TV Smarts

Some broadcast and cable programs contain material included in the public school curriculum and on standardized examinations. Here are weekend home-viewing tips:

* Today--”England’s Great Wall” (HIST 5-6 p.m. repeating 9-10 p.m.) This documentary is about the wall built almost 2,000 years ago during the Roman occupation of the British Isles in a failed attempt to keep Scottish and other tribes out of England. This month the British Parliament is considering a political solution to the problem of Anglo-Scottish relations. VCR+34100.

* Friday--”The Caine Mutiny” (Bravo, 5-7 p.m.) This is a film version of Herman Wouk’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a WWII U.S. Navy mutiny during a typhoon and the court-marshal of those involved. Humphrey Bogart stars. The name of the character he portrays, Captain Queeg, subsequently entered the American language as a synonym for paranoia. VCR+9796785. Also, “The Borrowers” (SHOW, 8-9:30 p.m.) This is the most recent filmed version of the Mary Norton fantasy novel, set in Victorian England, about a family of people only inches tall who encounter a family of full-size people. John Goodman stars. VCR+533495

* Saturday--”Zoot Suit” (Bravo 2-4 p.m., repeating 9-11 p.m.) This is a film version of a stage musical about Los Angeles Chicano life in the 1940s. It is rated R because of language and intensely emotional situations of a highly politicized murder trial that led to race riots. Starring Edward James Olmos, it was Written and directed by Luis Valdez with music by Daniel Valdez and initially staged at the Los Angeles Music Center. VCR+365148

* Sunday--”The Scarlet Pimpernel” (A&E;, 6-8 p.m., repeating 10-12 p.m.) This is a new movie version of a classic adventure novel by Baroness Orczy that presents the French Revolution as an event in which the wrong side prevailed. Richard E. Grant stars as a witty Englishman conducting a secret, successful struggle to save French nobles from the guillotine. Also, “Teen Files: The Truth About Hate” (KCOP 7-8 p.m.) Recommended for viewing because of recent widely reported news of hate crimes, this documentary contains scenes in which skinheads encounter Holocaust survivors, gay-bashers ride with the San Francisco Police hate crimes unit and young bigots meet the mother of a U.S. Marine who was murdered because of his race. Leeza Gibbons hosts.

Special note: This month marks the beginning of a set of English and math examinations, the “Stanford 9” series, in elementary through high school grades. The scores will be considered in determining whether students will be promoted to the next grade level. Test preparation material is available for use at home. Log on www.steck-vaughn.com and click on either “Parents” or “Shop On Line,” or contact a retailer listed in the phone book under “school supplies.”

--Compiled by Richard Kahlenberg in consultation with Crystal J. Gips, associate director for teacher education, Cal State University. Columns available at www.calendarlive.com/HOME/CALENDARLIVE/TVENT/TVSMARTS.