”Classical Baby” knows its audience
As the title implies, the animated special “Classical Baby” (7:30 p.m. tonight, HBO) offers soothing snippets of Schumann, Strauss and Tchaikovsky for the still-teething set.
“Baby” consists of an infant maestro “conducting” musical favorites that form the background music for cartoon fantasies based on the paintings of Monet, Miro and others. For all of the hifalutin references, this ambitious and pretty feature is a very low-key sedative, an aesthetic anesthetic for those not yet ready for the raucous antics of, say, “Blue’s Clues.”
While clearly aimed at the yuppie market of parents desperate to turn their offspring into budding geniuses, “Classical Baby” draws upon a proud animation tradition. From the silent era through the 1940s and ‘50s, cartoons were often accompanied by classical music, or the modernist mayhem of such 20th-century masters as Raymond Scott and Carl Stalling. Walt Disney created the gold standard of classical cartoons with “Fantasia” in 1940.
One night after the demise of the “Star Trek” franchise, Discovery gets into the space fiction racket with “Alien Planet” (8 p.m. tonight, Discovery), a speculative documentary about possible interplanetary exploration. Set in the year 2358, “Planet” follows an unmanned mission to a fictional planet called Darwin 4 located more than four light-years from Earth. In addition to impressive cinematic production values and great graphics, “Planet” takes great effort to ground its story in scientific fact and cutting-edge theory.
For those interested in space exploration from our own century, “Astronaut Diaries: Remembering the Columbia Shuttle Crew” (9 p.m. tonight, Science) offers a home-video diary shot by Dave Brown as he and his six fellow astronauts prepared for their mission on the space shuttle Columbia. Their flight ended in tragedy on Feb. 1, 2003.
Somebody will emerge victorious on the season finale of “Survivor: Palau” (8 p.m. Sunday, CBS). And presumably somebody still cares.
OK, millions of viewers will still care enough to watch this season-ender, as well as the repetitive recap that follows at 10 p.m.
You could go broke predicting the demise of “Survivor” and the reality television industry that it helped spawn. But those looking for evidence that the genre has reached bottom will find plenty in the new series “BSTV” (10 p.m., Sunday, VH1), a new “fake” reality show that sets out to reveal just what people will do to appear on television.
In one segment, the “producers” of an ersatz show called “Booty Boat” interview three young women and ask them just how strenuously they would prostitute themselves to appear on the show. Two of the women promise to service hundreds of men a day, if necessary. “As long as the condoms hold out,” says one shameless lass.
Tonight’s highlights
NBA Conference Finals (5:15 p.m., ABC).
Martin Short guest-stars on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).
The comedy special “Tracey Ullman: Live & Exposed” (9:30 p.m., HBO) looks back at the comedienne’s life and career.
Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (10 p.m., CBS): a popular professor becomes a murder suspect.
Will Ferrell hosts “Saturday Night Live” (11:30 p.m., NBC), featuring musical guest Queens of the Stone Age.
Sunday’s highlights
Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): combating prison gangs.
The final four emerge on “The Contender” (8 p.m., NBC).
A widower cop with three young sons needs help on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8 p.m., ABC).
Flanders flees Springfield and Bart falls under the influence of a radical priest on the hourlong season finale of “The Simpsons” (8 p.m., Fox).
“Nature” (7 p.m., KSPS) features “The Dolphin Defender,” one scientist’s quest to help a species survive human exploitation.
Susan makes up her mind about Mike on “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m., ABC).
A once-famous cop falls under suspicion on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (9 p.m., NBC).
“King Tut’s Secrets” (9 p.m., National Geographic) uses cutting-edge scanning technology to speculate about the unfortunate pharaoh’s final hours.
“The Hurricane That Saved London” (9 p.m., History) recalls the fabled “Battle of Britain,” when outnumbered Royal Air Force pilots held off Hitler’s Luftwaffe.
Henry Winkler guest-stars on the season finale of “Crossing Jordan” (10 p.m., NBC).
A mind-reading patient makes everyone nervous on “Grey’s Anatomy” (10 p.m., ABC).
“Anatomy of a Murder: Crime Scene Investigation” (7 p.m., CNN), featuring Dr. Sanjay Gupta, examines real-life police crime-scene investigations and how they differ from the action on “CSI.”