Mon May 21

[ABC/8:00pm] Australian Story. Doctor and inventor Max Whisson has always taken a different view of life from most people. He believes he can solve the current water crisis with his Water Windmill invention, a unique technology to extract moisture from the atmosphere. At the height of the AIDs epidemic in the 80s, he invented a retractable hypodermic needle.
[ABC/8:30pm] Four Corners. Ageing Vietnam vet, Thomas Moore, decides to confront the Klansmen who murdered his brother and Henry Dee, to seek justice long denied by authorities.
[ABC/9:15pm] Media Watch
[ABC/9:30pm] God On My Side is a film about faith and the places it can take people. Where it took Andrew Denton was to the 63rd National Religious Broadcasters’ Convention in Dallas, Texas, in February 2006. More than 6,000 Christian communicators gathered there, at the Gaylord Convention Center, to discuss how best to spread the word of God in this new century, how to take advantage of opportunities presented by the explosion of new technologies and audiences. By turns serious and comic and sometimes a little disturbing, it examines the cutting edge of evangelical technology, the business of God, the America of the religious right, and what the inescapable truths of the Bible mean for US foreign policy and the Middle East. Seventy million Americans are born again Christians. A highly organised, politicised and motivated bloc, they provide more than 40 per cent of President Bush’s vote. The NRB provides key access to this constituency. With 350 television and 750 radio stations among its members, and an estimated audience of 141 million Americans, the NRB knows it has a powerful voice in the States. Its members not only speak to the heartland of President Bush’s America, they are the heartland of President Bush’s America. Denton wondered, what would this heartland look like up close? Who are these people? What were the journeys that brought them to faith? With his trademark wit and empathy, Denton’s idea was to avoid the clichés, to stay away from the stereotypical, pulpit-pounding televangelists, and focus instead on the foot soldiers of Christianity, the everyday believers running booths on the exhibition floor or workshops in the surrounding rooms. With an open mind and a determination to take people as he found them, his self-appointed brief was to allow his interviewees the respect and room to express themselves freely, to have their ideas and views heard. Andrew Denton’s first feature-length documentary, God On My Side is a subtle but powerful piece of filmmaking that will resonate with audiences in these increasingly religious times.
[ABC/1:55am Tue] Movie: Soft Beds, Hard Battles (UK 1973) Inhabitants of a Paris brothel help win World War II. Stars Peter Sellers in various roles, including Adolf Hitler. CAST: Peter Sellers, Lila Kedrova. Rpt.

[Ten/7:30pm] Big Brother. Live Nominations.
[Ten/8:30pm] Supernatural. “Road Kill.” Guest: Tricia Helfer

[Seven/8:30pm] Desperate Housewives. The Pizzeria opens. Lynette has too many baby high chairs. Yep an Oscar nominee at work here. More on Gabby and Zack, he proposes to her and Gabby takes him down a peg. You aint never gonna park in that parking lot sonny. Poor old Carlos tells Gabby he can’t keep being friends. Know that feeling. Roger Moore proposes to Susan and she accepts. Didn’t we already do that in the morgue last week? But the best story is set for Bree who is being murdered (yes another) by Joan Crawford. Dumbo Orson has been given a dud life since childhood after the death of his father (she blamed him) and now he is about to get payback. While his ex-wife has fallen from the attic, Orson’s struggle with his mother causes her to cark it, and he manages to plant both bodies beside one another to look like a suicide / murder pact. But Mike still knows what he knows.
[Seven/9:30pm] Brothers and Sisters. LOVE IS DIFFICULT. An office poll sways Kitty’s mind about her future with Senator McCallister. Sarah and Joe dive further into therapy and Tommy has a chance encounter with a distant relative that will change everything for the Walker family. Guest starring ROB LOWE.
[Seven/10:30pm] Boston Legal. SELLING SICKNESS. When a young girl wants to take a pill to help her forget a traumatic molestation, Shirley tackles the case. Judge Brown asks Denny to sue a company for not curing his ‘same-sex attraction disorder’. Denise finds out she is pregnant, and must determine who is the father.
[Seven/11:30pm] Scrubs.

[Nine/7:30pm] What’s Good For You.
[Nine/8:30pm] 1 vs 100
[Nine/9:35pm] CSI: NY. Consequences. The next case for the CSI’s gets even tougher when a paintball player turns out to be the prime suspect and later goes missing, the team also has another problem, the evidence that should point to the prime suspect points to someone else. Stars Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes.

[SBS/7:30 pm Mythbusters – Mailbag Special – Adam and Jamie accept a challenge from fans to re-test the famous mirror death ray attributed to Archimedes. In turn, fans are invited to try their hands at death ray production. Four teams manage to produce workable long and short range devices and are invited to San Francisco to compete against each other and against the Mythbusters – with very interesting results. (From the US, in English) (Documentary Series) G
[SBS/8:30pm] South Park – The Return Of The Fellowship Of The Ring To The Two Towers. (Rpt)
[SBS/9:00pm] Drawn Together. Series Return. – Tale Of Two Cows – Wooldoor brings a “live-action” cow back from the “live-action” forest and it wreaks havoc on the house. Toot needs one of the housemates to accompany her to her Fat Camp reunion. (From the US, in English) (Animated Comedy Series) MA (A,L,S) CC WS
[SBS/10:00pm] If The Dead Could Speak – Renzo asks to be readmitted into the police force but no one wants him back. The killer tells Laura, the psychologist, that he wants to see her and Renzo together. The father of one of the students who died at the school massacre now lives as a hermit guarded by two savage dogs that look just like the ones who killed Benitez. After some questioning by Renzo and Martin, the man is found hanged and his dogs poisoned. The epitaph on the headstone for this episode reads “Here lies who denied justice…” – a reference to the school’s lady treasurer who refused to sign the cheque requested by the deranged teacher on the day of the tragedy. She is found horrendously disfigured with coins rammed down her throat. (From Argentina, in Spanish, English subtitles) (Drama Series) (Part 2) M (V,A) CC
[SBS/11:00pm] Anatomy For Beginners. Final. – Reproduction – This four-part series profiles Professor Gunther von Hagens’ work that is considered by many to be shocking and controversial. However, anatomist Gunther von Hagens believes that the dissections he performs on human bodies laybare the intricacy of the human design. During each episode, von Hagens dissects a man and a woman in front of a live audience to reveal their reproductive systems. (From the UK, in English) (Documentary Series) (Final) (Rpt) MA (A,N) CC WS
[SBS/11:55pm] Movie: Ring: The Spiral – (Rasen) – The sequel to Ring, begins with the post-mortem of Takayama by his friend, pathologist Dr Ando. Ando finds a cryptic note inside Takyama’s stomach and learns of a mysterious videotape, haunted by the spirit of a dead woman. The rumours are that anyone who watches the video will die exactly one week later. Takayama’s ex-wife, Asakawa, and their child are also found dead. The search for the cause of their mysterious deaths leads to the discovery of a new virus that is transmitted through videos and texts about Sadako, such as Asakawa’s diary. Sadako’s spirit, however, is not content to only cause havoc from beyond the grave… Directed by Jôji Iida, and stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Miki Nakatani. (From Japan, in Japanese, English subtitles) (Horror) (1998) (Rpt) M (A,H)