TV Smarts

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

* Today--”Baby Love” (KLCS 8-9 p.m.) Airing on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s television station, this show uses frank interviews with girls ages 13 to 17 to explain what life is like for teenage mothers.

* Friday--”Time Machine--Are We There Yet?: America on Vacation” (HIST 9-11 p.m.) A survey of 20th century transportation and regional history from “tin can tourists,” dude ranches and pre-Disney Florida to resorts in the Catskill Mountains for African Americans and the origins of summer camp for kids. Matthew Broderick narrates.

* Saturday--”Gormenghast” (BBCA 5:30-6:30 p.m.) Lavish BBC miniseries, based on Mervyn Peake’s trilogy of fantasy novels. Cast includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ian Richardson and Christopher Lee. Series continues June 17, 24 and July 1. Detailed information available at https://www.bbcamerica.com.programs/gormenghast.html.

* Sunday--”In the Company of Horses” (A&E; 8-10 p.m.) A look at the horse business, from training them to working with them on the range to protecting them in the wild. Lou Diamond Phillips narrates.

* Monday--”The 1900 House” (KCET 9-10 p.m.) In this four-part documentary, a modern couple and their children are transported back to 1900, living in a London house from the era and dressing, eating and amusing themselves without the technological benefits of the last 100 years. It’s like MTV’s “Real Life” by gaslight. Continues June 19, 25 and July 3. For historical documentation, visit https://www.pbs.org/wnet/1900house.

* Tuesday--”Butterfly” (KCET 10:30-11:30 p.m.) Documentary portrait of environmental activist Julia “Butterfly” Hill, who recently spent two years perched in a 1,000-year-old redwood to save it from logging. Suggested reading: her book “The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods.”

* Wednesday--”Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace” (KCET 9:30-11 p.m.) Movie about a brilliant German Lutheran theologian and pastor who opposed Nazism, entered the resistance to overthrow Hitler and was tried and executed for living by his religious faith rather than the laws of his homeland. His writings endure as a warning to resist all forms of racism. For more information, see https://aal.org/Bonhoeffer.

*

Compiled by Richard Kahlenberg in consultation with Crystal J. Gips, dean of the School of Education, College of St. Mary, Albany, N.Y. Columns available at https://www.latimes.com/tvsmarts.