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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 10:20 a.m., Friday, April 10, 2009

Tube Notes Weekend Edition: Hawaii slam poets and more

By Mike Hughes
mikehughes.tv

TUBE NOTES

TV critic Mike Hughes offers his picks for Saturday and Sunday shows.

SATURDAY'S MIGHT-SEES

'LOVE FINDS A HOME,' 6-8 P.M., HALLMARK

An ambitious, eight-movie series concludes. To no one's surprise, it ends with feel-good moments.

From the first film -- the 2003 "Love Comes Softly" -- this series has been optimistic. Frontier life can be tragic, it has said, but people are good.

Two generations after that first film, Belinda (Sarah Jones) is a doctor in small-town Missouri, married to a blacksmith (Jordan Bridges). Her pregnant friend (Haylie Duff) visits; so, soon, does the friend's mother-in-law (Patty Duke).

There are medical crises, personal dilemmas and even a hint of romance for Belinda's adopted daughter. Good people cope with difficult lives.

None of this offers much in depth or surprises. Still, the film wraps ups a series that offers refreshing bursts of goodness amid adversity.

"THE TEN COMMANDMENTS" (1956), ABC; OR "THE SOUND OF MUSIC" (1965), ABC FAMILY; BOTH 7 P.M.

On the night before Easter, ABC and its sister channel both go for classics. Enjoy either one, but keep in mind that they reflect long-ago tastes.

By modern standards, "Ten Commandments" is stiffly written and acted. Still, there's an epic feel to its subject matter -- the life of Moses, from baby to hero (Charlton Heston) -- and its look.

And by modern standards, "Sound of Music" is too sweet; it seems contrived, even though it's based on a true story. Still, the Rodgers-and-Hammerstein tunes soar and the settings are beautiful.

"Sound of Music," which runs four hours of TV time, won five Academy Awards, including best picture. "Ten Commandments" (four hours, 44 minutes) was nominated for best picture and in six technical categories, but won only for its special effects.

SUNDAY'S MUST SEES

"BRAVE NEW VOICES," 8 P.M., HBO.

In its second episode, this series introduces the slam-poetry team from Honolulu. It's an instantly interesting group.

We hear Jamaica Osorio, who was 18 when this was taped, on the beauty of Hawaiian language. And Ittai Wong, 16 at the time, on the pain that kept him from phoning a friend who had attempted suicide. We also hear from their mentors, Lyz Soto and Kealoha.

These are compelling people. It's no surprise that this team went on to win the International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in Washington, D.C.

That comes later, though. This documentary series begins after the team finished fifth, the previous year. We get glimpses of them tonight, plus teams in Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York and Ann Arbor, Mich. Spilling out of teens are wonderfully rich bursts of language and passion.

"THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY," 5 P.M. (RERUNNING AT 7), HBO; AND/OR "THE TUDORS," 6 P.M. (RERUNNING AT 8 P.M.), SHOWTIME.

Both pay-cable channels have top shows tonight.

On HBO, our favorite detective ponders a sullen shopkeeper, a series of hospital deaths and a family feud that includes claims of poison. Some of the cases -- especially the hospital one -- are absurdly simple, but we quickly succumb to the charm of the character and the sunny Botswana setting.

On Showtime, by comparison, there is no room for sunshine. The minions of King Henry VIII have looted and vandalized churches; a peasant army is marching from the North. In a story that continues next week, the outmanned king scrambles to prevent an overthrow.

"DIRTY JOBS" (6 AND 9 P.M.) AND "BEAR ATTACK" (7 AND 10 P.M.), DISCOVERY.

"Alaska Week" begins, with at least one new Alaskan hour on each of the next six nights.

Tonight's first hour visits someone who breeds and trains sled dogs. The second is the story of the intense search after three people were attacked by bears near Anchorage; it's a strong hour, including first-hand memories of survivors.