Tuning in: On TV this week.
Sunday Feb. 15
Cave Elephants (Animal Planet, 7-8 p.m.): "The Wild Kingdom" series has never presented a more beautifully realized documentary than this one about elephants who venture into a vast and difficult terrain inside Kenya's Mount Elgon. These creatures are the only elephants to test the inner precincts of an extinct volcano - the only elephants to travel underground. They are looking for salt, which they cannot live without, and which is scarce in their rain-sodden jungle. Amazing camera work and a touching narration by Alec Baldwin makes us privy to the elephants' secrets.
It Must Be Love (CBS, 9-11 p.m.): Real-life husband and wife Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen team up as an unhappily married couple who've managed to fool the world into thinking they're "perfect" for each other - even their daughter thinks they are still in love. They go on a long road trip in their camper to settle their divorce, get lost in a snowstorm, and begin to see what they really mean to each other. But can 10 days of starvation and frostbite change their minds about staying married? It's a thoughtful family story, though it follows a pop-culture trend about excusing adultery fairly lightly.
Crown Heights (Showtime, 9-11 p.m.): Based on a true story, this film chronicles the sad conflict between New York's Hasidic Jews and the African-American community in 1991 after a Jewish man accidentally killed a black child. "Crown Heights" tells the story of how two men, one a black Christian minister, the other a Jewish teacher of young men, joined forces to quell the hatred. Their strategy was a cunning one: They enlisted a black teenager and a Hasidic teen to help reduce the violence and build mutual understanding. Some strong language makes this otherwise important family picture unsuitable for younger children.
Horns and Halos (Cinemax, 7-8:30 p.m.): J.H. Hatfield wrote a book about George W. Bush claiming the future president had been involved in drugs and other unsavory activities - like draft dodging. But when the author's own criminal history came out, the book was withdrawn from bookstores and (according to the film) all copies were burned. A small underground publishing company took it up, reedited it, and had Hatfield make some changes. All their meager funds went to save the book - which sold out quickly. But where does the truth lie? And was the author hounded unfairly? The fascinating documentary takes a balanced view.
