TV program notes -- week of Nov. 4

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Here are some television program notes for the week of Nov. 4 with their TV Parental Guidelines ratings if available. They have not been reviewed and therefore are not necessarily recommended by the Office for Film & Broadcasting.

Sunday, Nov. 4, 10-11 p.m. EST (EWTN) "Wisdom of the Saints." Jesus calls his followers to be "perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." Author Ralph Martin joins host Franciscan Father Michael Scanlan and panelists Regis Martin and Scott Hahn of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, to discuss the universal call to holiness and what the saints can teach us about overcoming sin, the necessity of prayer, godly friendships and other means of growing closer to God.

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 8-9 p.m. EST (PBS) "Sputnik Declassified." The world changed 50 years ago, on Oct. 4, 1957, when the U.S. public heard the shocking news that the Soviet Union had successfully launched the first satellite, Sputnik I. Why didn't the U.S. beat the Soviets in this first crucial round of the space race? This "Nova" installment gives the behind-the-scenes story of the politics and personalities that collided over the earliest efforts to get America into space, long before the founding of NASA, and the previously untold story of the technological and political missteps that made the U.S. lose out to the Soviets (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 9-11 p.m. EST (PBS) "Extraordinary Rendition." An investigation into the CIA's controversial practice of kidnapping terror suspects for interrogation, often in countries where torture is common. As members of a CIA snatch team face trial in Italy for a kidnapping in Milan, "Frontline/World" correspondent Stephen Grey -- the reporter who first tracked the CIA's rendition flights around the world -- travels to sites in Europe and Africa, and ultimately to Washington, to uncover the hidden truth about one of the darkest realities of the war on terror.

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 10-11 p.m. EST (PBS) "Red White Black & Blue." On June 7, 1942, 3,000 Japanese troops invaded Alaska, the only invasion of American soil since the War of 1812. Sixty years later, two U.S. soldiers who fought on the remote Aleutian island of Attu embark on a journey back to one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, where they relive the brutal 19-day combat that the American government kept secret (TV-14 -- parents strongly cautioned).

Thursday, Nov. 8, 9-10:30 p.m. EST (HBO) "The Deal." Michael Sheen and David Morrissey star in a dramatization of the alleged secret power pact between British politicians Tony Blair and Gordon Brown that anchored them at the center of the British government for more than a decade. The film shows how Blair and Brown formed the heart of England's Labor Party and controlled the country's politics beginning in 1997, becoming known for consulting and supporting each other on many decisions, and how Brown stepped aside so Blair could run for prime minister, in exchange for Blair supporting Brown when the former stepped down.

Thursday, Nov. 8, 10-11 p.m. EST (PBS) "New York Goes to War." This documentary shares the World War II experiences of men and women from the New York metropolitan area through the personal stories of six New Yorkers past and present who represent a broad range of wartime experience: a Puerto Rico-born Brooklynite wounded in Okinawa; his wife; a member of the first African-American tank battalion to see combat; a former radar navigator whose artwork is featured in the program; an Italian-American woman who became a riveter; and a former Marine officer whose letters are read aloud throughout the program (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Friday, Nov. 9, 8-9 p.m. EST (History) "Band of Bloggers." An examination of the unfiltered and raw evolution of military blogs and bloggers in the midst of modern day combat and conflict. The program profiles soldiers who maintained a blog during their recent deployments in Iraq. These soldiers reflect on the important connection they had with their blogging and how the band of military bloggers, as a whole, has revolutionized the way we understand combat.

Friday, Nov. 9, 9-11 p.m. EST (Discovery) "Bear's Mission Everest." In May 2007, Bear Grylls returned to the Himalayas with paramotoring expert and friend Gilo Cardozo. Piloting a groundbreaking paramotor -- a paraglider with a motor -- engineered by Cardozo, they set out to take solo aviation to a previously uncharted level by attempting to fly above Mount Everest (TV-PG/V -- parental guidance suggested/moderate violence).

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