HISTOREALITY CHANNEL

As reality TV continues to dominate the ratings, Vanity Fair looks at how the History Channel is grappling with the issue, and offers a peek into next year's schedule

BRUCE FEIRSTEIN

MON 9:00 P.M.

THE VOICE FOR THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow and British prime minister Winston Churchill face off to be "the Voice of the Blitz." Murrow performs his signature "London Calling" from a rooftop while Churchill is accused of using a stand-in to re-create his speeches for broadcast over the BBC.

TUES 8:00 P.M.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

Kitty Oppenheimer argues with Grace Groves about plutonium vs. uranium bombs; Mici Teller mixes up another batch of "atomic margaritas"; Laura Fermi meets with an F.B.I. agent to discuss Communist spies. Later, the gals meet up to contemplate fashion, the end of the war, and possibly the end of the world.

WED 7:30 P.M.

MONSTER GARAGE/PIMP MY RIDE: REAL LIFE IN THE GREEN ZONE, BAGHDAD 2003

Tonight, six military contractors work round the clock to trick out Humvees and S.U.V/s to make them impervious to attacks from I.E.D/s and R.P.G/s. Starring Don Rumsfeld, Muqtada al-Sadr, and Blackwaters Erik Prince, along with musical guest Rage Against the Machine.

THURS 10:00 P.M.

KEEPING UP WITH THE CLEOPATRANS

Following a fight with Julius Caesar, Cleo engages in some shopping therapy, strolling the marketplace in search of essential oils and a new chariot. Later, she throws a fit— accusing her pet asp of disloyalty—when she discovers that a self-scribed, X-rated tablet was stolen from her bedroom and left in a basket amid the reeds and bulrushes along the Nile.

FRI 10:00 P.M.

WORLD PREMIERE: SURVIVOR— THE KREMLIN

It's January 1924. Vladimir Lenin is dead. Leon Trotsky, Grigori Zinoviev, "Niki" Bukharin, and Joe "The Situation" Stalin vie to fill the power vacuum and become the "top dog" in the U.S.S.R. As Trotsky is sent into exile, Stalin asks, "Who wants to go out for an ice pick?"

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