BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 22

8:00 [2] IN SEARCH OF SHAKESPEARE: FOR ALL TIME | Historian Michael Wood traces the Bard’s career through the reign of James I and the Gunpowder Plot, which may have inspired Macbeth. The series ends with a look at Will’s will and the odd things he left to Anne Hathaway. | Until 9 pm

FRIDAY 23

9:00 [44] NOVA: THE VIKING DECEPTION | This is the kind of topic The History Detectives wishes it had, just once. We all know the Vikings came to North America centuries before Columbus sailed, but proving it has been tough. One of the better bits of evidence has been an old Norse map of the East Coast. Using experts around the world, this show suggests the thing is a fake. Must have been the AAA logo in the corner of the parchment. To be repeated tonight at 2 am on Channel 2. | Until 10 pm

10:00 [2] ART IN THE 21ST CENTURY: MEMORY | A new series of contemporary-artist profiles arranged by theme. Tonight’s show features four artists — Susan Rothenberg, Mike Kelly, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Josiah McElheny — who look to, draw from, comment upon, and critique the past. Isabella Rossellini hosts. To be repeated tonight at 5 am on Channel 44. | Until 11 pm

SATURDAY 24

NOON [6] FOOTBALL | East Carolina versus West Virginia, or Louisville versus South Florida.

3:30 [12] FOOTBALL | The SEC game of the week.

3:30 [6] FOOTBALL | Notre Dame versus Washington.

5:30 [44] MRS. MINIVER | movie | If the upper lips of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon were any stiffer in this 1942 WW2 drama, they wouldn’t be able to brush their teeth. A charming, corny, and cliché-ridden propaganda movie designed to ease the popular US consciousness into the European war. | Until 8 pm

6:00 [2] THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN | movie | Repeated from last week. A truly moving 1974 TV-movie starring Cicely Tyson as a 110-year-old Southern black woman who survives from slavery to the civil-rights movement. From a novel by Ernest J. Gaines, and the winner of nine Emmys. Queen Latifah hosts. Make the kids watch. | Until 8 pm

8:00 [6] CATCH ME IF YOU CAN | movie | Steven Spielberg’s 2002 light-thriller stars Leonardo DiCaprio as master impostor Frank Abagnale Jr., who spends the movie being something he’s not and evading the FBI. With Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, and Martin Sheen. | Until 11:08 pm

8:00 [44] BLACK TIGHTS | movie | A 1960 French movie narrated by Maurice Chevalier and featuring four works choreographed by Roland Petit, with Zizi Jeanmaire and Petit dancing Carmen, Moira Shearer as Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac, and Cyd Charisse (and Petit) in A Merry Morning. A rare production and opportunity. | Until 1:05 pm

10:05 [44] FARGO | movie | The Coen brothers’ 1996 masterpiece, the point of which is that it’s cold and peculiar in North Dakota. William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, and the unforgettable Frances McDormand star. (Yes, they really talk that way.) Plus a cameo by José Feliciano. You couldn’t ask for better performances. | Until 11:35 pm

SUNDAY 25

1:00 [12] FOOTBALL | The Jacksonville Jaguars versus the New York Jets.

1:00 [64] FOOTBALL | The Carolina Panthers verses the Miami Dolphins.

4:00 [12] FOOTBALL | The Pats versus the Pittsburgh Steelers.

6:00 [2] LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER | Lang Lang performs Chopin’s First Piano Concerto with Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic, then sits back and watches as they do Mahler’s First Symphony. To be repeated tonight at midnight. | Until 8 pm

9:00 [2] MYSTERY!: FOYLE’S WAR, SERIES THREE: THEY FOUGHT IN THE FIELDS | Michael Kitchen continues to solve homefront mysteries in the face of World War II. Tonight he butts heads with a murdered farmer, a lost love, and a downed German plane. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 10:30 pm

9:00 [12] MARTHA BEHIND BARS | movie | Cybill Shepherd stars as Martha Stewart in this TV-movie about the events that sent her to the Big House. More of the reconstructed-Martha campaign. | Until 11 pm

9:00 [44] P.O.V.: HIDING AND SEEKING: FAITH AND TOLERANCE AfTER THE HOLOCAUST | In which a man takes his children to Poland to meet the family that hid their grandfather from the Nazis. | Until 10:30 pm

MONDAY 26

9:00 [2] AMERICAN MASTERS: BOB DYLAN: NO DIRECTION HOME | part one | We’ve endured a summer’s worth of relentless promos for this, so it better be the best profile documentary ever made. Of course, it would have to be to do the man justice. However odd he may be, Bob Dylan was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century — and not just in terms of music. Produced by Martin Scorsese, and featuring interviews with Bob. More tomorrow starting at 9 pm. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 11 pm

9:00 [6] FOOTBALL | The Kansas City Chiefs versus the Denver Broncos.

TUESDAY 27

8:00 [2] NOVA: ICE MUMMIES: FROZEN IN HEAVEN | Actually, frozen in the Andes. Archæologists look for the remains of children sacrificed to some Inca god a long time ago. To be repeated tonight at 3 am on Channel 44. | Until 9 pm

8:00 [44] GLOBE TREKKER: MOZAMBIQUE | Sounds like a fun time for Trekker Ian Wright, whose tour of post-civil-war Mozambique includes a visit with artists trying to heal old wounds, people dealing with the country’s legacy of land mines, Africa’s biggest coconut plantation, and a look at the local AIDS epidemic. Call your travel agent today for low fares. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 2. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] AMERICAN MASTERS: BOB DYLAN: NO DIRECTION HOME | part two | The conclusion — or at least the conclusion of his early years in the Village, which are the limits of this documentary. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 11 pm

WEDNESDAY 28

8:00 [2] THE BEST OF THE BEATLES | Before there was Ringo Starr, there was Pete Best drumming with the Fab Four. Pete got messed up and left the band in 1962, just before they started taking over the music industry. Now he gets to tell his version of the story. The early days of the Beatles through the jilted drummer’s eyes. To be repeated tonight at 3 am on Channel 44. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] GET UP, STAND UP: THE STORY OF POP AND PROTEST | The history of protest music from Joe Hill to the present, focusing on the tunes that spurred the union movement, the civil-rights movement, the anti-war movement, and more. Featuring Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Woody Guthrie, James Brown, the Ramones, Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger, Nina Simone, and Sly Stone. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 11 pm

THURSDAY 29

8:30 [10] WILL & GRACE | The season opener. | Until 9 pm.

9:00 [2] THE ’60S: THE YEARS THAT SHAPED A GENERATION | PBS is out to cement its relationship with baby-boomers just as they become old folk. (Retired people give money to worthy causes.) Still, this documentary on the social, cultural, and political upheavals of the late 1960s could be educational for those of you who missed it in real time. Allow an old boomer to sum it up. There were a lot of us, and we were better educated than any generation before or since. We grew up being taught very strict values of righteousness and fair play. We also grew up under the constant threat of nuclear annihilation, and by 1966, we were fed up with being lied to. To paraphrase Abby Hoffman: we became many things, but we were right, and we apologize for nothing. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 11 pm