Maria Von Trapp, singer and mother of the Trapp Family Singers, inspiration for the hit musical and musical film The Sound of Music, and one time Nazi-fleeing ex-nearly-nun, died on this day in 1987. In tribute to this incredible woman, and as thanks to her for providing Julie Andrews with a life-time meal ticket, we hereby present a condensed version of tonight's picks of TV, to the tune of "A Few of My Favourite Things" - while at the same time acknowledging that in actual fact she had nothing to do with that song whatsoever, of course.
Ahem.
Pictures and paintings that Sewell discusses Hippies downsizing and hijacks on buses Once more Ryan hits someone in the OC These are a few of the things on TV...
Dogs eating people on CSI: Vegas Horrible children disrupting each school class Boring old football I don't want to see These are a few of the things on TV...
When the cop's bent With crim'nal intent When a Grandad's new
I'm simply so grateful that I've got TV, and picks to pass on... ... to You!...
It's Not Easy Being Green 8pm, BBC2 Never mind solar panels, if we could harness a fifth of the energy of the Strawbridge family, we could light Britain for a year. Don't be put off by thinking this is another No Going Back style tale - there's less emphasis on the personal story, and more on practical advice and impractical inspiration. Dick - a true bon vivant sporting an insane moustache and buckets of enthusiasm - and his gorgeous family have moved to Cornwall to live a greener life. In this first episode they manage to erect a water wheel and plant a vegetable garden. But more importantly, they manage to look like they're thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process.
Clare Birchall
Don't Mess With Miss Beckles 9pm, BBC2 Yolande Beckles is a Trinidad-born, "selfmade entrepreneur" with a no-nonsense attitude which she's charged with instilling in Luke and Josh, two intelligent but low-achieving adolescent boys at leafy Fortismere secondary school as they prepare for their GCSEs. More fairy godmother television in other words, but this is as good as the genre gets. Beckles is engagingly tough ("I don't do middleclass, liberal, laidback") and it's hard not to share her sense of shock at the pampered, dead-eyed laziness of her charges.
David Stubbs
Adopt A Grandad 9pm, C4 As part of the Trouble With Old People strand, a household fosters a surrogate granddad. Eighty-year-old James, a widowed ex-schoolteacher, hooks up with single mum Angela and her kids, who are looking for stability, love and (that wellknown staple of elderly life) "wisdom". "I don't dribble," reassures James. "He looks a bit devious," thinks Angela. "Silly cow," says James. Well meant, but there's something a bit creepy about it all. Adopt A Granny airs tomorrow night.
Ali Catterall
Bus 174 (Jose Padilha, 2002) 9pm, BBC4 Anyone wishing to understand the culture of fear, crime and poverty that festers under the beauty of Rio should see this incredible documentary. On June 12, 2000 a cocaine-addicted street kid called Sandro do Nascimento hijacked a bus in downtown Rio and held 11 women hostages, saying he would kill them all unless he was given a hand grenade and a rifle. With the police failing to cordon off the area the country's media filmed the siege, meaning the whole of Brazil was witness to an event that is every citizen's worst nightmare. With Nascimento becoming increasingly unstable, the police clueless about what to do and an angry mob on the verge of turning murderous, tragedy is the inevitable outcome. Do Nascimento's horrific life - he was a survivor of the 1993 Candelaria massacre of street kids by police - is profiled as the siege unfolds.
Will Hodgkinson
The OC 9pm, E4 As Seth points out, things are going too smoothly in Orange County. Luckily, someone on The OC writing team has remembered that they've got another character, and hey presto, here's not-somini Cooper, back from her boarding school to cause trouble. Takes about five minutes before Ryan's stepping in to tell some mysterious dude to back off.
Richard Vine
The Wire 9pm, FX "I'm listening Bowtie." It's all about trust this week. First you get the long-awaited showdown between Brother Mouzone and Omar, a midnight High Noon. Then there's String and Avon, Baltimore's Brutus and Caesar, pulling at opposite ends of their empire; Jimmy realising, for once, that Theresa D'Agostino might be after more than his cheeky grin; and Burrell and Rawls, so used to being shafted by the Mayor that they can't interpret his reluctance to shut Hamsterdam down as anything other than a plan to make sure they take the fall for it. Last one next week.
Richard Vine
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Laydeezangenelmen, I'm here all week - Thank you, and good night. Farewell. Auf wiedersehen. Adieu. Etc.
