BEST BETS FOR FRIDAY, MAY 02, 2008

	GULLIVER'S TRAVELS ION, 7 p.m. ET If you can find the ION network in your local broadcast market or cable or satellite lineup (good luck with that), at least tonight those efforts will be rewarded. From 7-11 p.m. ET, ION presents the 1996 miniseries version of Jonathan Swift’s satiric classic, starring Ted Danson as Gulliver. This is one of the better literary adaptations made for TV, so enjoy – though, a dozen years later, the special effects likely will feel a bit… 20th century.
	20/20 ABC, 8 p.m. ET Tonight’s installment travels to Italy, and to what sounds like The Da Vinci Code territory, to look up at the Sistine Chapel – and seek for hidden messages. What’s up there, according to this new account? Everything from a spinal column to rude gestures, as well as some defiant prominence given to ancient Jewish texts.
	DOCTOR WHO Sci Fi Channel , 9 p.m. ET ABC isn’t the only show traveling to Italy tonight. This sci-fi series goes there, too, as the Doctor takes Donna to a nice stop in Pompeii. Problem is, because he’s a Time Lord, they’ve stopped there the day before Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city. The Doctor wants to help the locals, but what can he do?
	BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Sci Fi Channel , 10 p.m. ET Tonight’s episode spends more time on Kara’s spaceship, her quest to find Earth, and her crew’s often angry reaction to her obsessive nature. Don’t expect any smooth sailing. On this show, even in space, they can hear you scream.
	E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL TV Land, 10 p.m. ET I think this is a wonderful movie, and it’s always worth watching – though when interrupted by so many commercials, as TV Land tends to do with its movie showcases, you’re in danger of forgetting what film you’re watching by the time the ad breaks are over. And, if I may ask, what’s the logic of a network called TV Land presenting movies anyway? Does The Movie Channel show old TV series?
	RINGO STARR: OFF THE RECORD HBO, 11 p.m. ET This is the latest edition of a very infrequent series of specials called Off the Record, in which Dave Stewart of Eurythmics asking fellow musicians about their lives and careers. This time Stewart cashes in one of his biggest chips by chatting with buddy Ringo Starr, with whom he collaborated on the former Beatle’s new CD. For more, see today’s BIANCULLI’S BLOG.