What's On TV

Shows worth noting for Apr. 1-7

SATURDAY 4/01

TCM offers Hollywood: Religion in the Movies Saturdays (TCM, check local listings): "Lilies of the Field," "Ben-Hur," "The Greatest Story Ever Told," "Fiddler on the Roof" and Carl Dreyer's classic silent "The Passion of Joan of Arc" are among the films airing throughout April. Good family entertainment.

SUNDAY 4/02

Noriega: God's Favorite (Showtime, 8-10 p.m.): Gen. Manuel Noriega comes up for parole this year, so it seems appropriate to look at his career again. But this expensive TV movie is history-lite. The title is ironic, but the humor fizzles. Bob Hoskins stars and manages to make the sadistic libertine almost sympathetic - a crucial error in judgement on the part of writer, director, and star. For mature audiences only.

Mail to the Chief (ABC, 7-9 p.m.): A harmless family story about a preteen computer whiz who chats with the president of the United States - using e-mail. Slow, sentimental, and awfully predictable, but mildly entertaining.

D.C. (The WB, 8-9 p.m.): The "West Wing" it's not, but "D.C." promises to get better over the season with an ensemble cast of gorgeous young people. Just out of college and filled with idealism about making a difference in the world, these young achievers share a house in Georgetown and struggle with disillusionment and their new professions in the law, journalism, and government.

THURSDAY 4/06

The Masters (USA, 4 p.m.): The first Grand Slam golf event of 2000 begins Thursday and ends April 9. It will be a two-way tussle: Tiger Woods vs. Everybody Else. That's what golf is these days, where the entire PGA frat is up against the singular talents of Woods. And Woods has won most of the time.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society