The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 20

B6 THE BOSTON GLOBE SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1998 TV a Radio The glory of repetitiveness appealing but necessary, finding comfort in knowing that there can be order in someone's life, even if the someones aren't them, and aren't real. Television offers mainly what we already know and feel comfortable with. And will continue to do so as long as we allow it. As for the fisticuffs offered by Jerry Springer, well, television also is a world-where the thoughtful gives way to the marketable, where the complex is replaced by the simple, and sometimes, the incredibly silly. Theodore believes in himself; night shift (CC) 16917 8:35 a.m.

2 Arthur D.W.'s Snow Mystery; Team Trouble. D.W.'s snowball is missing; Arthur, Francine and Buster -v team up on a report. (CC) 78902(27 9 a.m. Biography for Kids Thomas A. Edison: Father of Invention.

An interview with Thomas Edison's assistant, Frances Jehl. 109578 8:10 a.m. 2 Arthur Bully for Binky; Misfortune Teller. A girl stands up to Binky; Prunella tells fortunes. 789244G2 8:30 a.m.

9 One Saturday Morning "Brand Spanking New "Pepper Ann." (CC) 559530 9:45 2 Arthur Arthur's Tooth; D.W. Gets Lost. Arthur wants to, lose a tooth; D.W. gets lost in a (CC) 38046004 10:30 a.m. 2 Barney Friends Gone Fishing! The importance of taking turns.

(CC) 93153 11 a.m. 2 Wishbone Rosie, Oh, Ro-sie, Oh' The MontagueCapulet feud keeps WishboneRomeo from Juliet. (CO 5882 25 -64 Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension The Young and the Twitchy. A soap-opera star descends upon Eerie. (CC) 29135 93795 12:35 p.m.

DIS The Birthday Dragon Dragon sets out for Emily's birth day party. (CC) 27525559 3 p.m. DIS Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? A young man relates his lifelong love of automobiles. (CC) 3597288 NICK Inspector Gadget Green-finger. Waldo tries to steal a secret formula.

255801 4 p.m. NICK The Adventures of Pete and Pete Field of Pete. A bug zaps the baseball team's best players 901578 4:30 p.m. NICK Clarissa Explains It All No TV. Clarissa seeks a way to watch forbidden television.

(CC) 990462 5 p.m. OIS Bug Juice Asa and Ma-, lik feel left out; Sa'-ai and Stephanie both like Connor. (CC) 899917 5:30 p.m. NICK Tiny Toon Adven-. tures Washington.

The Toons go to Washington. 981714 6:30 p.m. NICK Rocko's Modern Life i Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic; Canned. Rocko buys a vacuum cleaner. (CC) 902207 7:30 p.m.

NICK The Angry Beavers A Dam Too Far; Long in the Teeth. 991191 SHO My Life as a Dog Stranded. raft test-run lands the gang in a ghostly adventure. (CC) 416085 CHILDREN'S TV SHOWS 6 a.m. 5 Cappelli Company Condensation.

Condensation! schools of goldfish; spending time with grandpa; counting. 84153 38 Algo's FACTory Explorer Al and animated-chip Algo Rhythm solve a scientific puzzle. (CC) 79289 64 Bill Nye the Science Guy Nutri- tion. Healthful foods. (UC) 509240 NICK Gullah Gullah Island Carnival.

The gang stages a carnival celebration. 19C004 6:30 a.m. 7 Did You Ever Wonder? How They Make Combines and Cereal. Early grain harvesting methods; McCor-mick's reaper; the combine; cereal factory. 14511 7 a.m.

2 Sesame Street Telly goes to the store for Ruthie. (CC) 17530 HBO The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures Those Amazing Mice in Their Flying Machines. Mice and humans compete in an air race. (CO 292627 NICK The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss The Cat in the Hat Takes a Nap.

Cranky Terrence needs a cat-nap; Yapper-Nap, a spot to snooze. 836085 TBS Feed Your Mind Start Your Engines. NASCAR racing; solar cais; Ford's Atlanta assembly plant. (CC) 7:30 a.m. 5 Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures I Safari to the Edge.

Busdi Gardens safari; simulated Masai village. 68820 68 Sing Me a Story: With Belle Talent Show. Belle helps a child discover his talents; "Mickey's Amateurs" (1937); "Symphony Hour" (1942). (CC) 2920356 HBO Babar A Tale of Two Siblings. Baby-sitter Alexander tells Isabelle a story.

204462 NICK Inspector Gadget Green- finger. Waldo tries to steal a secret for-mula. 848820 8 a.m. 2 Arthur Sue EDen Moves In; The Perfect Brother. A new girl moves into the neighborhood; Brain spends the weekend.

(CC) 1274882 11 The Puzzle Place Leon's Bar Mitzvah, Leon wants to be an adult. (CC) 17646 8:30 a.m. 5 -6 One Saturday Morning "Brand Spanking New "Re-ces' "Pepper Ann." (CC) 203849 294191 11 Theodore Tugboat Theodore's Big Decision; Hank Stays Up Late. what we see year in and out, especially on the networks. If you watched any of the new network shows this week, sitcoms "House Rules" on NBC, "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" and "That's Life" on ABC, and the drama "Significant Others" on Fox, you can't deny a strong sense of deja vu.

Demanding viewers, those who seek enrichment and not necessarily escape, would find this disheartening, sort of like being disappointed in an old flame. But television is fueled by the many viewers who find the familiar very comforting, like old shoes or worn jeans. Television is deeply committed to offering viewers the same thing over and over, because that's what we want. It's not a perception of what we want. It's what we've responded to in the past.

It's how they make their millions. Unlike theater, where we notice differences from past productions, television injects us with the glory of repetitiveness. I've always wondered if this love of predictability determines what most of us watch. Listening to a CNN report the other day questioning people about a controversial movie, a woman told the interviewer that she is far more likely to watch films and TV that give "some order" to her otherwise stressed, unorderly life. In other words, if she were a fan of "Home Improvement," she might have found its sweeps episodes -about drug use and adultery a bit disconcerting, seeing that the Tim Allen sitcom rarely tackles serious issues.

Critics call this unambitious, and many demanding viewers can't stomach it. But perhaps everyone else finds Tim's predictable life not only Julianne Moore, best supporting actress Oscar nominee for "Boogie Nights," is the host of "Saturday Night Live," at 11:30 p.m. on Ch. 7. Backstreet Boys are the musical guests.

John Mahoney, father of Frasier and Niles on "Fra-sier," plays Father Ray's father on tonight's "Nothing Sacred," at 9 p.m. on Ch. 5. The episode also features Ray's ex-convict brother, played by Jeff Kober. Cain and Abel, anyone? "Mystery Science Theater 3000" premieres tonight, with some spiky commentary on the 1967 sci-fi bomb "The Projected Man," at 11 p.m.

on the Sci-Fi Channel. Paula Cole arid k.d. lang perform on "Sessions at West 54th," at 11:30 p.m. on Ch. 44....

"Investigative Reports" tells the story of a young Polish woman named Luba Tryszynska who saved 54 Dutch children from the Nazis. "The Angel of Ber-gen-Belsen" airs at 9 p.m. Superb animation and a message of acceptance make Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" rewarding, on the Disney Channel at 7 p.m. Demi Moore, Tim Hulce, Kevin Kline, Jason Alexander, and David Ogden Stiers lend their voices John Huston's last film, "The Dead," is simple, powerful, transporting. Anjelica Huston and Donal McCann star, on Bravo at 9 p.m.

MATTHEW GILBERT tive physical education instructor in Lynn, says he noticed that Jaime seemed "sort of down." "I said, this kid needs a team to spark his enthusiasm," Mahoney says. Mahoney contacted Charles Ekizian, who runs a wheelchair basketball team in East Boston, who put him in touch with the Massachusetts Hospital School, a state-run school for disabled students. The Hospital School basketball team, coached by John Duddy and Caryn Glazer, recently began accepting disabled students from other schools. "Jaime was always a nice quiet boy with great motor skills," Mahoney says. "When he started bas i By Ken Parish Perkins i KNIGHT BIDDER NEWSPAPERS hat "Jerry Springer" has eclipsed Oprah Winfrey as the most-watched syndicated talk show doesn't surprise as much as it comforts.

This news is being treated as some kind of phenomenon by the very people who can't stop watching the guy, but perhaps it will illustrate more clearly what hypocrites we are. Springer can't possibly last as the king of syndicated talk; the fighting, the high-decibel confrontations, the babes shock TV, really cancel themselves out after time. Like Ilicki Lake before him, Springer will find that, he can't continue to top himself, at least not within the restraints of American television. But for the time being, it's nice to know that his success is giving insight into the type of programs we find enticing and a better understanding of the much-maligned people who bring them to us. Of course, there are some lowbrow programmers responsible for what we see.

But I've got to believe that few people enter television with the idea of creative corruption and sleazy manipulation, that even the most well-intentioned are often swayed by a system that has few rules other than to succeed at all costs. Success means viewers, which mean ratings, which mean high advertising revenue, which means the acquisition of all the material trappings. It's a seduction resulting in talented, well-intentioned people toeing the line in an effort to survive, then prosper; later, they'll demand that their underlings follow suit. That by and large shapes most of Traveling HMAZZI Continued from Page Bl be independent. "I want him to learn to take care of himself and to learn to do something so well that he'll be proud of himself and that he'll be so focused on what he is doing that he will forget that he is sitting in a wheelchair.

I think that's what he does when he is playing basketball." Jaime, a shy, handsome young man with the shoulders of a football fullback, says simply, "Playing basketball makes me feel free." Jaime does not complain about the long trips to practice, but does 7 a.m. WBUR (90.9 FM) Only a Game with Bill Littlefield. Topics: Cuban baseball, snowmobiles, and holy water. 10:30 a.m. WNTN (1550 AM) Indian Entertainment with Nupur Kohli.

In English. 2 p.m. WRPT (650 AM) Ask the Contractors with Chris Don Swift. Contractors answer questions on home remodeling and do-it-yourself projects. 7 p.m.

WPLM (99.1 FM) WBOQ (104.9 FM) MusicAmerica with Ron Delia Chiesa. In the Spotlight: Colin Hawkins. 130 p.m. WCRB (1025 FM) Metropolitan Opera, Live. Ruth Ann Swenson and Luciano Pavarotti star in Donizetti's "The Elixir of Love." 5 pjn.

WUMB (91.9 FM) Celtic Twilight with Gail Gilmore. Contempory and traditional Irish music, featuring Altan, Mary Black, and Martin Hayes. 8 p.m. WCRB (1025 FM) Boston Symphony. Seiji Ozawa conducts Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Barber's Violin Concerto, and Itzahk Perlman Mahler's Symphony No.l.

9 p.m. WGBH (89.7 FM) Blues After Hours. At 11 p.m., Blues A to featuring Larry Davis and Jimmy Dawkins. accident. After his accident, Jaime returned to Boston for months of treatment at Children's Hospital and the Boston Floating Hospital for Children.

He's used a wheelchair ever since. For Alvarado, a head injury 12 years ago left her only 10 percent vision in one eye. Yet she cooks and cleans house and takes care of the clothing of her two sons. Jaime is a junior at Lynn English High School. And while he has plenty of friends at school, there's no wheelchair basketball team there.

Last year, Brian Mahoney, adap is key to Lynn boy's hoop game Old, yes; unenforceable, maybe; still the law Thou shalt not. Excerpts from some of the mustier laws on the books in Massachusetts say he'd be better off with a sports wheelchair lighter, stronger, faster than a regular one. This weekend, Jaime and the Hospital School team the Junior Celtics Wheelchair Basketball Team will be in Carbondale, 111., competing in the 6th Annual National Junior Wheelchair Basketball Tournament at South Illinois University. Jaime's athletic prowess, his mother says, became evident when he was a toddler, shooting rolled-up socks into a waste basket. It was at age 4 while he lived in Bolivia with his father that he suffered a spinal cord injury in a car '11 GBHf) Vl 1 10" It -J MBTA's van service for the disabled, was inconvenient and costly.

So, the two take the commuter rail from Lynn to North Station, and then a taxi for South Station. There, they board another commuter rail to Canton, where they are picked up by the Hospital School van. "We all take care of one another," Alvarado says, referring to herself and her two sons. "I pray a lot," she says. "I take the time to be at peace with myself because, if I'm not, everyone around me won't be." Alvarado sits for hours on hard benches listening while her son plays basketball.

"When Jaime sets his mind to doing something that he likes," she says, "there is no stopping him." perhaps out of fear that a move to repeal them would stir up too much opposition. The state Supreme Judicial Court upheld the adultery law as late as 1983 in a Worcester case. Police came upon a couple in van parked in a wooded area, opened the van doors and arrested the couple on adultery charges. The woman was found guilty and appealed. But in upholding the constitutionality of the statute, the SJC said there was no fundamental personal privacy right that bars the prosecution of consenting adults committing adultery.

The blasphemy statute, which has been on the books since 1697, authorizes a year in jail for anyone who "blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing, or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost." Among other obscure criminal statutes are ones which make it a crime to interrupt a funeral procession or a religious ceremony; to remove the collar of a dog; to throw glass on a beach; raise funds in a military uniform; obstruct fish from spawning; or dig up a wild azalea plant without the written consent of the owner. i Not all of the offbeat criminal statutes are Old. Using a boom box on a public conveyance, for punishable by a fine of $100 to $500 or 30 days' imprisonment. Since they are not enforced, McNeil said, most obsolete laws "don't seem to be doing any harm." "I don't see the attorney general prosecuting people for defacing milk cans or the governor mentioning it in his State of the State speech," he said. 4 ketball, I could just see him working at it, whirling himself around on the floor with skill and strength.

He can hit those three-point shots like a natural." Richard Crisafulli, director of recreation at the Hospital School, says, "Jaime is the team's Larry Bird. He has a beautiful natural shot that he can shoot beyond 15 feet Since he's been coming here, Jaime's no longer a handicapped kid. He's a young athlete who demands respect. "If Jaime keeps his grades up at school and we require that and continues to play on our team, he's probably going to get a full college scholarship," Crisafulli predicts. Alvarado says the one drawback to Jaime joining the team was getting there.

Using The Ride, the this commonwealth. shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year both. Chapter 266, Section 89 Blasphemy "Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing, or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than $300 and may also be bound to good behavior." Chapter 272, Section 36 Malicious mischief "Whoever is discovered in the act of wilfully injuring a fruit or forest tree or of committing any kind of malicious mischief on a Sunday may be arrested without a warrant by a sheriff, deputy sheriff or police officer and detained in jail until a complaint may be made against him." Chapter 266, Section 131 Globe staff chart trampling on the flag of a foreign country that is at peace with the United States or playing the Star-Spangled Banner as dance music or in less than its entirety were passed during wartime. "Patriotism was strongly felt and people wanted to have the national anthem treated with respect," said Alexander McNeil, state Appeals Court administrator. Statutes outlawing the Communist Party and other "subversive organizations" were passed in 1951, he said, during "the hysteria of the early days of the Cold War." Many of the old laws that have stayed on the books for centuries are morality laws, and havjg survived Swearing at the umpire Whoever, having arrived at the age of 16 years, directs any profane, obscene or impure language or slanderous statements at a participant or an official in a sporting event shall be punished by a fine of not more than $50 Chapter 272, Section 36A Star-Spangled Banner Whoever plays, sings or renders the "Star-Spangled Banner" in any public place, theatre, motion picture hall, restaurant, or cafe other than as a whole and without embellishment shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.

Chapter 264, Section 9 Lying on your resume Whoever In a book, pamphlet, circular, advertisment, or advertising sign or by a pretended written certificate or diploma or otherwise in writing, knowingly and falsely pretends to have been an officer or teacher or to be a graduate or to hold any degree of a college or other educational institution of IPI NTOMBI An African Dance Celebration This gala roundup of song and dance from Capetown blends traditional and modern heartbeats of Africa in a lavish and energetic spectacle. LAWS Continued from Page Bl tanical past. Others, like the law calling for a month in jail for frightening pigeons, are simply quaint. "No one has any intention of enforcing them and they are probably unconstitutional," said George Dargo, a New England School of Law professor. He believes the statutes should be updated, but that a move to repeal some of the colonial-era laws could invite opposition.

"Some people might think it is a good idea, for example, to have the adultery law on the books," he said. A 10-year effort to recodify the statutes in the i940s and 1950s fizzled without any changes being made. Today, a wholesale revision of the general laws would require a monumental effort. Edgar Bellefontaine, librarian of the state's Social Law Library, noted the unsuccessful effort by the state Supreme Judicial Court in the early 1980s to update the statutes to conform with new rules it had drafted governing the admissibility of evidence. The proposed changes affected so many other statutes the exercise proved unworkable.

"There were so many little burden-shifting changes, they could not do it," he said. The court abandoned trying to put the new rules into effect as a package but over the years it has adopted some of them ad-hoc. Despite the problems, Bellefontaine favors updating the statutes. "I think it really is important to make an effort," he said. "When the Legislature leaves statutes on the books for 200 years, they are completely out of the process.

They are SOURCE: Massachusetts General Laws Annotated 1-77 not making value judgments that are necessarily compatible with current needs." One entire chapter of the Massachusetts statutes, dating to the colonial era, is devoted to permitting creditors to use the county sheriff to jail their debtors even before guilt is proven. "I don't think it would pass constitutional muster today," said Bellefontaine. "I don't think there is a sheriff who would dare to do it in view of the federal civil rights statutes." Many of the other old laws were enacted as a response to specific events. For instance, law banning THE ROLLING STONES Bridges to Babylon The "greatest rock roll band in the world" takes center stage with "Satisfaction," "Gimme Shelter" "Honky Tonk Woman," "Brown Sugar," more..