Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

MUST-SEE: "MTV20: Buggles to Bizkit," 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.; then "MTV20: Live and Almost Legal," 5 p.m.; both on MTV. MTV, the cable channel built on sheer youth power, turns 20 at 12:01 a.m. today. A few hours later, it launches a marathon birthday party: first, an historical overview, then a live, three-hour special, with Carson Daly as host, with an array of stars giving interviews and performances.

"State of the Planet," 5 p.m., Discovery Channel. Sir David Attenborough plays host to an ambitious three-hour look at how people have altered the Earth's ecology and at what might be ahead.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), 6 p.m., Sci Fi Channel. Steven Spielberg's wonderful adventure film is shown yet again. This time it's in the wide-screen format, giving it the horizontal look it had in theaters.

"Leaving Las Vegas" (1995), 9 p.m., TNT. Here is another film that has been praised, yet is the exact opposite of "Raiders." Nicolas Cage plays an alcoholic who plans to drink himself to death in Las Vegas; Elisabeth Shue plays the prostitute he meets there. Cage won an Academy Award and Shue was nominated.