NEW YORK (AP) ? Willing to jump into a pirate adventure lacking Johnny Depp? Consider History Channel?s ?True Caribbean Pirates?, which tells dead man?s tales about Blackbeard, Black Bart and other pillagers and plunderers.

According to the two-hour programme debuting at 2 p.m. Bermuda time on Sunday, piracy had its roots in the practice of ?privateering?, in which nations lusting for New World riches used freelance private sailors instead of navies to counter dominant Spain in the Caribbean.

The lure of wealth tempted some to cross the line into piracy, but it was peace that really swelled the pirate ranks. With thousands of privateers and sailors out of work, the age of outlaw pirates was under way; even women (Anne Bonny and Mary Read, among them) joined in.

Among the more colourful details in the program: Blackbeard intimidated foes by placing burning rope beneath his heat to create a fearsome cloud of smoke; Nassau, Bahamas, became the site of a sort of all-pirate resort; the iconoclastic Black Bart Roberts conducted religious services but hanged an official from a ship yardarm.

Technically, it was Dave Chappelle who got lost and not the skits that Comedy Central has packaged as ?Chappelle?s Show: The Lost Episodes? after the comedian walked away from a $50 million contract. The episodes, debuting at 10 p.m. Bermuda time on Sunday, were assembled by series co-creator Neal Brennan when Chappelle left during production of a new season. Among the bits: a successful Chappelle seeking revenge on those who belittled him in the past and one in which he plays the host of ?Hip Hop Newsbreak? in whiteface. The show?s three-episode run is abbreviated but the biting humor and laughs aren?t. Chappelle himself has expressed concerns about how racial elements of the show were received, perhaps one clue to his escape from TV and back to stand-up. Meanwhile, stay tuned Sunday to Comedy Central and catch the fourth-season premiere of the riotous spoof ?RENO 911!? (11.30 p.m. Bermuda time).

Two decades after its debut, ?Pee-wee?s Playhouse? is back in all its singular glory. Reruns of the series starring Paul Reubens as bowtie-bedecked funmeister Pee-wee will air at noon Bermuda time on Monday through Thursday on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network?s late-night block of programmes for grown-ups. The Emmy-winning series, which aired beginning in 1986 as a CBS Saturday morning show, combined live action, puppets and a variety of animation styles and boasted impressive players including Phil Hartman, Laurence Fishburne and S. Epatha Merkerson. All the original 45 episodes will air, along with ?Pee-wee?s Playhouse Christmas Special?.

When Woody Guthrie sang ?This Land is Your Land?, he meant it. The artist who expressed populism, patriotism and politics in his enduring music is profiled on PBS? ?American Masters?, airing at 10 p.m. Bermuda time on Wednesday. Often portrayed as a talented hillbilly musician, the true measure of Guthrie?s complexity could be seen in his circle of friends and acquaintances, including John Steinbeck, Aaron Copland and Martha Graham. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and U2 are among the diverse performers who have given voice to his art. Also detailed in the biography are the personal flaws and tragedy that beset Guthrie, who died in 1967 at 55 of an inherited disease (Huntington?s chorea) that left him unable to move or talk before it claimed his life.

If you want to add a chill to your summer night, tune in to ?CNN Presents: No Survivors, Why TWA 800 Could Happen Again?. The two-hour documentary examines the 1996 explosion of the Paris-bound flight over the Atlantic minutes after it left New York with 230 passengers. Some witnesses claimed to see a missile but federal investigators concluded the probable cause was an electrical short circuit that sparked an explosion in a vapour-filled fuel tank, not terrorism.

The government also warned that other ageing planes were vulnerable and, according to the documentary, similar disasters still are likely to occur. The programme debuts at 8 p.m. Bermuda time on Saturday and repeats at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Bermuda time on July 16.