'Sesame Street'
(Check local listings for time, PBS) 39th season premiere
We know, we know, you were promised there'd be no math in this TV Pick, but it turns out that the theme of this new season on the 'Street' will revolve around helping the kiddies hone their addin' and subtractin' skills.

No groaning moms and dads ... yes, there'll be math for the ankle biters, but it'll be delivered by a slew of fun celeb guests, including Jack Black and Feist in today's season opener, as well as Neil Patrick Harris (Aug. 12), Heidi Klum (Aug. 14) and Jenny McCarthy (Aug. 15) the rest of the week.

Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar and the gang will also unspool some clever pop culture spoofs ('Pre-School Musical' and 'Are You Smarter Than an Egg Layer?' promise to make us chuckle), and welcome both a new Web site filled with free games and videos and a new 'Street' resident: Leela, an Indian-American woman who'll share her culture with the rest of the 'Street' while working at the laundromat next door to Mr. Hooper's store.

Yeah, so maybe a little math isn't so bad after all.

This is a first: I'm actually going to recommend you watch Masterpiece Theater this evening. I'm sure their have been some great films shown on the long-running public television mainstay, but this is the first time I've actually thought to myself, 'you know, I should actually check that out.'

I'm talking about The Wind in the Willows, an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic children's tale that centers on Mr. Toad, a creature with a proclivity for extravagance and crazy hobbies. The adaptation, which airs tonight on most PBS stations (you'll have to check your local listings), isn't an animated version, or even a live-action version with a lot of fancy special effects. Instead, the story relies on the actors' ability to inhabit their animal roles: Bob Hoskins as Badger, Matt Lucas (Little Britain) as Mr. Toad, Mark Gatiss (League of Gentlemen) as Ratty and Lee Ingleby (The Street, Spaced) as Mole. The movie was shot in Romania and directed by Rachel Talalay, whose directing credits include a slew of television series including The Dead Zone, What About Brian and Ally McBeal.

I'm guessing the live-action won't hold the attention of younger children, who would probably enjoy something closer to Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, but adults and older children who grew up with Grahame's book might appreciate it a bit more.