TV program notes -- week of Feb. 24

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Here are some television program notes for the week of Feb. 24 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. 24, 8-11:30 p.m. EST (ABC) "80th Annual Academy Awards." Comedian Jon Stewart hosts the presentation of the Oscars for outstanding film achievements at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

Sunday, Feb. 24, 10-11 p.m. EST (EWTN) "Lenten Parish Mission." From the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Ala., Mercy Father William P. Casey, his order's superior general, gives the third in a series of six one-hour talks for Holy Week. Topics covered include the sacraments, the Mass and Marian devotion.

Monday, Feb. 25, 9-10 p.m. EST (History) "Vietnam." A program that explores the images of the Vietnam War not seen beyond the footage of battles, soldiers and jungles. Here are the tunnels, passages and caves that played a vital role in Vietnam's survival, along with the massive CuChi tunnel system, the super-bunkers and secret caves used as shelters. Part of the series "Cities of the Underworld," hosted by Don Wildman.

Monday, Feb. 25, 9-10 p.m. EST (PBS) "Buffalo Bill." Documentary about William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, whose legendary exploits helped create the myth of the American West. Born in an Iowa log cabin in 1846, he fought Indians, worked as a Pony Express rider and earned his nickname while hunting buffalo to feed the construction crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. After the Civil War, he scouted for the Army along America's vast Western frontier. In 1883, just as that frontier was disappearing, he transformed himself into a master showman, creating and starring in a world-famous traveling show that brought the "real" Wild West to life. Though Cody made a fortune from the show's success, he was nearly bankrupt when he died in 1917. This program, an "American Experience" presentation, draws upon archival materials of the period to explore the man behind the legend. Richard Ben Cramer narrates (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 8-9 p.m. EST (PBS) "The Four Winged Dinosaur." A look at the mysterious feathered dinosaurs that are challenging old ideas about the origin of bird flight. A presentation of "Nova" (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 9-10 p.m. EST (PBS) "Putin's Plan." Documentary examining the state of democracy in Russia on the eve of the March 2 presidential election. As Putin names his successor, silences opposition media and maneuvers to maintain influence, correspondent Victoria Gamburg finds Russians wondering what Putin's plan for the future really is. The program is a "Frontline/World" presentation.

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 10-11 p.m. EST (NBC) "Quarterlife." Well-written but morally problematic new drama series about three young roommates: aspiring actress and bartender Lisa (Maite Schwartz), anxiety-prone Debra (Michelle Lombardo), reluctantly working in her father's appliance store, and women's magazine editorial assistant Dylan (Bitsie Tulloch). Would-be writer Dylan launches a blog that reveals the roommates' complicated personal lives, which are intertwined with those of the boys next door, filmmakers Danny (David Walton) and Jed (Scott M. Foster). The latest offering from Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the creators of "thirtysomething," the program is remarkable for being the first Internet series to be picked up by a major network. Predictably for this genre, the overlapping love triangles are so complex as to recall high school geometry class. The reasonably engaging characters share a loose attitude toward sexual matters, and the pilot contains a somewhat irreverent allusion to confession (future episodes Sundays, 9-10 p.m. EST).

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 10-11:40 p.m. EST (HBO) "The Gates." Documentary director Albert Maysles profiles how in 1979, the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude approached New York City officials with a proposal to create a temporary, large-scale work of art in Central Park, the city turned them down, but 24 years and several administrations later, following dozens of high-concept, high-profile works of landscape art in numerous urban and rural locations around the globe, they finally got the city's approval to complete their vision.

Various dates and times (check local listings) (PBS) "Learning From the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving & Learning." In front of a studio audience, psychotherapist and author Dr. Dan Gottlieb explores what it means to be human in today's society. Pre-taped segments are interspersed with historian Gerda Weissman Klein, a Holocaust survivor; active mother Andrea Collins Smith, who has stage-four breast cancer; and a group of highly pressured teens to examine modern society's obsession with achievement at the expense of happiness. Himself the victim of a car accident that left him a quadriplegic, Gottlieb further draws on his personal experience to highlight the human need for silence and serenity.

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