BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 5

8:00 [2] WALKING THE BIBLE: FROM CREATION TO ABRAHAM | A TV series based on Bruce Feiler’s book Walking the Bible, in which he recounts his travels through 10 countries to track down the people and places of the Bible texts. Tagging along is Biblical archaeologist Avner Goren. Tonight the two wander into Jerusalem, where hands-on evidence is hard to Þnd. To be repeated tonight at 2 am | Until 9 pm

FRIDAY 6

8:00 [44] NOVA: THE MUMMY WHO WOULD BE KING | Repeated from last week. Ramses I, or what’s left of the old boy, may well have been languishing on a dusty shelf at a Niagara Falls museum since looters lifted his dried remains from the 13th-century-BC ruler’s tomb way back when such looting was fashionable. Arch¾ologists from Emory University in Atlanta use all the CSI tools and tricks to investigate the possibility. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] WORLD’S GREATEST FAIR | If you actually had met Esther and Tootie Smith in St. Louis back in 1904, they would have taken you to the World’s Fair — home of the largest (ever!) Ferris Wheel (2000 riders), the latest in turn-of-that-century technology, electric lighting by Tom Edison himself, and an autograph booth where you could meet Geronimo. And lots more. St. Louis celebs (Ossie Smith, Stan Musial) read Þrst-hand accounts of the extravaganza. To be repeated immediately (for reasons unclear) at 10 pm. | Until 10 pm

SATURDAY 7

Noon [12] BASKETBALL | Two NCAA women’s games: Rutgers versus Michigan followed at 2 pm by UConn versus Tennessee. And that’s followed, at 4 pm, by men’s college hoops, LSU versus UConn.

4:30 [6] FOOTBALL | The Washington Redskins versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Þrst-round NFC playoff game.

8:00 [12] ENOUGH | movie | Surprise: this shallow drama about an abused wife (Jennifer Lopez) who learns to Þght back was directed by Michael Apted, who did the Seven Up/28 Up/etc. documentary series. | Until 10 pm

8:00 [6] FOOTBALL | The Jacksonville Jaguars versus the Pats in a Þrst-round AFC playoff game.

8:00 [44] FIDDLER ON THE ROOF | movie | Director Norman Jewison’s 1971 Þlm version of the 1964 Broadway musical taken from Sholom Aleichem’s 1949 tales of a pre-revolutionary Ukrainian-Jewish milkman named Tevye confronting the large and small realities of shtetl life, from weddings to pogroms. Starring (Chaim) Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, and Molly Picon. Lots of music we’ve heard too often already. | Until 11 pm

10:30 [2] NEW TRICKS | This is a British TV series— Þrst aired on the BBC in 2003 — about a team of retired police detectives brought back from pasture to tackle unsolved cases. No episode title has been provided, so we’re going to guess this is the pilot show, which centers on the release of a man after 20 years in prison for a murder he claims he didn’t commit. The gimmick here is that the old cops have to confront modern police rules and techniques. | Until 10:30 pm

10:30 [2] COUPLING: FLUSHED | Well, they promised us "a new season of Coupling," and here’s Coupling, but "Flushed" is the Þrst episode (Steve tries to dump Jane) from the 2000 BBC season. In the past, WGBH has treated us to the Þrst three seasons of this "young-and-happening" Brit-com. There is a fourth season — mostly dealing with Susan’s pregnancy — that has aired overseas but not in Boston. Perhaps ’GBH will show us that eventually. Perhaps . . . perhaps . . . perhaps. | Until 11 pm

11:00 [2] SOUNDSTAGE | Music from Lisa Marie Presley and Peter Wolf. | Until midnight.you’re sick of Hilary Duff or 2:05 am

SUNDAY 8

1:00 [64] FOOTBALL | The Carolina Panthers versus the New York Giants in a Þrst-round NFC playoff game.

1:30 [12] BASKETBALL | Michigan State versus Wisconsin.

4:30 [12] FOOTBALL | The Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Cincinnati Bengals in a Þrst-round AFC playoff game.

9:00 [2] MASTERPIECE THEATRE: HENRY VIII | part one | A grim but colorful retelling of the life of the wife-abusing 16th-century British monarch. The cast makes it worthwhile, with Ray Winstone as Henry, Helena Bonham Carter as Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I’s mum), Emilia Fox as Jane Seymour, David Suchet as Cardinal Wolsey, and Charles Dance as Buckingham. Tonight, Hank dispatches Catherine of Aragon and daughter Mary and then Anne before hooking up with Jane. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44, and on Monday at 8 pm on Channel 2. | Until 10:30 pm

10:30 [2] MYSTERY: MALICE AFORETHOUGHT | part one | Ben Miller stars as the would-be killer in this adaptation of a classic 1941 murder tale by Francis Iles. A doctor can’t abide his wife, but his best girl won’t marry a divorced man. Could a well-placed murder solve his problem? | Until midnight

MONDAY 9

9:00 [2] FRONTLINE: COUNTRY BOYS | part one | The kickoff for David Sutherland’s much-publicized documentary about two boys coming of age in rural Kentucky. Chris Johnson and Cody Perkins both have backgrounds of poverty and dysfunction, and both end up in a special school for troubled youth. Sutherland (who, we warn you, is the Þlmmaker who gave us the seemingly endless The Farmer’s Wife) followed these kids for four years, from age 15 to age 18. Tonight we meet the products of a peculiar American environment that shares more identity with the Third World than with the US we usually see on TV. 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] EMILY’S REASONS WHY NOT | They even have billboards for this new series. Heather Graham (Roller Girl in Boogie Nights) comes to TV as a successful woman who can’t find the right guy. Apparently an ensemble comedy with guest stars. | Until 9:30 pm

9:30 [44] MASTERPIECE THEATRE: THE VIRGIN QUEEN | part one | A truly excellent drama — well written, beautifully cast, well acted, historically fascinating, and totally engrossing. In this we learn the fate of Liz, daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, who’s played, teenie queenie through elder stateswoman, by Anne-Marie Duff. Part two will air next week, same time, same station. To be repeated tonight at 2 am on Channel 2. | Until 11:30 pm

TUESDAY 10

7:30 [2] LA PLAZA: CONVERSATIONS WITH ILAN STAVANS — JULIA ALVAREZ | A chat with the author of In the Time of the Butterßies, the story of a group of sisters Þghting against the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. | Until 8 pm

8:00 [44] GLOBE TREKKER: PACIFIC NORTHWEST | Trekker Sami Sabiti explores Washington and Oregon, home of Jimi Hendrix, the Space Needle, Mount Hood, too much coffee, and a whole lot of wilderness. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] FRONTLINE: COUNTRY BOYS | part two | In which the boys encounter typical high-school crap like minimum-wage jobs, alcoholic parents, drugs, expulsion, academic failure, and girls. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 11 pm

WEDNESDAY 11

8:00 [44] WALKING THE BIBLE: THE COAT OF MANY COLORS, THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT | Bruce Feiler continues his travels through 10 countries to track down the people and places of the Bible texts. Tonight he follows Joseph into Egypt — all the way to the Valley of the Kings. To be repeated on Thursday at 8 pm on Channel 2. | Until 9 pm

9:00 [2] FRONTLINE: COUNTRY BOYS | part three | Now we Þnd Chris and Cody in their senior years at high school. Chris keeps trying and bombing out; Cody seems on his way to a life beyond his upbringing. But you never know. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 11 pm

THURSDAY 12

9:00 [2] RAISING CAIN | It doesn’t take a scientiÞc study to Þgure out that American boys have gotten dumber and more emotionally detached in the past decade, but just in case you trust only science, child psychologist Michael Thompson looks into the matter and comes up with some ideas for "bringing out the best" in young American males. Public schools are heavy promoters of the "girls good; boys bad" credo, and fathers have been slacking off for some time now. But apparently there’s even more to it than that. And there’s got to be a way that parents and educators can give girls the opportunity to excel without punishing the boys just for being alive. | Until 11 pm