York choreographer Elizabeth Streb, whose productions specialize in seeing how seldom her dancers’ feet can touch the ground. (Until 11 p.m.)

3:00 a.m. (44) P.O.V.: A Panther in Africa. A film about Pete O’Neal, founder of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panthers back in the 1960s, who was framed and convicted on firearms charges in 1970 and has spent the past 30 years in exile in Tanzania (as an American-African??), where he’s continued his life of social activism. (Until 4:30 a.m.)

WEDNESDAY 22

8:000 (44) Bomba: Dancing the Drum. Bomba is an African-rooted traditional Puerto Rican dance form championed for generations by the Cepeda family in New York and on the island. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Flamenco: The Passion of Spanish Dance. A selection of foot-stomping overdramatics from flamenco soloists and troupes. What are they so angry about? (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (4) CSI NY. Another opening of another crime show featuring sci-fi forensic technology. Set in New York and starring Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (7) Law & Order. The original; the season opener. No major cast changes that we’ve heard of, but we fear curiosity is going to drive many L&O-saturated viewers over to CSI NY. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (44) P.O.V.: American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai’i. A look at the hula explosion in the mainland states (where most Native Hawaiians now live). More than a fun way to greet tourists, hula is actually a deeply spiritual part of the ancient Island culture. (Until 11 p.m.)

THURSDAY 23

9:00 (2) Wide Angle: Most of the News That’s Fit To Print. A report on Shargh, a not-stupid independent newspaper in Iran and the target of serious censorship. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (10) E.R. The season opener. Hasn’t everybody in the cast died by now? (Until 11 p.m.)

5:00 a.m. (44) Soundstage. If you thought Russell Crowe was a little hard to take as an actor, try him as a pop singer. Crowe returns to his first love (music, we’re assured) with a band called 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. Plus, he does duets with Kris Kristofferson. (Until 6 a.m.)