BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 24

8:00 (2) The Roman Empire in the First Century: Years of Eruption. Not Vesuvius, as the title might lead you to think, but the spread of the Empire under Emperor Trajan. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Masterpiece Theatre: The Lost Prince, part one. An encore presentation of Stephen Poliakoff’s look at the youngest child of George V and Mary, brother to Edward VIII (the one who abdicated) and George VI (Elizabeth II’s father) but hidden away from the world because he was epileptic and had a learning disability. Definitely worth catching if you missed it first time around. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m., and on Saturday at midnight, and on Sunday at noon on Channel 44. (Until 11 p.m.)

10:00 (44) The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World. Repeated from last week. Most of us remember the Globetrotters as good-humored basketball artists who’d tour the world beating the Washington Generals, but back in 1948, when it was for real, they defeated the then world champion Minneapolis Lakers (yes, that’s where they moved to LA from) and let the NBA know it needed to let the black guys in. To be repeated on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. and again at 3 a.m., both times on Channel 2. (Until 11 p.m.)

FRIDAY 25

8:00 (44) Nova: A Daring Flight. Repeated from last week. That would be the one undertaken by French aviator Louis Blériot, who just six years after Kitty Hawk took off from Calais and crossed the English Channel. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m. on Channel 2, and on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. on Channel 44, and at 2 a.m. on Channels 2 and 44, and at 5 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 9 p.m.)

SATURDAY 26

1:30 (12) Basketball. Kentucky versus Alabama followed by UConn versus Pittsburgh.

8:00 (6) Forrest Gump (movie). As it ages, this oblique 1994 movie starring Ton Hanks as a misfit fool with wise pretensions is being thought of as eccentric more than rudderless and irritating. What can we say? People like Tom Hanks and seem perfectly happy watching him fumble through life as long as he keeps the Nazis off Private Ryan’s ass. (Until 11 p.m.)

8:00 (44) Desk Set (movie).The perfect office intrigue with the perfectly intriguing office cast — Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Gig Young, Joan Blondell, and Dina Merrill. Cliques clash over computerization. From 1957. (Until 9:45 p.m.)

9:45 (44) Broadcast News (movie). William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, and "Sparks will fly!" Will and Al are TV anchors; Holly is a TV–news producer. Combined IQ = that of nearby carpeting. From 1987. (Until 11:25.)

11:00 (2) Soundstage. Featuring music from Dan Fogelberg. (Until midnight.)

SUNDAY 27

Noon (12) Basketball. Michigan State versus Indiana followed by UCLA versus Notre Dame or Florida versus South Carolina and then Oklahoma State versus Kansas.

4:30 (2) Independent Lens: February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four. Repeated from last week. That would be the four black college freshmen who on February 1, 1960, tried to sit down at the same lunch counter in a North Carolina Woolworth’s. In this special celebrating Black History Month, we learn what’s happened to them since. (Until 5:30 p.m.)

4:30 (44) Touching the Void (movie). Repeated from last week. The 2003 film from Kevin Macdonald that tells how Joe Simpson and Simon Yates climbed a 21,000-foot peak in the Peruvian Andes and how on the descent Simpson fell and shattered his leg and how he survived. Worth a look if you didn’t catch it in theaters. (Until 6 p.m.)

5:30 (2) American Experience: Malcolm X: Make It Plain. Repeated from last week. American Experience marks the 40th anniversary of Malcolm’s assassination in the Audubon Ballroom in New York City with archival footage plus interviews with Maya Angelou, Ossie Davis, Alex Haley, wife Betty Shabazz, and daughter Attallah Shabazz. Alfre Woodard narrates. (Until 8 p.m.)

7:00 (6) Barbara Walters Special. Barbara welcomes Ray’s Ray, Jamie Foxx, plus Will Farrell and Teri Hatcher for the annual pre-Oscar show. (Until 8 p.m.)

7:00 (25) Independence Day (movie). A truly awful movie disguised as a Will Smith movie about an all-out alien invasion and mankind’s lack of inter-species social skills. (Until 10 p.m.)

8:00 (6) Countdown to the Oscars 2005. The relentless drum roll. (Until 8:30 p.m.)

8:30 (6) The 77th Annual Academy Awards. Can Ray out-fly The Aviator? And how many categories does anyone really care about? Chris Rock, hoping at least one straight black man will watch, hosts. (Until 11:30 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Masterpiece Theatre: Goodbye Mr. Chips. Martin Clune stars in a TV adaptation of James Hilton’s novel about a Latin prof (Chippling by name) and the life-long love between himself and generations of students. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m. on Channel 44, and at 4 a.m. on Channels 2 and 44, and on Monday at 1 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 11 p.m.)

9:00 (12) Collateral Damage (movie). Arnold Schwarzenegger, as if to prove he could single-handedly defend an entire state, stars as a firefighter out to get the terrorists who destroyed his family. Offered here as a sacrifice to the rest of the film industry. (Until 11:08 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Independent Lens: On a Roll: Disability and the American Dream. A profile of nationally syndicated radio host Greg Smith — 65 pounds and wheelchair-bound as he travels across the country exposing insensitivity toward the handicapped and inspiring others in his condition to get the most out of life. (Until 10 p.m.)

10:00 (44) One Shot: The Life and Work of Teenie Harris. From the 1930 through the mid 1970s, African-American street photographer Charles Harris photographed black life on the streets of Pittsburgh, and he’s amassed what some are calling the most comprehensive portrait of an American subculture. To be repeated on Tuesday at 5 p.m. (Until 11:00 p.m.)

11:00 (44) Austin City Limits. Featuring music from the Pixies. (Until midnight.)

MONDAY 28

9:00 (2) American Experience: A Brilliant Madness. The story of John Nash, well-known mathematician and schizophrenic who discovered that the ability to see things that aren’t there is as much a curse as a blessing. A compelling (and tragic) biography combined with extensive interviews with the Princeton game theoretician and economic revolutionary. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Mystery! The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries: Speedy Death. Diana Rigg stars as Adele Bradley, whose celebration of her wheelchair-bound goddaughter’s engagement to an explorer named Averred Mountjoy is cut short when Averred winds up dead in the bath. To be repeated tonight at 2 a.m. on Channel 2, and on Tuesday at 1 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10:30 p.m.)

10:00 (2) A Trumpet at the Walls of Jericho: The United Story of Reverend Samuel Harrison. Ozzie Davis narrates this dramatized bio of Samuel Harrison (voiced by Keith David), who after being freed from slavery studied the classics and religion. Also featured are jazz musician Wynton Marsalis and Helga Sandburg (Carl’s daughter), who reads from her father’s book on Lincoln. (Until 11 p.m.)

TUESDAY 1

8:00 (2) Nova: Battle Plan Under Fire. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military dominates the conventional battlefield with as wide margin of advantage as any in military history. But critics say that the shifting character of the battlefield is costing us that high-tech advantage. Strategists argue that the perfecting of smart weapons into super weapons can’t be beat. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m., and at 4 a.m. on Channel 2, and on Wednesday at 1 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 9 p.m.)

8:00 (44) Globe Trekker: Norway. Trekker Ian Wright has probably enjoyed some treks more than this one, which mostly involves using difficult-to-access means of transportation, enjoying an 18-reindeer feast, and harvesting seaweed in an area where there are more polar bears than people. To be repeated on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Frontline: The Soldier’s Heart. Here’s some good news. It’s now estimated that one in seven returning Iraqi–war vets will come home to face some post-traumatic stress reaction, and the VA can’t possibly be ready to provide the necessary services. To be repeated tonight at 2 and 5 a.m., and on Wednesday at 2 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 10 p.m.)

9:00 (44) Alan Alder in Scientific American Frontiers: Hydrogen Hopes. Since we’re running out of all the fun dangerous fuels like Duraflame Logs and plutonium, a lot of scientists are turning to hydrogen as our next-most-friendly combustible. But how can we produce it safely and store it in useful quantities? To be repeated on Wednesday at 4 p.m. (Until 9:30 p.m.)

10:00 (2) Nova: Life and Death in the War Zone. On-the-ground hot-and-dusty realities direct from a combat support hospital in Iraq — including the reality that the most wounded patients are civilians and the enemy. To be repeated tonight at 3 a.m., and on Wednesday at 3 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 11 p.m.)

WEDNESDAY 2

8:00 (44) Lee: Beyond the Battles. A personal look at Robert E. Lee as family man, scholar, and peacemaker. To be repeated tonight at 1 a.m. on Channel 2, and on Thursday at 3 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 9:30 p.m.)

9:00 (2) On Stage at the Kennedy Center: Mark Twain Prize: Lorne Michaels. NBC’s Saturday Night Live — ratings wise — has been the most successful late-night comedy show in TV history. It fed at least two generations of audiences with stars for all occasions and survived some really bad material with a really remarkable reputation. And behind it all, from way back in the mid ’70s when it was an explosion of from-the-heart humor with a mission, creator Lorne Michaels has somehow made it — or perhaps allowed it to — happen. For this, someone deserves a prize. G.E. Smith is on hand to lead the band. Guests with speaking parts include Dan Aykroyd, Candice Bergen, US Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), Tina Fey, Darrell Hammond, Steve Martin, Tim Meadows, US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), Conan O’Brien, Paul Simon, David Spade, and Christopher Walken. To be repeated tonight at 4 a.m. on Channels 2 and 44, and on Thursday at 1 p.m. on Channel 44, and at 2 a.m. on Channel 2. (Until 11 p.m.)

THURSDAY 3

7:30 (2) Basic Black: Conversation with Anita Hill. Host Darren Duarte talks with the woman who shook up Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing about the impact of that nomination and the continuing role of sexual harassment in the military, education, the government, and the workplace. (Until 8 p.m.)

8:00 (2) Cuba Mia: Portrait of an All-Woman Orchestra. A film covering the Camerata Romeu as it prepares to perform classical music from Latin composers at the Basilica of St. Francis in Havana. To be repeated tonight at 10 p.m. on Channel 44. (Until 9 p.m.)

9:00 (2) Masterpiece Theatre: The Lost Prince, part two. The conclusion. See under Thursday the 24th at 9 p.m. (Until 11 p.m.)