TV program notes -- week of Feb. 3

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Here are some television program notes for the week of Feb. 3 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, Feb. 3, 8-9 p.m. EST (PBS) "Unforgettable Elephants." Wildlife cameraman and elephant expert Martyn Colbeck shares his remarkable footage and unique insights about the elephants he's filmed for 15 years. A presentation of "Nature" (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Sunday, Feb. 3, 9-10:30 p.m. EST (PBS) "Miss Austen Regrets." A "Masterpiece" biography of Jane Austen, starring Olivia Williams, Greta Schacchi and Hugh Bonneville, dramatizes Jane Austen's lost loves (TV-G -- general audience).

Sunday, Feb. 3, 10-11 p.m. EST (EWTN) "The Passion of the Lamb." Benedictine Father Thomas Acklin, an author, joins Franciscan Father Michael Scanlan, the host, and panelists Regis Martin and Scott Hahn as they discuss Lent as a journey of becoming intimate with Jesus by opening our wounds and sins to him in his Passion.

Monday, Feb. 4, 8:30-9 p.m. EST (CBS) "Welcome to the Captain." Unremarkable new comedy about inhabitants of a fabled Hollywood apartment building, El Capitan: Josh (Fran Kranz), a Hollywood whiz kid whose filmmaking career has hit a wall; his accountant-to-the-stars best friend, Marty (Chris Klein); "Uncle" Saul (Jeffrey Tambor), a former "Three's Company" writer who is the building's self-proclaimed expert on anything and everything; Charlene (Raquel Welch), a lusty has-been femme fatale; Jesus (pronounced in the biblical manner) (Al Madrigal), a gossipy doorman; and Astrid (Valerie Azlynn), an aspiring young actress. Josh is most taken with the earthy, beautiful Hope (Joanna Garcia), an aspiring acupuncturist. Nicely filmed, and with a personable cast, the series registers as hardly a laugh riot, and at best is mildly pleasant. Nonmarital situations, some sexual references and a bit of crass language.

Monday, Feb. 4, 9-10 p.m. EST (PBS) "Grand Central." Riveting documentary charts the dramatic story of the construction of one of America's greatest architectural and technological monuments: New York City's Grand Central Terminal, from the "American Experience" series. The film is beautifully done, with a wealth of archival photos and footage, and shows how the beautiful 1913 "beaux-arts" structure we know today, designed by Whitney Warren, came about after an outcry over the dangerous earlier structure, a virtual deathtrap, on the same site. Perceptive interviews with historians, engineers and architects (TV-G -- general audience).

Monday, Feb. 4, 10-11 p.m. EST (PBS) "Prince Among Slaves." The forgotten true story of an African prince who was enslaved in Mississippi for 40 years. Mos Def narrates (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 8-9 p.m. EST (PBS) "The Mummy Who Would Be King." Through the wonders of forensic science, the "Nova" series investigates an astounding 3,000-year-old mystery filled with historical intrigue (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 10-11 p.m. EST (EWTN) "Exploring Biblical Jordan." David Nunn visits the ruins of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, all of which are in present-day Turkey. It was to the churches of these cities that St. John was told to address the words of the risen Christ as dictated.

Thursday, Feb. 7, 10-11 p.m. EST (NBC) "Lipstick Jungle." Premiere of a new series based on a Candace Bushnell ("Sex and the City") novel, but of course, less permissive than the HBO cable series. Here, the basic premise is three career-focused girlfriends supporting each other in a "man's world": movie exec Wendy Healy (Brooke Shields), who does everything she can to balance career and family; Nico Reilly (Kim Raver), editor in chief of a hot fashion magazine who has her eye on becoming CEO; and free-spirited designer Victory Ford (Lindsay Price), who longs to make her dreams come true. Also starring are Andrew McCarthy as Joe Bennett, Julian Sands as Hector Matrick, David Alan Basche as Mike Harness, David Norona as Salvador Rosa, Paul Blackthorne as Shane Healy and Robert Buckley as Kirby Atwood. Based on the pilot and first episode screened, the writing and acting are a bit above par for this genre, but still this registers as a standard prime-time soap with mixed values. Moderate sexual content, adultery and some crass language make this adult viewing.

Friday, Feb. 8, 9:30-10:30 p.m. EST (Animal Planet) "Escape to Chimp Eden." A new series looks at a South African sanctuary for chimpanzees rescued from the horrors of human captivity -- physical abuse, malnutrition, abandonment and drug and alcohol abuse. Now, for the first time, these chimps find a community and sanctuary at the hands of conservationist Eugene Cussons, South African rescue director at the Jane Goodall Institute's Chimpanzee Eden. Here, the chimps finally experience safety, nurturing and a loving environment -- all necessary conditions for them to become healthy, rehabilitated primates poised for their return to the wild.

Friday, Feb. 8, 10-11 p.m. EST (PBS) "In Search of Shakespeare." Historian Michael Wood uncovers the dark side of Shakespeare's world (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Saturday, Feb. 9, 8-9:45 p.m. EST (HBO) "Bernard and Doris." The story of tobacco heiress Doris Duke (Susan Sarandon) and her Irish butler, Bernard Lafferty (Ralph Fiennes), who in 1987 arrived at her doorstep, and in six years not only managed to remain employed, but had been granted control over Duke's billion-dollar fortune. This dramatization purports to show what might have happened during those in-between years, exploring issues of money, class and sexuality along the way. Directed by Bob Balaban and written by Hugh Costello.

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Saturday, Feb. 9, 9-9:30 p.m. EST (Animal Planet) "Petfinder." Premiere of a new series that sets out to find the right pet fit for prospective owners. This episode focuses on newly engaged Divinity and Greg as they try to reconcile their differing tastes in canines.

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