Reality

Does cable TV's business-news leader CNBC have what it takes to make it in prime time? We'll find out on Tuesday night when the network, known for attracting millions of affluent, educated viewers during the day with its minute-by-minute live coverage of Wall Street and the financial sector, ventures into uncharted territory with a new prime-time reality programming block. Dubbed “CNBC Prime,” the two-hour unscripted block will begin at 9 p.m. with “Treasure Detectives,” in which art and antiques expert Curtis Dowling investigates the authenticity of high-value collectibles such as a mug said to have belonged to John Lennon.

"LA Shrinks" debuts Monday on Bravo, which may be broadly described as a network on which people who really do not need the money star in reality programs. It focuses on three therapists, hopping from one to the other -- they don't interact -- and following each in and out of the office. In contrast to the house style, the principals are relatively likable and well adjusted, though not without their challenges. For the space of the opening episode, at least, none of them scream. Our practitioners: -- Dr. Venus Nicolino, who lives and works in a big, marbled Bel-Air mansion, with a husband and four kids, two their own and two nephews under "permanent guardianship" (reason unstated)

LONDON - As the world's oldest subway, better known as the Tube, celebrates its 150th birthday, here's a familiar but gently tweaked reminder: Mind the map. The London Underground is justly famous as a defining feature of the British capital, a wonder of the modern age that whooshes millions of riders around the city every day. But a London institution that may have an even tighter grip on the public imagination is having a birthday too...

Testimony began Monday in Manhattan federal court, where a jury was being asked to determine when role playing crosses virtual reality into criminal action. The prosecution and defense kicked off the ”Cannibal Cop” trial, sparring over how seriously to take the actions of Gilberto Valle, 28, a New York City policeman accused of conspiring to kidnap and eventually eat women. He is also accused of using information from a law enforcement database to build a list of 100 women who the prosecution says were potential targets.

A cameraman and pilot died in a plane crash in Kenya during filming of a Discovery series called "Dangerous Flights," the latest fatal incident to occur in the reality-TV industry. John Driftmier, a cameraman and director, was filming aerial footage for the program when the small plane he was in crashed, killing him and the pilot, who was not identified, according to a statement from Pixcom, the Canadian producer of the series. Driftmier, 30, worked on various reality-TV shows, including "Highway Thru Hell" and "License to Drill.

Facing intense criticism, the Associated Press announced Thursday that it would revise its influential stylebook to include a single standard when referring to gay and straight spouses. It will add this entry for "husband, wife": "Regardless of sexual orientation, 'husband' or 'wife' is acceptable in all references to individuals in any legally recognized marriage. 'Spouse' or 'partner' may be used if requested. " A leaked memo had previously revealed that the massive news agency, which sets the standard for many journalists worldwide, was advising its writers to "generally" call legally married gay spouses "partners" instead of "husband" or "wife.

A wristwatch that reads your text messages out loud, a jacket that heats up when you're cold, eyeglasses that display directions as you walk down the street. Gimmicks, or fashion of the future? Although those products may seem like something out of a James Bond movie, the world's largest technology companies and start-ups alike believe "wearable tech" is the next big frontier, and they have been pouring money and research into developing high-tech clothing and accessories.

The pilot of a helicopter that crashed in Acton this month had his pilot privileges suspended twice in the last decade, Federal Aviation Administration records show. David Gibbs, 59, of Valencia was among three people killed in an early morning crash at the Polsa Rosa Ranch on Feb. 10 during the production of a military-themed reality TV show for the Discovery Channel. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, which was the worst film set accident in California since 1982, when star Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed by a helicopter that slammed into them during the filming of "Twilight Zone: The Movie.

Re "Another look at Booker T.," Opinion, Feb. 12 The Republicans seem so enamored of simplistic solutions to complex problems. Dr. Benjamin Carson's talk at the National Prayer Breakfast is a good example of this. His idea of health savings accounts sounds logical until you examine how insurance companies work. I have two daughters with serious health problems and a great granddaughter who was born with tuberous sclerosis. If they had to find their own coverage, no insurer would accept them.

The trouble with freak shows is never the people who actually comprise them. The "giants" and midgets, the consumers of sword and flame, the overly hirsute, these are people called upon by nature or spirit to showcase the physical limits of human experience, and audiences typically view them with admiration or pity. No, the truly disturbing characters of freak shows, and freak show lore, are inevitably the non-freaks, the barkers and the owners, the performers from the more common end of "normal.