BY CLIF GARBODEN

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. It all culminates 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. When first unto this country the chicken came, a feathered stranger among alien eggs, which had clearly preceded it, it was seen as a source of endless comic relief. Silly profile, poor diction, a suspicious aftertaste — what wasn’t to laugh about? But then things got serious, and this priceless documentary took on all aspects of chickenhood with a straight face. Psychic chicks; headless chickens; chickens that died for love; Chechen chickens; Chinese chickens; The Devil at 4 O’Cluck; snap/cackle/pop; bingo-playing chickens who wrote their own fictionalized memoirs (a chicken in every plot); ghost chickens (fine-feathered fiends); chickens on the radio (chicken wireless); how long can we keep this up?; are these getting worse or better?; Indiana Jones and the Chicken of Doom (worse, apparently); beloved childhood chickens (Cluck, the Magic Leghorn); Rooster Cockburn; scratch-and-sniff chickens; Major League chickens (fowl balls); chicken cordon-blew-it; and Our Top Ten Reasons Not To Start a Chicken Joke on an Empty Stomach. Seriously: none of that stuff is true except the bingo and the headless chicken, but this is a great documentary. (Until 11 p.m.)

FRIDAY 28

8:00 (44) Nova: ScienceNOW. Repeated from last week. 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. (Until 9 p.m.)

1:00 (2) Get Down Tonight: The Disco Explosion. Maniacs. Maniacs on the floor. The Whole Catastrophe rehashed by the (and we use the term loosely) original artists. Hosted by K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Frankie Valli, Karen Lynn Gorney (the Saturday Night Fever chick), Denny Terrio, Barry Williams, and Irene Cara. A lot of the action centers on the locations and the artists who contributed to SNF plus some unexpected (as in who would have thought?!?) reunions — Peaches and Herb, funky-music-playin’ Wild Cherry, A Taste of " Boogie Oogie " Honey, Leo Sayer, and more. Plus many classic clips from the fabled Get Down or Get Out Era. No chickens, but there really was a Disco Duck. To be repeated on Saturday at 3 p.m. (Until 3:30 a.m.)

SATURDAY 29

3:30 (12) Basketball. Kentucky versus Arkansas.

5:30 (2) Alone in the Wilderness. Gotta love this guy. A home movie by almost-hermit Richard Proenneke, who left the troubled world behind in 1968 and fashioned a log-cabin home in the Alaskan wilderness. Proenneke is that rare mix of cute and capable that Americans wish they were. Absolutely fascinating. To be repeated tonight at 7:30 on Channel 44. (Until 7 p.m. — we smell fundraising.)

5:30 (44) Great Performances: The Great American Songbook Hosted by Michael Feinstein. Singer/pianist Feinstein doodles his way through America’s pop back catalogue with a little help from rare concert footage and movie-musical clips featuring Lena Horne, Al Jolson, Judy Garland, Dorothy Dandridge, and the Nicholas Brothers. (Until 7:30 p.m.)

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

SUNDAY 30

Noon (2) Magic Moments: The Best of ’50s Pop. Taped at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and hosted by Mary Lou Metzger (from The Lawrence Welk Show), Phyllis McGuire (of McGuire Sisters fame), and Pat " Tutti Frutti " Boone, this concert recalls the possibly supernatural though probably not really magic moments of the pop era that gave us the Four Lads, the Four Aces, the Chordettes, Patti Page, and Gogi Grant. Plus lovingly restored memories of Dean Martin, Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, and Johnny Ray. And at some point, Fess " Davy Crockett " Parker sits in just to prove that the 1950s were genuinely baffling. (Until 2 p.m.)

12:30 (6) Basketball. The Houston Rockets versus the Miami Heat.

1:30 (12) Basketball. Michigan versus Purdue, followed by Connecticut versus Notre Dame or Washington versus Arizona State.

6:00 (2) Great Performances: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s " Cinderella. " A fascinating trip into long-ago live TV. Julie Andrews hosts this 1957 version, in which she took the title role at ages 22. The seams show, but not as much as you’d expect. (Until 8 p.m.)

9:0 (2) Masterpiece Theatre: Island at War, part two. The soapy tale of life on a fictitious Channel island during the Nazi occupation continues. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

9:00 (12) The Magic of Ordinary Days. An unmarried and pregnant woman hooks up with a lonely Colorado farmer during World War II. Kerry Russell, Skeet Ulrich, and Mare Winningham star. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Independent Lens: A Hard Straight. A hard-hitting look at the transforming lives of a dealer, a hustler, and a gangster as they leave the criminal-justice system and try to make it without breaking any laws. (Until 10 p.m.)

11:00 (44) Austin City Limits. Featuring music from the Flaming Lips and the Shins. (Until midnight.)

MONDAY 31

9:00 (2) The American Experience: Fidel Castro. A profile of Uncle Fidel, a little ruler of a tiny island nation worshipped (and suspected) the world over because his revolution actually worked. With lots of interviews with Fidel’s comrades in the revolution that freed Cuba from the twin grips of the CIA and the Mafia. To be repeated tonight at 2 and 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Mystery: The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Series 3: Playing for the Ashes. Nathaniel Parker plays aristocratic police inspector Thomas Lynley opposite Sharon Small’s street-smart sidekick Barbara Havers in this puzzler involving a mysteriously asphyxiated cricket star and his unexpectedly confessional arsonist son. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

TUESDAY 1

7:30 (2) La Plaza: Conversations with Ilan Stavans: Lupe Ontiveros. The star of Real Women Have Curves and Desperate Housewives discusses the limited scope of roles available to Latina actresses. (Ontiveros herself has been cast as a maid 150 times.) (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Nova: Treasures of the Sunken City. Pharos — a/k/a the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria — was built by Alexander the Great some 2000 years ago and, it’s been assumed, was later destroyed by an earthquake. Recent construction projects in Alexandria’s harbor prompted the Egyptian government to dive in and preserve what’s left of the ancient site. 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: Southern Italy. Trekker Justine Shapiro does Rome and Vatican City and then heads out to some rural villages for some miracles and festivals. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m. on Channel 2.

9:00 (2) Frontline: The Secret History of the Credit Card. Did you ever read all that fine print that comes with your credit-card statements? Scary stuff. The banks can pretty much charge you whatever they want to for interest at any time and for any reason. It’s a scam, and people actually covet these instruments of commerce. Frontline looks back at the shady and seedy circumstances that allowed things to get out of control. If you’ve never hated a bank (and, really, what have you been waiting for?) before, you will after you see this show. The only difference between, say, Bank One and Louie the Loan Shark is that Louie breaks your legs whereas Bank One breaks your credit rating. And, yes, they do open their mail late on purpose so you miss your " pay-by " date; and yes, they do pick on poor people. Credit cards are convenient; use them all you want. But if you don’t pay them off every month, you’re an idiot. To be repeated tonight at 5 a.m., and at 2 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44, and on Wednesday at 10 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers: Cars That Think. Picking up where drivers leave off (and affording really busy drivers the luxury of more phone time), cars are being designed to predict accidents and take forfending measures. They can even read your lips. So be careful. To be repeated tonight at 2 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 9:30 p.m.)

WEDNESDAY 2

8:00 (44) Nova: Origins: Earth Is Born and How Life Began. In the beginning, there was a lot less, except that’s impossible, because in a steady-state-style universe, we would have always had to have had the same volume of stuff. But it didn’t always breathe. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State: Murder and Intrigue and Liberation and Revenge. Linda Ellerbee returns with another pair of documentaries offering a " chronological portrait of history’s greatest mechanized mass-murder site. " Tonight’s shows deal with the decline and fall. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m., and at 1 and 4 a.m. on Channel 44. (Until midnight.)

THURSDAY 3

9:00 (2) Broadway: The American Musical: Give My Regards to Broadway (1893–1927) and Syncopated City (1919–1933). This excellent series on the New York musical theater looks at the birth of Broadway and its musical pinnacle during the Jazz Age. (Until midnight.)