A New HBO Channel Devoted to Comedy.

South African writer Nadine Gordimer. She is one of that country's best-known artists and one of the most vocal and effective opponents of apartheid, the laws that mandate strict separation of the races. Gordimer's novels include A Sport of Nature, July's People, Burger's Daughter and The Conservationist. Her new book, a collection of essays, is titled The Essential Gesture. It provides a portrait of South Africa and of Gordimer's emergence as an artist. (rebroadcast. Originally on 5/24/89).

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead takes a historic look at boogie-woogie piano music. Includes such piano players as Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Jimmy Yancey.

Film director and screenwriter Robert Towne. Towne is perhaps Hollywood's most successful and critically acclaimed screenwriter. He wrote the scripts for the films "The Last Detail," "Shampoo" and "Chinatown," which won the Academy Award for the best screenplay. He debuted as a director with the 1982 film "Personal Best." His most recent film, which he wrote the screenplay for and directed, is "Tequila Sunrise," now out on home video. (Rebroadcast. Originally aired 12/15/88).