Frontline

Lights, action, AIDS. He was Fabian Bridges, a gay man with AIDS, a miserable, wretched, uncaring victim-turned-victimizer who used his body as a lethal weapon. Even as he was dying, Fabian continued to have promiscuous sex, knowing he could be infecting his unknowing partners with the fatal AIDS virus. "I'm just to the point where I just don't give a damn," he said without emotion. What an awful, awful illness. And what an awful, awful person.

I want you to know that after viewing the April 6 episode of "Frontline" about street cops, I was so moved that I felt pity for both the cops and the suspects. Please let the "Frontline" people know that they must continue their endeavor in the pursuit of human nature. The show was wonderful! Michael Lunsford, Pasadena

"Frontline," on PBS stations tonight (9 p.m. on Channel 28, 10 p.m. on Channel 50), focuses on a depressingly familiar subject--infant mortality, how much could be done to prevent it and how little is. Utterly devoid of flash, the report would risk boredom but for the abject futility of its subject, which transforms it into a gripping hour of worthwhile television. Set on the west side of Chicago, "Frontline" examines the numbing reality confronting outreach programs and health workers at Cook County Hospital.

In an attempt to mount a new documentary series for public television, four non-commercial stations have set out to raise funds for what they're calling "The American Documentary." The stations in the consortium are the same ones that presently produce public television's "American Playhouse" drama series: KCET Channel 28 in Los Angeles, WNET in New York, WGBH in Boston and South Carolina Educational Television.

"Raising Adam Lanza," which premieres Tuesday as part of the PBS series "Frontline," is one of a number of programs the network is airing this week under the banner "After Newtown. " Undertaken in concert with the Hartford Courant, it focuses on Nancy Lanza, the mother of the Sandy Hook Elementary School killer and also his first victim, to try to make a senseless act more sensible. It fails, of course. There are some nuggets of new information, to be sure, which "Frontline" and the Courant had jealously guarded; reviewers were forbidden to publish these facts before the paper unveiled them in a more detailed print story last Sunday.

Below are five things to watch when Team USA faces France in the opening round of the 2012 London Olympics, beginning Sunday at 6:30 a.m. PDT. (We will host a live chat for any early birds crazy enough to join me). 1. Team USA can win by double-digit margins, but it has to try. There's very little chance the U.S. will lose this game, let alone the tournament. But Team USA can't exactly sleepwalk in the opener. Only the fans waking up in L.A. for the early tip can do that. France, after all, features a few NBA players, including Spurs point guard Tony Parker, Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum, future Spurs guard Nando De Colo, Spurs forward Boris Diaw and former Laker and current Clipper Ronny Turiaf.

It's official. The Lakers will play the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs, beginning with Game 1 on Sunday at Staples Center. Here are five things to note regarding the match-up: 1. Can the Lakers shape up on defense?  The effort from Andrew Bynum isn't always there. Metta World Peace won't be available to defend Danilo Gallinari, who was held from World Peace to a combined three-of-18 clip. For all the upgrade Ramon Sessions brings offensively, his defensive rating (340 via Synergy)

Student loan debt is pushing an increasing number of young people and their parents toward bankruptcy, according to a survey released Tuesday. More than four-fifths of bankruptcy attorneys say they've seen a notable jump in the number of potential clients with student loan debt, with nearly half the lawyers reporting a significant increase in such cases, according to the report by the National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. Nearly one-quarter of attorneys say the number of potential student loan clients has risen 50% to 100%, while 39% of attorneys report increases of 25% to 50%. Student debt is rising for obvious reasons: steadily spiraling college costs, financial aid cutbacks at public universities and a stubbornly weak economy that's making it difficult for graduates to find jobs.