Weekend TV : From Rock to Asian-Americans

The history of rock ‘n’ roll, the history of Captain Eo and the history of Asian Americans in California will help make this weekend’s television viewing a time for both remembering and looking ahead.

Home Box Office (cable) will help Atlantic Records celebrate its 40th anniversary tonight with a birthday concert bash from Madison Square Garden at 8 p.m. Phil Collins, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Debbie Gibson, Bob Geldof, Bette Midler, Wilson Pickett, Robert Plant, Foreigner, the Spinners, Coasters and many others are scheduled to perform on the four-hour show.

Earlier this evening, KSCI-TV Channel 18 will honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Week with “Our Silent Minority--The Asian Factor,” a one-hour program beginning at 7 p.m. that examines the past, present and future of this increasingly influential minority community. Mario Machado and Yuko Sakamoto will host the broadcast, which will include comments from prominent Asian Americans, such as California Secretary of State March Fong Eu and L.A. Councilman Michael Woo, who have maintained their cultural backbone while participating in and contributing to mainstream society.

Finally, Whoopi Goldberg hosts “Captain Eo--Backstage,” Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on ABC. This humorous documentary looks behind the scenes at the pioneering 3-D artistic and technological processes that went into creating Walt Disney’s theme park motion-picture adventure starring Michael Jackson.