Monitor Picks

Outwitting MacGyver

For its 100th episode of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters (Feb. 20, 9 p.m.), Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman (r.) use their mad laboratory skills to test whether TV's MacGyver really could create an airplane out of bamboo or blow up walls with sodium. Don't try this at home...

Still a thriller

It's hard to believe, but it's been 25 years – a quarter century! – since the release of Michael Jackson's groundbreaking album, Thriller. To celebrate, Epic is rolling out a deluxe edition disc, with remixes by Kanye West, Fergie, and a host of other modern pop stars. "Beat It" to a record store today.

Cinematic opera

New York's Metropolitan Opera continues its highly successful program of cinema simulcasts on Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. with a production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut, starring Karita Mattila and Marcello Giordani. Your local theater may not boast box seats, but, then again, you won't need binoculars. For more details, visit www.fathomevents.com.

Gaming the system

For some parents, it's a worrying generational gap: What kind of video games are their kids playing behind closed doors? A new site, WhatTheyPlay.com, reviews the content of games and also offers a weekly advice column.

It's time to space out

What does it feel like to take a leisurely lunar stroll? Only 12 men know the answer – those legendary space warriors of the Apollo program, which wound down in 1972. For the rest of us, there's In the Shadow of the Moon, a documentary – now on DVD – featuring stunning, remastered NASA footage, and in-depth interviews with astronauts such as Buzz Aldrin. Blast off!