BY CLIF GARBODEN

FRIDAY 15

8:00 [64] UNDERCOVER BROTHER | movie | Eddie Griffin takes the title role in this 2002 spoof of ’70s-era blacksploitation romps. Fox brags: "World Broadcast Premiere!" A welcome end to months of restless anticipation. | Until 10 pm

9:00 [2] FRONTLINE: PRIVATE WARRIORS | Military enlistment is down. Big shock. So why not turn to mercenaries? Except that in the 21st century, the fight-for-pay people aren’t soldiers of fortune but profiteering corporations such as Halliburton/KBR, Blackwater, Aegis, and the aptly named Custer Battles. These private companies are with our troops in Iraq, running supply lines, overseeing military bases, and beating up civilians. A look at what they do and the price we pay. To be repeated tonight at 1 am. | Until 10 pm

10:00 [2] FRONTLINE: THE SOLDIER’S HEART | First they lie to you and tell you that Iraq attacked the World Trade Center. Then they train you to kill people. Then they put you in a senseless life-threatening environment. Then, assuming you live, they send you home and expect you not to crack up. A look at what (and how little) is being done to meet the psychological needs of returning Iraq war vets. To be repeated tonight at 2 am. | Until 11 pm

SATURDAY 16

1:00 [64] BASEBALL | The Sox versus the New York Yankees.

10:00 [44] PENNY SERENADE | movie | A 1941 George Stevens weeper about a couple — Cary Grant and Irene Dunne — and their adopted kid. | Until midnight.

11:00 [2] SOUNDSTAGE | Repeated from last week. John Mayer and Buddy Guy, part one. | Until midnight.

Midnight [44] SOUNDSTAGE | John Mayer and Buddy Guy, part two. To be repeated on Thursday at 10 pm. | Until 1 am

SUNDAY 17

2:00 [2] COOKING UNDER FIRE MARATHON | All 12 editions of this PBS reality-TV show that pits wanna-be chefs against one another in some sort of cross-country cook-off. Judges are Todd English, Ming Tsai, and author Michael Ruhlman (The Making of a Chef). It’s all pretty professional for a reality show until episode five, when the contestants are forced to eat calves’ brains while suspended upside down from the back of a moving tow truck. (Not really; they just cook.) | Until 8 pm

9:00 [2] MYSTERY!: THE INSPECTOR LYNLEY MYSTERIES: IF WISHES WERE HORSES | An apocalyptic Inspector Lynley mystery in which Lynley discovers that a murder victim was once his wife’s lover, Lynley’s pregnant wife is involved in a car accident, and sidekick Barbara Havers gets shot. Can things get worse for Elizabeth George’s aristocratic detective? To be repeated tonight at midnight, and at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 10:30 pm

9:00 [12] GLEASON | movie | Right, Brad Garrett does remind us of Jackie Gleason. Raymond’s brother Robert stars as the hedonistic egotistical comic in this TV bio-pic that traces Gleason’s life and career and their relation to The Honeymooners. | Until 11 pm

MONDAY 18

9:00 [2] THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: MARY PICKFORD | A fascinating (and bittersweet) profile of spunky and adorable silent-film star and early-Hollywood producer Mary Pickford: her career, her romance with Douglas Fairbanks, and the early days of filmmaking. To be repeated tonight at 2:30 am. | Until 10:30 pm

9:00 [6] 28 DAYS | movie | Sandra Bullock stars as an alcoholic resisting treatment. | Until 11 pm

10:00 [44] P.O.V.: THE FIRE NEXT TIME | A visit to Montana’s Flathead Valley, where rampant development and rising real-estate values coupled with the decline of traditional industries (logging, etc.) led to all-out warfare between long-time locals and environmentalists. It didn’t help when some rabid radio-talk-show host declared war on the environmentalists. | Until 11 pm

TUESDAY 19

7:30 [2] LA PLAZA: CONVERSATIONS WITH ILAN STAVANS: JIMMY SMITS | TV and film star Smits discusses his life and the actors he admires. | Until 8 pm

8:00 [2] NOVA: WELCOME TO MARS | A sequel to last week’s program, which followed the otherworldly adventures of twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity and the tense lives of their engineers down here on Earth. Bottom line: NASA says there was once liquid water on Mars. Armed with this knowledge, we now will be able to . . . ? To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channels 2 and 44, and at 3 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am back on Channel 2. | Until 9 pm

8:00 [44] GLOBE TREKKER: SOUTHEAST CHINA | Trekker Zay Harding visits Mao’s birthplace and traces Chinese history from the Opium War to the Long March to the Cultural Revolution. Plus some hiking and shopping. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] WIDE ANGLE: CEDAR REVOLUTION | A look at Lebanon since the February 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri prompted the expulsion of Syrian troops (who’d occupied Lebanon for almost 30 years) and a move toward true democracy. To be repeated tonight at 2 and 5 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 10 pm

9:00 [44] HISTORY DETECTIVES: ARTHUR SZYK’S EARLIEST CARTOONS | PROFESSOR LOWE’S HOT AIR BALLOON | CHEMICAL-WARFARE MAP | Tonight’s puzzling questions: were these early prints some collector found on-line drawn by political cartoonist Arthur Szyk? Is that piece of fabric labeled a piece of an 1862 aeronautical balloon really a piece of an 1862 aeronautical balloon? Is that World War I battlefield map really a World War I battlefield map? As usual, stupid "mysteries" contrived around interesting artifacts. | Until 10 pm

10:00 [44] GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL: A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SPECIAL: THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS | This three-part series from Jared Diamond’s controversial book of the same name re-creates Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro’s germ-and-steel domination of the Inca in the early 16th century. To be repeated on Wednesday at 3 am and on Thursday at 9 pm, both on Channel 2. | Until 11 pm

WEDNESDAY 20

8:00 [64] SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. The unexpected success of Dancing with the Stars bodes well for this American-Idol-with-feet knockoff. Contestants audition across all dance genres — hip-hop to ballroom to salsa (but probably not clog) — for 12 weeks. | Until 10 pm

9:00 [2] AMERICAN MASTERS: BOB NEWHART: UNBUTTONED | The "unbuttoned" reference harks back to the 1960s, when the droll comic marketed his act as "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart." This show looks at his career from stand-up to TV star. Plus interviews with the comics he inspired. To be repeated at 2 am on Channel 44, and at 5 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 10 pm

10:00 [2] ON STAGE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER: THE 2002 MARK TWAIN PRIZE — BOB NEWHART | The usual all-star tribute. To be repeated tonight at 3 am on Channel 44. | Until 11:30 pm

THURSDAY 21

8:00 [2] THE SPARTANS | A look back to the ancient Peloponnese peninsula and the birth of jock culture. How one thuggish city state turned the philosophy of "If it moves, hit it" into a (regrettable) way of life. | Until 9 pm

10:00 [2] SANDWICHES THAT YOU WILL LIKE | A cross-country tour of local-specialty sandwiches — some of which involve potatoes. | Until 11 pm