All times Eastern.

• 6PM, Discovery Channel - How It’s Made: Included: plastic bags; solar panels; plastic gasoline containers; hockey sticks.
• 6PM, Science Channel - How It’s Made: Ropes; billiard tables; sailboards; cymbals.
• 6PM, History Channel - Modern Marvels: Horsepower. A history of horsepower examines the origin of the word and the many ways it’s used. Included: the powerful diesel engine of a container ship; the harnessing of water power at Hoover Dam; the pumping units at the Edmonston Pumping Plant in California
• 6PM, National Geographic - Shrink-Wrapped & Boxed Up: The packaging industry is spotlighted. Included: the history and future of packing materials; environmentally friendly plastics made from corn and tapioca starch.
• 6PM, Travel Channel - Pizza Wars: New York vs. Chicago: The cities of New York and Chicago have long waged a battle over who has the best pizza in the United States; Chicago is known for deep dish while New York has thin crust pizza; creators discuss the origins of each.

6:30 and on after the jump. Happy weekend!

• 6:30PM, Discovery Channel - How It’s Made: Included: copy paper; jeans; computers; plate glass.
• 6:30PM, HGTV - World’s Most Extreme Homes: Included: a home built in a crater in a fashionable London neighborhood; a game-lodge home in South Africa; and a castle with 64 rooms.
• 6:30PM, G4 - Ninja Warrior: Human physical ability is tested in each episode, as 100 competitors push their limits through a physically demanding four-stage course.
• 6:30PM, Science Channel - How It’s Made: Seatbelts; windows; wax figurines; hot-air balloons.
• 6:30PM, DIY - Ultimate Workshop II: The Ultimate Automotive Workshop. How to design a workshop for auto repair.
• 7PM, PBS - BBC World News: International news from the British Broadcasting Corporation. (If your PBS station doesn’t carry this, they should be yelled at. Loudly.)
• 7PM, Food Network - Good Eats: True Grits. Grits are spotlighted.
• 7PM, Discovery Health - Impact: Stories of Survival: Bear Attack. Included: a tangled parachute causes a broken back; a factory worker’s skull is crushed by machinery; a bear attack leaves a man severely disfigured.
• 7PM, History Channel - Modern Marvels: Renewable Energy. Renewable energy, its development and the most reliable sources are examined. Included: geothermal energy; biofuels; and solar, wind and tidal power.
• 7PM, Discovery Channel - I Shouldn’t Be Alive: Blood in the Water. A boating trip on the Zambezi River turns desperate when a hippo overturns the vessel and crocodiles close in on the survivors.
• 7:30PM, Fuel - Weekly Update: A look at the world of action sports, including news, highlights and interviews with athletes.
• 8PM, Fuse - Tattoo Stories: An exploration of the tattoo culture features people relating the tales behind their skin art.
• 8PM, Discovery Channel - Rogue: Hippo; Croc. Dave Salmoni examines two animal hazards of African waterways, the hippopotamus and the crocodile, and investigates whether their bad reputations are justified.
• 8PM, CMTV - Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search: The contestants prepare four dances and learn bartending moves. Later, Lil ranks the wannabe Coyotes to let them know whom she’s favoring early in the competition.
• 8PM, Travel Channel - 1000 Places to See Before You Die: South Africa. The Ulles travel to South Africa and take in wildlife reserves and diverse native cultures. Included: Cape Town.
• 8PM, WPIX - Friday Night SmackDown!: People being smacked down, is my guess.
• 9PM, Science Channel - How It’s Made: Pistons; paint rollers; parachutes; chimneys.
• 9PM, Discovery Channel - Man vs. Wild: Desert Island. Bear Grylls is cast adrift in the Pacific Ocean, encountering coral reefs, rip currents, relentless surf and sharks.
• 9PM, National Geographic - Secret Yellowstone: A tour of Yellowstone’s more remote, often dangerous areas that are far beyond the tourist hot spots. Included: a 20-mile-long canyon.
• 9PM, Travel Channel - Weird Travels: Alien Encounters. The increased number of UFO sightings has led to increased questions about the possibility of a presence in the universe other than humans.
• 9:30PM, Science Channel - How It’s Made: Carbon-dioxide cartridges; pretzels; scissor lifts; skating rinks.
• 10PM, National Geographic - Secret Yosemite: Exploring the “giants” in Yosemite National Park. Included: an elite rock climber scales El Capitan; Yosemite Falls, North America’s tallest waterfall; giant sequoias.
• 10PM, Discovery Health - Diagnosis: Unknown: Silent Death. A man becomes violently ill and the doctors discover he has been poisoned with thallium.
• 10PM, Discovery Times - Nuclear Crossroads: Bombing of Bikini Atoll: Underwater photographer Al Giddings dives the Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific, exploring the wreckage from the 1946 U.S. military tests of nuclear weapons on captured Japanese and German warships and junked American ships.
• 10:30PM, DIY - Classic Car Restoration: 1962 Thunderbird Restoration. How to refurbish and upgrade the transmission pan, the filter and gasket, the drum brakes and the exhaust system. Also: upgrading from an open to a limited-slip differential.