Put That In Your Pipe (But Don’t Smoke It)
The issue of kids and smoking is one of the most important matters in society today.
Consider these facts: One in three children who smoke will die of a smoking-related illness. A child who is still a nonsmoker at 19 is almost certain to be a nonsmoker for life.
Targeting kids is critical. Unfortunately, tobacco companies allegedly share a similar philosophy.
One thing you can do to help kids understand the dangers of smoking is to encourage them to tune in HBO’s “Smoke Alarm: The Unfiltered Truth About Cigarettes” at 7.
The half-hour special, produced in association with Consumer Reports, uses humor and eye-opening statistics to clear the air on the consequences of smoking. The show focuses on cigarettes, but also includes a sobering segment on smokeless tobacco - chewing tobacco and snuff - which has become popular with teenagers.
Tony Danza, Tone Loc, Lou Diamond Phillips, Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna lend a hand in this worthy endeavor.
Several times in the telecast you’ll see young smokers talking about why they smoke and, especially, how they crave cigarettes at the start of the day, between classes, when they’re stressed … whenever.
Highlights
“Friends,” NBC at 8: Ross and Monica (David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox) take a Thanksgiving Day touch-football game a little too seriously.
Also, it’s Turkey Day on “The Single Guy” at 8:30 when Jonathan (Jonathan Silverman) invites former Monkee Davy Jones to dinner.
On “Suddenly Susan” at 9:30, Susan (Brooke Shields) hosts a holiday feast that turns into a holiday disaster.
“New York Undercover,” FOX at 9: Eddie (Michael DeLorenzo) goes undercover in an AIDS clinic, posing as an AIDS victim to try to catch the killer of a bisexual man with AIDS. There are lots of nuances in this story if you keep in mind that Eddie’s father recently died of AIDS. Producer Dick Wolf and his writers are doing FOX proud with this consistently provocative series.
“48 Hours,” CBS at 10: Susan Spencer follows Dr. Martha “Bobbie” MacGuffie, a mother of eight who has lost two kids of her own, on a mission to Kenya to join the crusade to treat thousands of sick children, many dying from AIDS.
NASA’s revival: “Turning Point,”(ABC at 10) presents an outstanding look back at the fatal fire aboard NASA’s Apollo 1.
Peter Jennings reflects on what was indeed a turning point in the American space program. Desperate to fulfill John F. Kennedy’s dream of a moon landing before the end of the ‘60s, the Apollo program was racing ahead. But the tragic command-module fire that claimed the lives of three astronauts was a stunning setback.