TV Lookout: highlights for the week ahead, May 11-17

Filmmaker Douglas Gayeton ponders life's big issues by means of a digital surrogate in "Molotov Alva and His Search for the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey," premiering 8 p.m. EDT Thursday on Cinemax.

Its premise is simple. Gayeton delves into the online virtual world called Second Life for an extended stay, professing to have left real life behind.

"Whatever connection I once had to that carbon-based world is now gone," he claims, while his avatar, Molotov Alva, journeys far and wide in this alternate realm, trying to figure things out.

Billed as the first documentary shot entirely in virtual reality, this half-hour meditation seems to be the creation of Molotov Alva, who captures footage of Second Life's sights with the camera he totes.

Meanwhile, he contemplates such issues as the "reality" of standing on a virtual-reality beach. There is no crunchy feeling to the sand, no salty scent in the air. It's up to his sense-memory to fill in the gaps.

"But what would become of this place after my memories faded?" he wonders. Without memories to give life to the artifice of Second Life, how could this digital facsimile sustain him? Unless, maybe, "after my 'first life' memories were gone, I would no longer miss what I'd lost."

Maybe you're a Second Life regular. Or maybe talk of avatars and virtual worlds leaves you cold. No matter. This "Search for the Creator" is whimsical, thought-provoking and visually arresting. Even when experienced from the real-life couch in your living room, it's a trip.

Other shows to look out for:

-Better get your head out of that virtual sand long enough to do something nice for mom in a real-life way on Mother's Day. NBC marks the centennial of this holiday with "America's Favorite Mom," airing 7 p.m. EDT Sunday. During the broadcast, one lucky mom will be crowned, based on online voting, from semifinalists in five categories: Military Mom, Working Mom, Single Mom, Unconventional Mom and Stay-At-Home Mom. Prizes for the winning mom include $250,000 in cash. Donny and Marie Osmond are hosts of the one-hour special.