The electric car is back...with a vengeance!

Filmmaker Chris Paine takes his crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. This new generation of car is America's future: fast, furious and cleaner than ever. Independent Lens follows the race among major car-makers to be the first, the best and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world...it's the future of the automobile itself. INDEPENDENT LENS...Saturday 11pm 

He can see Paradise by the dashboard light...

 His 1977 record Bat Out of Hell is one of the best-selling albums of all time...more than 43 million units sold worldwide. As an actor, everything from roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fight Club to episodes of House, M.D...He’s back in the spotlight this month with a brand-new album, Hell in a Handbasket, and is laying it all out for Evan Smith on tonight's OVERHEARD...8pm 

The temp at its core - a staggering 27 million degrees Fahrenheit...

You know it as the sun. Scientists know it as one of the most amazing physics laboratories in the universe. Now, with the help of new spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes, scientists are seeing the Sun as they never have before...even re-creating what happens at the very center of the Sun in labs here on Earth. Such experiments may help us predict and track solar storms that have the power to zap our power grid, shut down telecommunications, and ground global air travel...storms that have happened before-but never in the modern era of satellite communication. SECRETS OF THE SUN...8pm 

And speaking of power, our modern electric power grid has been called the biggest and most complex machine in the world - delivering electricity over 200,000 miles of high-tension transmission lines. Travel around the country with host Yul Kwon, as he reflects on the challenges of keeping the power flowing in AMERICA REVEALED...9pm

a "New Era", when everyone could be rich...in 1929.

By 1929, Charles Mitchell, President of the National City Bank (now Citibank), had popularized the idea of selling stock and high-yield bonds directly to the smaller investor. Mitchell and a very small group of bankers, brokers, and speculators manipulated the stock market, grew wealthy, and helped create the economic boom of the Twenties. This film chronicles the year the boom went bust through the words and experiences of the descendants of these titans of finance. "The Crash of '29" captures the unbounded optimism of an age, at a time when the stock market promised permanent prosperity...7pm 

Then...FRONTLINE tells the inside story of the origins of the modern financial meltdown and the battle to save the global economy. Over two consecutive weeks, the films explore key decisions, missed opportunities and the unprecedented moves by the government and banking leaders that have affected the fortunes of millions of people...8pm

I would totally go for the Burl Ives puppet...

In Atlanta, host Mark Walberg looks at a circa 1939 copy of Gone With The Wind, signed by the author and the cast of the film; then jumps to Providence, Rhode Island and some original production puppets from the 1964 animated film Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer; plus a rare 1908 first edition copy of Anne of Green Gables, bought at a flea market for about $5 and since stored in an attic, valued at $12,000 to $18, 000...7pm and 8pm 

Join host Yul Kwon as he journeys across the continent by air, road and rail, and lands in Las Vegas, where he sees how transportation analysts are keeping traffic at bay by revolutionizing the use of one basic tool: the traffic light...AMERICA REVEALED...9pm

In college, his teacher was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...

Julian Bond's history as an activist stretches back to 1960, when he began leading sit-ins in Atlanta, and reaches across movements including civil rights, peace and advocacy for economic justice. Bond helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, held office for a total of ten terms in the Georgia General Assembly, and has also served as chair of the NAACP, a major leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center and a powerful force behind many other groups.
OVERHEARD with Evan Smith...8pm

Vacation in a giant shopping mall...on the ocean.

The average cruise ship has doubled in size in just the last ten years. Some engineers fear that these towering behemoths are dangerously unstable,and the recent tragedy of the Costa Concordia has raised new questions about their safety. Now, NOVA brings together marine engineering and safety experts to explain famous cruise disasters...are we on the brink of a 21st century Titanic? NOVA...8PM

And Yul Kwon journeys across the continent by air, road and rail, venturing behind the scenes with the workers who get us where we need to go...he listens in on a call with NASA, the secret service, the military and every major airline to learn how our national flight plan works today. The second installment of AMERICA REVEALED...9pm