Final 24 -- Biography - Thursday, January 4, 2007 - 10:00 p.m. (EST)

It's always a bit strange to lose someone in the public eye, especially when they are young. We constantly see them in images that show them happy and alive -- adding irony to what we know is the final chapter to come. Final 24 is a new six-part series on Biography that, each week, tells us the story of a different subject's final 24 hours of life. This isn't The Twilight Zone, so it's not going to change the outcome, but maybe it will shed new light on some tragic farewells.

Ithuteng (Never Stop Learning) -- HBO - Sunday, December 3, 2006 - 6:30 p.m. (EST)

Ithuteng (Never Stop Learning) is really a documentary film about a South African school dedicated to saving children lost to sexual and drug abuse. Schools like this don't just happen, of course. The technique used here is to have the students themselves dramatize their plight -- the brainchild of the school's founder, activist "Mama Jackey." And what makes this film even more powerful than its subject is its maker -- a 16-year-old named William Ebersol.

Man, Moment, Machine -- History Channel - Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - 10:00 p.m. (EDT)

Ok, I admit it -- I'm still a bit of a NASA junkie. It goes back to remembering the early days of Mercury and Apollo a/k/a the heyday of spaceflight, when we actually knew the astronauts' names. Yes, I was a space geek, and so I remember that April morning when Apollo 13 blasted off on still another visit to the moon - the second since Apollo 11 less than a year earlier. I was 14 and remember to this day Walter Cronkite's words as the rocket rose into the sky, "It's a beauty. It's another beauty." At least it WAS until 178,000 miles later, when an explosion nearly ended the astronauts' lives and began an odyssey of scientists desperately trying to return the three explorers to Earth. In this season premiere of Man, Moment, Machine, we get to relive the anxious days that brought the astronauts home safe and sound.

Moyers on America -- PBS - Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 9:00 p.m. (EDT)

When Bill Moyers is on, you need to be ready to listen. No, you need to be ready to LISTEN. Moyers violates all the contemporary rules in his specials. They aren't glitzy. And not only is HE not glitzy, he's not particularly energetic either. Instead, Moyers is thoughtful, deliberate and - the usual word attributed to him - cerebral. In this mini-series of three parts, the former press secretary to President Lyndon Johnson looks at crime, God and the Internet. It's not guns, gays and God, but everybody knows he's a liberal, so who's surprised? In this first installment, Moyers looks at political corruption through the Jack Abramoff scandal, Congressional ethics, lobbyists and attempts to fix what's broken.

Genius: A Dr. Sanjay Gupta Primetime Special -- CNN - Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 10:00 p.m. (EDT)

Our views of the geniuses among us range from awe to skepticism. Little wonder when we have so little exposure to the most gifted of the gifted. In this CNN documentary, Genius: A Dr. Sanjay Gupta Primetime Special, the network's senior medical correspondent explores what genius really means...and how exclusive the club really is. We are introduced to "prodigious savants," such as the young autistic boy, unable as an infant to tolerate noises or music of almost any kind, who suddenly exhibited a prodigious ability to play the piano. Before he was 10 years old, he was an accomplished pianist and selling CDs. We also hear of so-called "acquired savants," who through some injury become enabled of incredible talents. We meet one young man who, after being struck in the head, is suddenly able to recall details of almost any day in his past. Name a date, and he can tell you the day of the week, the weather and details of what he did that day. The special does not resolve the nature vs. nurture debate, other than to conclude that a combination of both seems necessary. It tantalizes all of us, though, to wonder if we all have the ability somewhere within to display the same kind of genius we have generally attributed to only a few others.

Koppel on Discovery: The Price of Security - Discovery - Sunday, September 10, 2006 - 8:00 p.m. (EDT)

Just one more sign that September is the REAL New Year -- not only do we welcome back Katie Couric in a new role, but Ted Koppel, late of Nightline, returns as well on a new network. In Koppel: The Price of Security, the brainy former ABC anchor/reporter takes a three-hour look at security in the U.S. in the post-9/11 era. The first half is a documentary examining many of the changes that have taken place, with the second placing Koppel in his now-familiar Town Hall format. Expect an evening that's about as cerebral as TV gets.

Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers -- CBS - Friday, September 1, 2006 - 9:00 p.m. (EDT)

Dan Rather being honored by CBS might sound a bit like Osama Bin Laden commemorating September 11th. But the fact is that, prior to the Recent Unpleasantness that led to Rather's departure from the Public Eye, he had a distinguished if controversial history of more than 40 years at CBS dating back to the era of the Kennedy assassination. Now, as Rather leaves for the obscure channel HDNet run by his friend Mark Cuban, his former colleagues are throwing a going-away party called Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers. Expect some great clips and reflections on Rather's 56-year career. Don't expect to hear from Kenneth.