BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 7

8:00 (64) Baseball. The Los Angeles Dodgers versus the St. Louis Cardinals in game two of their National League division series.

9:00 (2) Wide Angle: The Saudi Question. Twenty percent of the world’s oil is controlled by a rich but thoroughly non-democratic country. This show looks deep inside the Saudi government and the reform movement that threatens its (profitable) fundamentalist culture. To be repeated tonight at 5 a.m. on Channels 2 and 44. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (6) Life As We Know It. Give this season opener a chance — it was created by the producers who gave us the short-lived Freaks and Geeks, and it’s based on British writer Melvin Burgess’s coming-of-age novel Doing It. Might be a cut above. (Until 10 p.m.)

FRIDAY 8

8:00 (44) Nova: Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies. Not long after the United States became the world’s official Great Satan by dropping atomic bombs on Japan, in 1945, the Soviet Union came up with some big bangs of its own. How did the Soviets get so far so fast? Now it can be told, thanks to a recent code-breaking breakthrough that reveals how they made that great leap forward. (Assuming you can call such a thing progress.) (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (6, 10, 12) Debates 2004. Another chance to hear mealy-mouthed George Bush call John Kerry a flip-flopper. "Nyah, nyah — flip-flopper — flip-flopper." And tell us to stay the course and not change our minds and adjust our strategy. Okay, the guy makes no sense. But we knew that. Exactly how big a noise does one have to make to impress an undecided voter? (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) The American Experience: "RFK: The Garish Sun" and "RFK: The Awful Grace of God." A two-part American Experience production delving into the short, troubled life of Robert F. Kennedy. The first hour looks at RFK’s childhood, his role in the social-scrambling Kennedy clan, and how that assignment changed when his older brother Joe was killed, in 1944, and Bobby became brother John’s support system into the White House. The second hour examines the post-JFK-assassination period, when Bobby got religion and became the most dangerous man in America. An inspiring story, if only for what might have been. To be repeated on Sunday at 3 p.m. on Channel 2. (Until 11 p.m.)

SATURDAY 9

Noon (6) Football. Texas versus Oklahoma.

2:30 (10) Football. Notre Dame versus Stanford.

3:30 (12) Football. Tennessee versus Georgia.

3:30 (5) Football. Probably Wisconsin versus Ohio State.

4:00 (64) Baseball. Divisional-series playoff action.

6:30 (2) Mystery: Death in Holy Orders, part one. Repeated from last week. Martin Shaw steps in (replacing Roy Marsden) as Scotland Yard commander Adam Dalgliesh in this latest adaptation of a novel by P.D. James. This killer yarn is set at a seminary, St. Anselm’s, which is named for the author of the ever-popular ontological proof of the existence of God. A student is found dead; his father insists it wasn’t an accident. Enter Dalgliesh, whose arrival prompts a bloodier murder and reveals a desperate squabble over shutting down the college. (Until 8 p.m.)

7:30 (64) Baseball. More divisional-series playoff action.

8:00 (6) Liar, Liar (movie). Jim Carrey and Maura Tierney star in this broad and obvious 1997 comedy about a slick lawyer who’s magically prevented from telling lies for a day. If only we could drop this curse on a few pols. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:30 (44) A Conversation with Gregory Peck. An excellent interview/profile of actor Gregory Peck, who died in 2003, featuring an in-depth personal look at his sometimes tragic off-screen life, his sustaining, longstanding marriage, and (best of all) a one-man Q&A session with a live audience in which he discusses his roles and his career. (Until 11 p.m.)

SUNDAY 10

1:00 (12) Football. The Pats versus the Miami Dolphins.

4:00 (64) Football. The Carolina Panthers versus the Denver Broncos.

4:30 (44) Masterpiece Theatre: Oliver Twist, part one. Repeated from last week. A three-part story with a Twist, adapted for TV by Alan Bleasdale. Sam Smith plays Oliver, orphan among thieves. With Robert Lindsay as Fagin, Michael Kitchen as Mr. Brownlow, David Ross as Bumble, and Julie Walters as Mrs. Mann. Not a bad version, as these things go. (Until 6:30 p.m.)

7:30 (64) Baseball? If any of the four divisional series is still going (and at least one probably will be), there’ll be a game here.

9:00 (2) Mystery: Death in Holy Orders, part two. According to the press release for this, Dalgliesh’s investigation becomes "claustrophobic." Not sure what that means, but it involves an ancient grudge (the murdered Crampton had sent Father John to jail), a bunch of people who will lose their jobs if St. Anselm’s is shut down, and a glamorous tutor named Emma Levanham. To be repeated tonight at midnight and 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

9:00 (12) While I Was Gone (movie). How compelling can they make a movie sound?! CBS says of this (we presume) TV-movie: "A woman’s peaceful existence is shaken to the core when a friend from her past comes back into her life." Wow! To the core!! What’s more, the cast includes Kirstie Alley, Peter Horton, and Bill Smitrovich. Hey, we’re there. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:45 (44) Indie Select: Pilgrimage into the Past. Following a 70-year-old man as he retraces the steps of a 1945 death march through the Austrian countryside following his release from a WW2 concentration camp. (Until 11:03 p.m.)

11:03 (44) Austin City Limits. Featuring Music from Vince Gill. (Until midnight.)

MONDAY 11

4:00 (64) Baseball? The Houston Astros versus the Atlanta Braves, if they’re still playing.

8:00 (64) Baseball? The Los Angeles Dodgers versus the St. Louis Cardinals, if they’re still playing.

8:00 (44) Frontier House: The American Dream. A repeat of one of those "hands-on history" stunt shows, which here means four families heading West in covered wagons to re-create life in the Montana wilderness. There are the usual unpleasant personality clashes, of course, because the people who edit these shows are never satisfied with simply showing how the participants confront the physical challenges. But as these projects go, this one does have a few likable players who deserve to survive the experience. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) The American Experience: The Transcontinental Railroad. On May 10, 1869, the famous Big Steel Rail between America’s East and West Coasts hooked up at some desolate junction in Utah, and travel and commerce were forever changed in the US. This show examines the six-year effort to create that railroad link — a story of greed and suffering and back-room deals that detracts somewhat from the marvels of the engineering feat. To be repeated tonight at 1 and 4 a.m., and also at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (6) Football. The Tennessee Titans versus the Green Bay Packers.

9:00 (44) Masterpiece Theatre: Oliver Twist, part two. The three-part Dickens adaptation continues with Ollie fallen among thieves. (Until 11 p.m.)

TUESDAY 12

7:30 (2) La Plaza: Conversations with Ilan Stavans: Rubén Martínez. Journalist Martínez discusses his book Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail, the true and tragic story of a family of Mexican brothers killed en route to the strawberry fields for California when the crowded van that carried them overturned. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Nova: The Most Dangerous Woman in America. No, not one of those people on The Apprentice but a historical figure — Mary Mallon, a/k/a/ Typhoid Mary, who was imprisoned on tiny North Brother Island in the East River after being identified as a healthy "carrier" of typhoid. The early days of public-health programs were a bit crude, it seems. To be repeated tonight at 3 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (64) Baseball. American League Championship Series game #1.

8:00 (44) Globe Trekker: Argentina. Trekker Justine Shapiro heads to Iguazu Falls and takes a "train to the clouds." (No kidding: it climbs to 15,000 feet.) Plus, she ends up with a toucan sitting on her head somewhere along the way. Always a good time with Justine. To be repeated on Thursday at 1 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: The Choice 2004. Filmmaker Martin Smith and reporter Nicholas Lemann team up to present no-spin/no-pundit profiles of our current presidential candidates focusing on their backgrounds, heroes, mentors, influences, and such in hope of putting a human face on our choices. Good luck with this truly noble effort to depoliticize (i.e., humanize) the race. To be repeated tonight at 1 and 4 a.m., and also at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44, and on Thursday at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers: Unearthing Secret America. Archæologists don’t just dig up mummies; they operate right here in the US, ferreting out facts about more-recent history. Tonight Alda checks out three finds in Virginia: the Jamestown fort, the slave quarters at Monticello, and the recently discovered Rebel submarine the Hunley. (Until 10 p.m.)

WEDNESDAY 13

8:00 (2) Echoes from the White House. Martin Sheen is, as we all know, our president, so who better to explore the history of the political and personal dramas that have taken place within the walls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A casual history of serious events as retold through letters, diaries, and memoirs of chiefs of state, first ladies, servants, and perhaps Socks the Cat. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (64) Baseball. National League Championship Series game #1 and/or American League Championship Series game #2.

9:00 (6, 10, 12) Debates 2004. Blah blah. Bush is a lying crook and a tool of the oil industry. That’s really all you need to know. He’s glad to have you or anyone in your family die for his cronies’ profits. What’s left to debate? (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Flying Days of Riddle Field. A possibly interesting (though we’re not convinced) look at an airfield in Florida where British cadets trained during World War II. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (44) Okie Noodling. A documentary on the art and science of catching catfish with your bare hands. Could come in handy, we suppose. (Until 11 p.m.)

THURSDAY 14

7:30 (2) Basic Black: A Conversation with Nikki Giovanni. Virginia Tech prof and poet Giovanni discusses her latest collection of verse, Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not-Quite Poems, in which she reflects on everything from terrorism to the environment. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (64) Baseball. National League Championship Series game #2.

10:00 (44) First Lady: Public Expectations, Private Lives. One thing about Hillary Clinton, you never wondered whether she was on drugs. The rest of them all seem a bit . . . well, altered — especially the Republicans. Stockard Channing (Martin Sheen’s First Lady) hosts this exploration into the complexities of the unofficial position occupied by presidential spouses. Included are some poll results revealing what the general public thinks the first lady should and shouldn’t do. (Until 11 p.m.)