Discovery Channel

The series that pries behind the scenes to show young viewers how Hollywood creates its eye-popping special effects is back for its second season on Discovery Channel--delivering another round of real-life adventures and headaches for the program's Studio City production company. "Mega Movie Magic" launched its new season Sunday by revealing how a remote-controlled robot and a computer-generated space battle were created in the NewLine Cinema production "Lost in Space."

Every year Southern California performing arts venues send out millions of brochures touting their upcoming season. It's no surprise to see Yo-Yo Ma or Mikhail Baryshnikov on the rosters, but what about all those lesser-knowns? How did "Suds," a musical featuring 1960s hits, earn a matinee slot in April at Pepperdine's Smothers Theatre? And how did the contra-dance band the Clayfoot Strutters land a two-night December gig at the Cerritos Center's Sierra Room?

She's an assistant professor at UCLA who specializes in ancient Egyptian art and architecture. But Kara Cooney doesn't teach only in the lecture hall. She teaches on the small screen too. Cooney, who has been in the university's department of Near Eastern languages and cultures since January, traveled the world -- visiting sacred sites, looking at mummified baboons and disembodied heads, even getting spit on by a Mexican shaman in a cleansing ritual -- for "Out of Egypt," a six-part series premiering tonight on the Discovery Channel.

Carol L. Fleisher, the writer, director and producer of the Discovery Channel's moving new documentary, "Pet Love," originally wanted to call the special "Beyond Kibble." "I did hear one expert say the reason dogs and humans are such good friends is that dogs are in a perpetual search for food," she says, a staple that humans usually supply. "It's true my golden retriever is constantly hungry, but the bond is much deeper than that."

A helicopter crash in northern Los Angeles County that killed three people was one of the worst film set accidents in recent years and is likely to further fuel debate over whether working conditions on reality TV programs are unsafe. Three people, including the pilot and a cast member, were killed in a helicopter crash early Sunday morning at the Polsa Rosa Ranch in a remote area near Soledad Canyon Road in Acton, authorities said. The 730-acre ranch, which straddles the Santa Clara River and borders the Angeles National Forest, is a popular spot for filming.

Television Times heralds the fact that it now has 52 new expanded listings, yet it still doesn't list Discovery Channel. How could this be? In my opinion, the Discovery Channel consistently offers the best programming on television. Brian Hamer, Malibu