Computerized dinos walk the Discovery channel again
The movie "Jurassic Park" may have been short on science and long on imagination, but it did teach us this immutable law of evolution: One dinosaur show begets another. We see this principle at work in "When Dinosaurs Roamed America," the sequel to the Discovery channel's hugely popular special "Walking With Dinosaurs." Like its ancestor, this program airing at 7 p.m. Sunday uses computer imagery to re-create scenes from prehistoric eras. (It arrives just ahead of the third "Jurassic Park" film, which opens in theaters July 18.) The part I previewed took place - or to my creationist friends, allegedly took place - in New Mexico about 90 million years ago, when that now-arid land looked more like a Louisiana bayou. Several exotic species roamed there, such as the zuniceratops, a funny little thing with rhinolike features, as well as the more familiar raptor. "When Dinosaurs Roamed America" seems like a realistic simulation, but I wonder how much it owes to Steven Spielberg. For instance, the hideous-looking raptors get typecast as the bad guys preying on more docile and homely looking leaf eaters. Last year the Fox network sent TV critics preview tapes of a new show, "Night Visions," that was to appear on its fall schedule. Fall came and went and still no "Night Visions." It's finally arrived, but if you think the network has any plans to bring this show back this fall, think again. "Night Visions" mades its premiere with two hourlong episodes at 7 p.m. Thursday and is scheduled to move to 8 p.m. Thursdays in following weeks. It's a classic summer "burn-off" of a series that's going nowhere fast. Nor is it hard to see why. While Rod Serling's twisted mind - and the necessity of conforming to a prudish broadcast code - made "Twilight Zone" a sometimes oddball but rarely violent fantasy chiller, "Night Visions" takes mediocre scripts and works in a few contrived screams using dark lighting, spooky music and the usual Fox-network ration of gratuitous blood-letting. By contrast, the Sci-Fi Channel's hilarious new series, "The Chronicle," understands that modern audiences want more than just the usual grim-faced horror. It debuts at 8 p.m. Saturday also with two hourlong episodes. "The Chronicle" asks the question: What if all those alien-abduction stories in tabloid newspapers are true? Chad Willett stars as young Tucker Burns, a journalism-school disgrace who can't find work until one day he stumbles into the bizarre offices of the World Chronicle, a periodical not unlike some we see in the supermarket checkout lane. To his chagrin, Tucker finds that everyone working at the Chronicle is a true believer, right down to the in-house psychic who says "bless you" before you sneeze. Inevitably, Tucker is drawn into the murky realm of space creatures and the like - as are we, thanks to a terrific cast led by Jon Polito, the bald character actor whose cartoonlike eyes and mustache have made him a familiar face in Coen brothers films. He plays Tucker's boss, a sort of loony Lou Grant. Reno Wilson plays the far-out staff photographer who can't wait for E.T. to take him home. (In case you're wondering, no, Sci-Fi is not burning off "The Chronicle"; summer is to cable channels as fall is to the networks.) Movie notes: "P.O.V.," public TV's annual summer documentary series, this week sheds new light on the Japanese-American internment during World War II, one of this country's great miscarriages of justice. "Of Civil Wrongs & Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story" (11 p.m. Sunday, KCPT, Channel 19) recounts the 1942 case in which a young man, born and raised in California, was convicted for violating Executive Order 9066, the law that sent 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to concentration camps during the war. The Korematsu case, as one lawyer quoted in the film says, was that rare instance where "every branch of government that is responsible for protecting the Constitution failed." The film does an admirable job explaining the legal, social and personal sides to the case, which was ultimately overturned - more than 40 years after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Korematsu's appeal. Also, this week marks the annual film preservation festival on American Movie Classics. This year's honoree is John Wayne, with restored works of the Duke airing Thursday through Sunday. AMC will also auction off memorabilia from some of moviedom's biggest stars on "The Hollywood Auction," a live event beginning 8 p.m. Thursday. Viewers bid via the Internet. And for those of you who wondered whatever became of "ER's" Nurse Hathaway, Julianna Margulies, she's wearing fancy clothes in "The Mists of Avalon," the splashy TNT miniseries that begins 7 p.m. Sunday on TNT. Based on the legend of King Arthur, "Mists" tells the Arthurian legend through the eyes of the women of his court, including Morgaine, the king's half sister (Marguiles). You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CREDIT:TNT @ART CAPTION:Julianna Margulies stars in the TNT miniseries "The Mists of Avalon." It begins at 7 p.m. Sunday. @ART CREDIT:Sci-Fi Channel @ART CAPTION:TV highlights range from "When Dinosaurs Roamed America," left, to "The Chronicle," above. @ART:Photos (2, color and b/w) @ART:Graphic (color illustration) @ART CREDIT:Discovery channel
