August 5, 2005: Standard Oil vs. The Dinosaurs—7:05 pm
Today on cable
12/17/98

The spacecapades of a musician-surgeon. An actor plans to capture the Clampett millions by passing himself off as kin to Davy Crockett. Their pursuit begins in Dallas and leads to the Antarctic, where lingering questions are resolved while others are posed. Doug's obsession with his new video game keeps him from doing his homework; later, he finds a lucky hat that Roger schemes to get his hands on. Curtis refuses to testify to the internal-affairs investigators that he saw the deceased reaching for a gun. Cult classic about a suicidal young man and a vivacious elderly woman. And the news, once broken, is devastating to Marge. Ross has an unusual growth. In order to pursue his dreams, Vincent masquerades as a "Valid" by purchasing genetic material from a man left paralyzed after an accident, and he lands a job with the Gattaca space corporation—where he catches the eye of an attractive co-worker. The kids think Santa forgot them when Didi and Stu decorate their house for Christmas—in August. In Arizona's Sonora Desert, Nye studies indigenous plants and animals. But when a snowslide buries their cabin, it's Tamera who shows nerves of steel. A Polish rabbi allies with an outlaw en route to California in 1850. Mike and Gloria are convinced that Archie has run away with an attractive secretary. A look at tornadoes caught on videotape. Borge's signature humor at the piano bench and with the orchestra. Potter puts bellyachers B.J. and Hawkeye in charge of morale. A thumbnail history of the sect and a profile of its leader. Roberts is less than convincing as a cub reporter (arriving at a train wreck in short skirt and high heels) who runs afoul of veteran columnist Nolte—first by rebuffing his romantic advances, then by scooping him on the suspicious wreck. A look at the honey badger, or ratel, a skunk-like mammal noted for its ferocity; a honey badger attacking an African honeybee nest.

Ron Henry