Medved, Hartmann to debate health care

Battle on health care

Conservative-talk WIND 560-AM and progressive WCPT 820-AM, 92.5-FM, 92.7-FM and 99.9-FM will have at it in a battle over health care simulcast on the rival stations. Michael Medved will argue the conservative viewpoint against Thom Hartmann in a one-hour "Radio Townhall Meeting" airing at 4 p.m. today.

Jay goes prime time

NBC's cost-cutting measures reach new extremes when "The Jay Leno Show" debuts at 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, on WMAQ Channel 5. Yes, NBC is cutting its 9 o'clock dramas to make way for Leno's "Tonight"-style talk show. It will either permanently alter the prime-time landscape, or seal the doom of the once-proud peacock network. Viewers will be the ones who decide.

Burns in the 'Parks'

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns paves the way for his upcoming PBS miniseries, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," with a luncheon appearance at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, starting at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, with Burns signing the companion book. The luncheon is sponsored by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Tickets are $40, available at the chapter Web site at chicagoemmyonline.org or by calling (312) 369-8600.

Who needs 'Heroes?'

While determinedly stoopid and nowhere near as cutting-edge as "M*A*S*H," "Kelly's Heroes" is a respectable Vietnam-era war lampoon, returning to World War II for a comic caper involving Clint Eastwood and Donald Sutherland, with Telly Savalas and even Don Rickles in key supporting roles. Its dumbness serves its larger point on the stupidity of war. It's at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, on Turner Classic Movies.