THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 11, 1995 TAG: 9511130210
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEKLY PAGE: 01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
IN ONE OF HISTORY'S most bitter ironies, John F. Kennedy in November of 1963 visited Arlington National Cemetery just 11 days before an assassin took his life in Dallas. As he visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to lay a wreath, he was heard to say how the beauty and stillness of the place where 240,000 Americans are buried greatly impressed him.
``I could stay here forever,'' Kennedy said. And there he lies buried today at the gravesite with the eternal flame.
The Disney Channel marks Veterans Day Saturday at 10:30 p.m. with the special, ``Arlington National Cemetery: A Mirror of America,'' narrated by Ossie Davis. A wonderful history lesson.
Television's other salutes to the men and women who have served in uniform include ``Operation TNT: Veterans Day Weekend '95'' in which Air Force captain Scott O'Grady takes part. Also involved are the crewmen of the Norfolk-based supercarrier George Washington, who were filmed by TNT when the ship was in waters off Puerto Rico.
During ``Operation TNT: Veterans Day Salute '95,'' O'Grady pops up on screen from time to time to comment on such wartime classics as ``Sergeant York,'' ``Flying Leathernecks'' and ``The Bridges at Toko-Ri.'' O'Grady will tell you what it's like for real when you bail out of a burning aircraft.
TNT's salute to the vets starts Saturday at noon with Gary Cooper in his Oscar-winning performance in ``Sergeant York,'' and resumes Sunday at 30 minutes past noon with ``Fighter Squadron.'' TNT will also feature letters from fighting men of several wars to their relatives back home.
Fourteen movies make up the TNT package including two on Monday starting at noon - ``Objective Burma'' followed by ``They Were Expendable.''
The Learning Channel on Saturday at 7 p.m. presents ``D-Day,'' the account of the Allied invasion of France in 1944 that hastened the end of World War II, followed at 9 by ``Victory in the Pacific.'' American Movie Classics on Saturday devotes its entire schedule to war films including a classic, ``Stalag 17,'' at 8 p.m. and 4 a.m.
Even without the Veterans Day specials, TV would be a feast in the week to come, what with it being the middle of the November ratings sweeps and all.
There are two miniseries of note. The old West in all its gore and glory is brought back by CBS in a five-hour miniseries, ``Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo,'' starting Sunday at 8 p.m. and concluding Tuesday night at 9.
James Garner becomes the third actor on TV to play Capt. Woodrow Call, the Texas Ranger of few words who first appeared in ``Lonesome Dove.'' He's turned bounty hunter, tracking down a young bandit named Joey Carza. This miniseries carries a warning: Due to violent content, parental discretion is advised.
Remember when ``The Invaders'' was an ABC series in the 1960s starring Roy Thinnes? It's back in the form of a four-hour miniseries on Fox starting Sunday at 8 p.m. with Scott Bakula in the lead role. You recall the drill, I'm sure.
Aliens disguised as humans plot to take over the Earth. It falls to Bakula as Nolan Wood to save us. Trouble is, hardly anybody believes his stories of aliens on the march.
There are two specials on the schedule that sports nuts will love, and less than sports-nutty viewers might appreciate, too. ``Hoop Dreams'' a film about high school students with The Big Dream of playing professional basketball, will air on PBS and WHRO Wednesday at 8 p.m. followed by ``A Hoop Dreams Reunion.'' See what's become of William Gates, Arthur Agee and the others featured in this documentary that has been much honored by critics.
Home Box Office, which already has a hard-hitting series on the sports called ``Real Sports,'' presses on with in-your-face sports documentaries Tuesday at 10 p.m. ``Fields of Fire: Sports in the '60s'' is about the sports revolution of the 1960s, after which we began to think of professional athletes are more than just jocks. Richie Havens handles the narration.
Just in time for the release of the new James Bond motion picture, ``Goldeneye,'' A&E expands its ``Biography'' series to include ``James Bond: The Secret Life of 007'' on Monday at 8 p.m. and midnight. It's the story of Ian Fleming, a secret agent in World War II who created Bond in novels. That Bond was no joker dropping one-liners; the man was as cruel as he was cool.
On Tuesday, A&E at 8 p.m. and midnight follows the Fleming biography with ``A Matter of Class,'' one on Roger Moore, who played Bond in films. Fleming's Bond would have had a good laugh if he saw Moore's foppish Bond.
HBO on Saturday at 11 p.m. presents the seventh revival of ``Comic Relief.'' This is live TV where anything goes, as long as it's funny. Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams are back as hosts. ILLUSTRATION: [Color photos]
``Arlington National Cemetery: A Mirror of America'' airs at 10:30
p.m. Saturday on Disney.
Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady takes part in ``Operation TNT:
Veterans Day Weekend '95.''
[Photos]
Robin Williams pokes his nose into the affairs of the dolphin in
``In the Wild'' Monday night at 8 on PBS.
Four-time World Champion Kurt Browning and Olympic gold medalist
Kristi Yamaguchi star in ``Disney's Aladdin on Ice'' Friday night at
8 on CBS.
by CNB