Shocking Mini-Series Reveals Disturbing Details About the Growth of al Qaeda, the rise of Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 Attacks
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20
America's Ugliest Living Rooms (TLC, 9 p.m. ET)
Three families in Southern California judged to have living rooms that are among the most hideous in the land
are sent away on vacations while teams of experts descend on their homes and transform the offending spaces into designer showplaces.
Vote for your Favorite Lead Actress in a Drama Series
SUNDAY, AUGUST 21
Six Feet Under (HBO, 9 p.m. ET)
Series Finale. After five seasons of searing melodrama the story of the Fisher family and those unlucky enough to
know them reaches its conclusion. In a curious development even for the dysfunctional Fisher family, they've been treating poor traumatized Brenda like garbage since their beloved Nate died a few episodes ago, even though she is seven months pregnant with Nate's child. They wouldn't even
stand near her at Nate's funeral. Most people would show more compassion toward a pregnant stranger. Even at their most sympathetic these people are freaks. We'll miss them desperately.
The 4400 (USA Network, 9 p.m. ET)
With returnees around the world developing severe illnesses, agents Baldwin and Skouris embark on a desperate search
for a cure — a search that lands them in the center of a new conspiracy (just in time for next week's season finale).
Inside 9/11 (National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m. ET)
Premiere. First of Two Parts. Part One of this must-see documentary miniseries presents the most comprehensive review yet of the long build up to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It is
essential viewing, in that it reveals much information people don't know about events spanning three decades that ultimately led to that world-changing day, with special attention focused on the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the seeming failure of the Clinton and Bush administrations to heed multiple early warnings of and take effective action against the growing
threats posed by al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. It also chronicles the meticulous planning and strategizing by bin Laden and his operatives as they conceived and prepared for the 9/11 attacks, at times in plain sight within the United States. Listen in horror, disbelief and outrage as bin
Laden is interviewed by ABC News reporter John Miller in 1998: "I predict a black day for the United States, a day after which the United States will not be the same as we know it. You will see many Ramzi Yousefs come to your country and carry out such acts." (Yousef was the mastermind behind the 1993 bombing of the Trade Center.) Inside 9/11 concludes tomorrow (Monday, August 22).
MONDAY, AUGUST 22
Tickle U (Cartoon Network, 9 a.m. ET)
Premiere. Cartoon Network today will launch a two-hour weekday program block for pre-school children. Kids are the
target audience, but an onscreen graphic the network refers to as a Mommy Bar will offer a constant flow of information for parents and caregivers who may be watching as well. Among the cartoons featured each morning will be Firehouse Tales, about a group of young fire engines; Gerald McBoing Boing, based on the Dr. Seuss story about a boy who speaks only in sound
effects; and Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, about an imaginative five-year-old boy. The network's overall intent here is to provide humorous entertainment that may stimulate developing young minds (and, perhaps, plant the seeds of network loyalty in future generations of Cartoon Network viewers).
Growing Up Gotti (A&E, 9 p.m. ET)
Season Premiere. Victoria Gotti and the mumble-mouthed Hotti Gottis return for a third season.
Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story (Lifetime, 9 p.m. ET)
Premiere. Jamie Gertz and Ernie Hudson star in the true story of former Texas parole officer Marilyn Gambrell,
who quit her job and, together with a colleague, founded a support group for teenagers of prison inmates at a crime-ravaged Houston high school.
Inside 9/11 (National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m. ET)
Premiere. Second of Two Parts. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York City and the Washington, D.C., area are examined in unprecedented detail in Part Two of this documentary
miniseries, including the boarding by the terrorists of the four commercial airliners they would hijack, the responses of some of the people on those planes and the experiences of workers in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on that fateful morning. The comments by several experts on the
attacks of 9/11 that closes this program are chilling, especially those of Rohan Gunaratna, author of the book Inside Al Qaeda: "Even if bin Laden is killed or captured there is sufficient momentum for the jihad campaign against the west to continue," he warns. "[bin Laden] has galvanized a movement that will certainly outlive him."
The Ultimate Fighter 2 (Spike, 11 p.m. ET)
Season Premiere. Eighteen Mixed Martial Arts fighters live together while periodically beating the stuffing out of
each other as they compete for one of two contracts from the Ultimate Fighter Championship organization. World-renowned UFC champions Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin will train the fighters.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23
Rock Star: INXS (CBS, 10 p.m. ET)
Jessica is out and seven rockers remain in the competition to become the new lead singer of veteran rock band INXS.
Real World: Austin (MTV, 10 p.m. ET)
Previews indicate that Danny returns from his heartbreaking trip home to Boston and tries to pick up where he
left off before the sudden death of his mother.
VH1 News Presents: Tracking the Monster: Ashley Judd and India.Arie Confront AIDS in Africa (VH1, 8 p.m. ET)
Premiere. Actress Ashley Judd and singer India.Arie spend two weeks in Nairobi, Kenya and Antanarivo, Madagascar,
working alongside local medical personnel and staffers from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, helping people who are suffering from HIV/AIDS and learning more about the dire
conditions under which they live. VH1.com will provide further information about The Global Fund.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24
Brat Camp (ABC, 9 p.m. ET, postponed from an earlier date)
Season Finale. Learn about life
after SageWalk for the troubled kids on this show as its first season concludes.
Over There (FX, 10 p.m. ET)
Former NYPD Blue star Mark-Paul Gosselaar plays an American journalist embedded with the fire team, prompting concerns from the crew that his presence could compromise their safety in battle. Meanwhile,
Bo is fitted with a prosthetic leg and begins physical therapy and Vanessa keeps her miscarriage a secret from Dim.
Megastructures: NORAD (National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m. ET)
Premiere. Built in the early Sixties and created to defend the United States and Canada during the Cold War, and
now a state-of-the-art facility filled with the latest in detection, surveillance and warning technology, the North American Aerospace Defense Command is housed deep inside a mountain in Colorado. It's the largest bilateral military command center in the world, with 15 multi-story buildings and a staff comprised of hundreds of military personnel and civilian employees. This
edition of Megastructures explains how engineers designed and constructed this complex, which can withstand multiple nuclear explosions.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25
Being Bobby Brown (Bravo, 10 p.m. ET)
Season Finale. Summer's most disturbing reality series — the one you can't stop watching once you start — ends its first season tonight. The finale is essentially a recap show that looks at the
making of the series and includes as yet unseen footage from the very unappealing lives of married singers Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston. As with so many other reality programs on television this
summer, watching one episode of Being Bobby Brown can't help but prompt viewers to count their blessings and appreciate their own lives.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
SoapNet Reveals ABC Soap Secrets (ABC, 11 a.m. ET, check local listings; SoapNet, 6 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET)
Premiere. Cameron Mathison of All My Children and Nancy Lee Grahn of General Hospital host an hour of interviews and clips featuring storyline previews from the ABC Daytime
dramas All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. Among the daytime celebrity guests: Rebecca Budig, Alicia Menshew and Jeff Branson of AMC; Tyler Christopher, Rebecca Herbst and Natalia Livingston of GH; and Melissa Archer and John Paul Lavoisier of OLTL. I attended the taping of this program, and from my vantage point backstage it seemed that Grahn was a natural at conducting lively
interviews. (She also had an undeniable chemistry with Lavoisier during the taping that will hopefully survive the editing process.) SoapNet should put together a talk show for Grahn right now!
Tasty Travels (Food Network, 9:30 p.m. ET)
Series Premiere. Food Network favorite Rachel Ray travels around the country in search of distinctive food markets and
restaurants that ordinary working class Americans might enjoy.
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