Abc Airs Animal-Organ Controversy
ABC’s “Turning Point” at 10 explores a perplexing medical issue in “Animal Transplants: Madness or Miracle?” a thought-provoking hour reported by Forrest Sawyer.
It’s been 13 years since the death of baboon-heart recipient Baby Fae. Yet xenotransplantation - using animal organs in humans - remains one of medical science’s hottest controversies.
On one side are doctors who believe that tens of thousands of lives could be saved by transplanted baboon and pig organs. A growing number of virologists, however, are warning that xenotransplantation could unleash new AIDS-like viruses that could have devastating consequences worldwide.
Animal activists believe breeding animals as organ donors is unconscionable.
The hour includes an interview with Baby Fae’s mother - her first on American television. You’ll meet several people who are awaiting heart transplants who say they’re willing to accept a baboon heart if there is no alternative.
Also featured is an AIDS patient who says he is healthier following a baboon bone-marrow transplant.
Sawyer does an excellent job of balancing the hope that xenotransplantation represents to the ill or dying and the fear that it could be the beginning of the end for everyone else.
Highlights
“Friends,” NBC at 8: This is funny stuff. Chandler (Matthew Perry) drinks too much at a party and makes out with one of Joey’s (Matt LeBlanc) sisters. But which one?
When he meets the Tribbiani family, he can’t tell if he’s being hit on by the same sister or one of her siblings. Repeat.
“High Incident,” ABC at 8: Marsh (David Keith) must deal with a bully (Clifton Powell) who resists police efforts to clean up his neighborhood.
Meanwhile, an off-duty Rhoades (Blair Underwood) is roughed up by a racist deputy sheriff (Bradley Whitford) who thinks he’s a fugitive. Repeat.
“Moloney,” CBS at 9: One of the reasons this series won’t be back in the fall is that the scripts all seem headed in the same direction with Moloney’s (Peter Strauss) wisdom finally shining through.
But I liked this episode in which one of the police shrink’s former patients brutally attacks a police officer (Todd McKee). Repeat.
“New York Undercover,” FOX at 9: J.C. (Malik Yoba) has his cover blown and is held captive when he infiltrates a gang of robbers that uses security guards as inside operatives. Repeat.
“Suddenly Susan,” NBC at 9:30: Watching this repeat of the tepid series premiere may lead some to remark that the show got better as the season progressed. I’m still not convinced “Susan” lives up to NBC’s hype.
We’ll see this fall, when the series leads NBC’s Monday nights.
“48 Hours,” CBS at 10: Radio morning-man Don Imus and his brother Fred take Dan Rather for a ride to promote their new photography book, “Two Brothers, Four Corners.”
On a visit to Monument Valley in Utah, where the Imus brothers grew up, Rather tries to find out what makes the I-Man tick.
Cable Calls
“Hockey,” ESPN at 5: The Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers skate in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.
“Faces of Addiction,” HBO at 8: Linda Ellerbee hosts the first of three specials on substance abuse. “Addicted” includes a case study, some eye-opening statistics and a multiple-choice quiz.
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:35: Actor Mike Myers, celebrity interviewer Ruby Wax and musical group Bush.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 11:35: Actress Alicia Silverstone, comedian Dave Chappelle and singer John Fogerty.
“Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” ABC at 12:35 a.m.: Jerry Seinfeld, Alex Trebek, Valerie Bertinelli and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.).
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:35 a.m.: Actress Kathleen Turner and musical guest Matthew Sweet.