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A terrific installment of "Crime Stories" (10 p.m., Court TV) tells the complicated and ultimately irresolvable story of the 1998 Wichita kidnapping case that involved four countries, three little boys, two faiths and one very unhappy marriage.

Rhonda and Naji Shakhtur were a young couple when they faced the dilemma every interfaith couple confronts: How do we raise our children to respect the religious traditions of both parents? That question then got tangled in the family's declining fortunes. Once the family emigrated from Kansas to Jordan, where Islamic law and custom prevail, things took several turns for the worse.

The first act of tonight's program is expertly scripted like a spy thriller as Rhonda tries to undo her mistake and return to Wichita. The legal drama that plays out afterward is no less riveting. It's an enlightening and, in some ways, morally ambiguous story about the rights of nations, religions, families and women.

So what else isn't new?

by John Zipperer

Television producers or network executives can contact me, in care of TV Barn, to discuss details of my latest series pitch: reality science fiction. But I'll give all of you a brief preview. We'll take a small group of telegenic young non-actors representing a cross section of SF fandom — fans of "Buffy," "Trek," "Babylon 5," etc. — and film them at an SF convention. The show doesn't end until one faction has completely voted all other factions off. Winning faction members will receive a boxed set of "Space 1999" season one episodes.

Oh sure, it would be an obvious knockoff of "Survivor" and "Big Brother," both of which are themselves remakes of foreign series. But I think the science fiction angle will bring in a new audience. And at least our contestants won't have to eat rats — just hotel food.

Besides, Hollywood has been cannibalizing what few interesting ideas it's had for years, and that's no less true for science fiction — the alleged "genre of ideas" — than for the rest of the schedule. And it's not just the endless recyclings of "Trek," but the re-birthing pangs of "Battlestar Galactica," the updated "Lost in Space," and now, the ongoing quest to clone "Buffy" throughout the WB prime-time schedule.

(continued)

On this date...

in 1957, the Zoblotnick Broadcasting Co. has a hit on their hands with "The Lester Guy Show," on the debut episode of David Lynch's insane sitcom "On the Air," on this day in 1992. To fulfill his contract with ABC, Lynch reunites with "Twin Peaks" cast members Ian Buchanan, Miguel Ferrer, and David Lander, as well as his moody composer/collaborator Angelo Badalamenti. With quirky sight gags, a manic pace and exhausting plots which seem to resemble Rube Goldberg inventions, the show proves even more bizarre than "Twin Peaks" and is cancelled after its third episode. It later resurfaces on video. -- Tom Heald

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