Shorts The gimmick of Directed By (Showtime, Oct. 2, 10-11 p.m.) is that all the half-hour movies in the series have been filmed by well-known actors. It's the screenwriters, however, who make the first two entries, "Texan" and "On Hope," rise and fall, respectively. Treat Williams does a serviceable job behind the camera on "Texan," yet it's David Mamet's staccato dialogue that gives snap to this tale of a Korean War pilot (Dabney Coleman) who suspects his wife (Dana Delaney) is cheating on him. Meanwhile, JoBeth Williams' "On Hope" suffers from a soggy script by Lynn Mamet (David's sister). Annette O'Toole stars as a chilly WASP who strikes up an unlikely friendship with an earthy Jew played by Mercedes Ruehl (who seems to have taken her Oscar as a license to overact). We liked it better under its original title: Beaches.
Music "This is a story about the journey of life and the wonder of music," promises the high-flown narration accompanying the road (syndicated; check local listings), a new series following country stars and their customized buses to honky-tonks, hotel rooms, and tattoo parlors. The roster of talent runs the gamut from chart-toppers (Travis Tritt, Reba McEntire) to cult favorites (Joe Ely, Carlene Carter), with a few citified acts (Jackson Browne, Michelle Shocked) thrown in for good measure. A more traditional country showcase, Charlie Daniels' Talent Roundup (The Nashville Network, Saturdays starting Oct. 1, 7-8 p.m.) is a Star Search-style amateur hour emceed by the graybeard fiddler. If there's a God in heaven, Daniels will play "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" every week.
Documentaries He played Hannibal the Cannibal on the big screen, but in Nature: In The Lion's Den with Anthony Hopkins (PBS, check local listings), the series' season debut, Sir Tony goes looking for man-eaters of the more traditional, four-legged variety. The Oscar winner reveals that he's had a thing for the King of Beasts since boyhood. So he bids his house cat adieu and heads for Africa, where he observes a pride in the wild as it devours several animals, including-oops-one of its own cubs. After that, Hopkins doesn't lionize the critters quite as much. -Erica Kornberg
Choice Reruns Gen Xers no longer need to sing in vain, "Scooby-Dooby-Doo, where are you?" The weak-kneed Great Dane is back on the Scooby- Doo Hour (TNT, weekdays, 8-9 a.m., and The Cartoon Network, weekdays starting Oct. 3, 7-8 p.m.), chasing ghosts with his teenage pals Freddy, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy (voiced by deejay Casey Kasem) in their supercool "Mystery Machine" van. Now if someone would just bring back Fat Albert...
