BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 20

10:00 a.m. (6, 10, 12) Black Thursday. Unless we do a last-minute recount, that bastard idiot Bush will be sworn into office this morning. (Until the revolution comes.)

8:00 (2) Queen Victoria’s Empire: The Moral Crusade. The crusade in question was the colonization of Africa — spurred by the exploits of Stanley and Livingstone and the debates of Disraeli and Gladstone. (Until 9 p.m.)

FRIDAY 21

10:00 (44) Nova: The Crash of Flight 111. In case you forgot, that was a Swissair flight that went down near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, in 1998. This Nova follows the four-year/$39 million investigation by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board into the disaster, which claimed 229 lives. To be repeated tonight at 3 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 11 p.m.)

SATURDAY 22

1:30 (12) Basketball. LSU versus Kentucky, followed by Texas versus Oklahoma or California versus UCLA.

8:00 (44) The Great White Hope (movie). The 1970 film from the Broadway play based on the life and plight of African-American boxer Jack Johnson — played as Jack Jefferson here by James Earl Jones, who brought Jane Alexander with him from the stage production for this, his screen debut. (Until 9:43 p.m.)

9:43 (44) The Birdman of Alcatraz (movie). Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, and Thelma Ritter star in John Frankenheimer’s 1962 thinker about prisoner Robert Stroud, who spent his cell time becoming a world’s expert on birds. Look for a young Telly Savalas in there somewhere. (Until 12:12 a.m.)

11:00 (2) Soundstage. Featuring music from Cyndi Lauper. (Until midnight.)

Midnight (2) Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, parts 1 and 2. Repeated from last week. Ken Burns’s epic treatment of the career of African-American world heavyweight champion Johnson — his fame, his popularity, and his role as an object of racial hatred. To be repeated relentlessly, but most notably on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and at 7 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 4 a.m.)

SUNDAY 23

3:00 (64) Football. The Atlanta Falcons versus the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC conference championship.

6:30 (12) Football. The Pats try again against the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC conference championship. For us, this is a rare treat as much as a loyalties conflict. We consider ourselves privileged to have a conference championship that involves two teams with deserving records. The Any Given Sunday (Saturday) Rule tells us we could as easily have had Colts-Chargers or Jets-Broncos today. But in this atypical season, the two AFC teams with the best records are the ones that have a shot at the Super Bowl. Amazing. As for our personal problems, we were raised in Pittsburgh and have signed all the usual papers pledging lifelong allegiance to the Sons of Rooney. Of course, we live here, and it’s refreshing to see a New England team that isn’t a bunch of sad sacks. So our heart is neither here nor there — but forgive our elation if the Steel Curtain drops on a few Patriot toes.

8:00 (2) Nature: The Real Macaw. That’s a big colorful parrot that screams its way to adulthood with few natural enemies. Why are these feathered wonders endangered? Because people collect them for pets. To be repeated tonight at midnight at 3 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Masterpiece Theatre: Island at War, part one. Just what do you do with the Nazi next door? If you lived in the Channel Islands during World War II, you kind of waved to him over the fence. A personal tale of life under too-close occupation starring James Wilby, Clare Holman, and Philip Glenister. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

11:00 (44) Austin City Limits. Featuring music from Elvis Costello.

MONDAY 24

9:00 (2) The American Experience: The Fight. On June 22, 1938, at Yankee Stadium, symbol of Aryan supremacy Max Schmeling got into the boxing ring with symbol of black America Joe Louis for a fight that transcended sport. This excellent AMX edition delves into the fighters’ backgrounds and personalities to offer a picture less black-and-white than the one the WW2 propagandists promoted. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44, and on Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Foyle’s War, series 2: The Funk Hole. Funky-funky Michael Kitchen plays Inspector Chris Foyle, who polices the small-town home front during World War II while the Blitz rages in London. Tonight, suspicious activities lead Foyle to a residential hotel (the aforementioned "funk hole") that turns out to be a hotbed of the unpatriotic. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

2:00 a.m. (2) Nature: Animals Behaving Badly. Well, defensively, at least. Since humans have been so successful at pushing the animal kingdom out of our way, it’s left to the few, the proud, the rodent-like to fight back. A look at how certain unexpected species are gaining yardage.

TUESDAY 25

7:30 (2) La Plaza: Olga Román in Concert. Spanish singer Román does Brazilian jazz, bossa nova, and samba with backing from Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Nova: Nova ScienceNow. A new Nova subspecies with ABC’s Robert Krulwich (Nightline) hosting a magazine-format collection of science-news tidbits. Tonight’s stuff includes diagnostic genetic breakthroughs, hydrogen-powered cars, and new hope for old organs. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 and 3 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (44) Globe Trekker: Tuscany. Trekker Megan McCormick heads for Florence and its Duomo before making side trips to Siena for the Palio, the world’s most insane horse race, Pisa for the Leaning Tower, and the fields of Tuscany for lots of wine. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: Al Qaeda’s New Front. Not that we can count on al-Qaeda’s having abandoned its old front entirely, but it does seem that the mindless terrorist action has shifted to Europe, now home to so many Muslims that overseas wags have taken to calling it Eurabia. (Until 10 p.m.)

4:00 a.m. (44) Independent Lens: Power Trip. What happens when a good ol’ capitalist investment group buys up a defunct power plant in the defunct former Soviet Republic of Georgia? International sparks fly. As soon as the Americans got a look at the non-standardized wall sockets, it was all downhill. (Until 5:30 a.m.)

WEDNESDAY 26

9:00 (2) Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State: Factories of Death and Corruption. Linda Ellerbee returns with another pair of documentaries offering a "chronological portrait of history’s greatest mechanized mass-murder site." The first hour takes a wide view of the Nazi genocide plot throughout Europe and points out that camp commanders enthusiastically shared their extermination techniques. The second hour deals with the dark side of the dark side — how Auschwitz managed to be both a death camp and a concentration (work) camp and turn a profit. Once again, you morons who deny that the Holocaust happened might have your faith in Good Germans shaken a bit by this one. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44 (Until 11 p.m.)

THURSDAY 27

8:00 (2) Queen Victoria’s Empire: The Scramble for Africa. General Charles Gordon becomes an Imperialist Martyr over the Suez Canal and Queen Vic celebrates her Diamond Jubilee with real diamonds from South Africa, where Cecil Rhodes oversteps his bounds. All of which end up in the Boer War, a re-assessment of British foreign policy, and the end of Victoria’s long reign. (Until 9 p.m.)

10:00 (44) The Natural History of the Chicken. Actually, it’s more of a Chicken Novelty and Freak Show approach. And worth every second of it. This is the second week in a row this has been on, and we’re almost hoping it will replace Fiesta in the Sky as the most-frequently-shown fill-in program on WGBH. Because even on a dull week (football excepted), a ’GBH filler show lets us fill space by making up a story! How about an excerpt from the classic "Gilfaethwy the Intrepid But Basically Unpronounceable Gets the Blues"? Gilfaethwy sat alone in a desolate field, his head in his hands, dreaming about chicken. Suddenly, a vision of youth and beauty strolled by in the form of Becca the Winsome Blonde and Li’le Bran-Bran, the two of them now thick as thieves. "We want the hot-air balloon back," whined Li’le Bran-Bran. "Indeed, we are entitled to it," stated the more mature (and winsome not to mention demanding) Becca. "Oh, pray leave me the hell alone," groaned Gilfaethwy the Intrepid But Basically Unpronounceable. "The balloon broke. Otherwise we’d all be off for a full-course chicken feast." "Ah ha!" exclaimed Becca the Winsome Blonde. "I know who to call. We must drag the broken balloon up hill and down dale to Dr. Wirth, Healer of All Things Who Can Do No Wrong."

And so was it decided. Working together, Li’le Bran-Bran, Becca, and the disconsolate Gilfaethwy dragged the torn and tattered conveyance up one hill and down one dale to a repair shop bearing the sign "Wirth a Stop if It’s Worth Repairing; We Fix Anything Except Prize Fights." After considerable haggling, it was agreed that the balloon could be made air-worthy in exchange for a chicken dinner. "Now are you happy?" asked Becca the Winsome Blonde. "Yeah, now?" chimed in Li’le Bran-Bran as the four of them took off for the KFC (Knights Fried Chicken). "Only if there’s gravy," mumbled Gilfaethwy the Intrepid But Basically Unpronounceable. Clearly, the women had not gotten to the root of our hero’s discontent.