TV Eye
Back to the Box
By Belinda Acosta, Fri., July 11, 2008
The watching TV without a TV marathon is officially over. I got the cable hooked up this week. Is it possible that summer TV has gotten even worse than I remember when I let the tube go black? Every channel I flipped to, there was some new low-rent reality series that strained my patience. Thankfully, those can be bypassed when a slew of new and returning series hit the airwaves starting next week:
Burn Notice (USA) returns Thursday, July 10, at 9pm. The Closer and Saving Grace (TNT) return July 14 at 8 and 9pm respectively. Monk (USA) returns July 18 at 8pm.
New series' loglines:
Flashpoint (CBS) Friday, July 11, at 9pm: Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars, Just Shoot Me!) stars as the leader of a special team of Canadian law enforcement officers who specialize in defusing touchy and potentially dangerous situations.
The Cleaner (A&E) Tuesday, July 15, at 9pm: Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order) looks especially yummy (and grumpy) as a former heroin addict who has cleaned up his life and sets about helping others kick their very bad habits. Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal) also stars.
Generation Kill (HBO) Sunday, July 13, at 8pm: This miniseries from the creators of The Wire follows the first troops sent into Iraq and documents how they live, work, bond, and survive. Based on the book by Evan Wright.
The Gong Show With Dave Attell (Comedy Central) Thursday, July 17, at 9pm: Another talent show – this one with, well, a gong and Dave Attell.
For those of you looking for a little gravitas in your TV programming, there are two programs that fall into the TV-is-good-for-you category but go down exceptionally smooth. The first of these is the brilliant documentary series Earth: The Biography. Who knew earth science could be so compelling? Hosted by Dr. Iain Stewart, this five-part BBC production is a completely engrossing and often stunning look at the forces that make our planet spin. Stewart takes viewers all over the globe to explain how the world is one large system that is at once powerful and dynamic, precious and vulnerable. We've all been lectured on the evils of global warming. While this warning is not absent in the program, it takes a back seat to the marvels of Earth – how it came to be, how it is, and how it will end if man does not stop living as if it were indestructible. Stewart is a particularly able guide, his infectious enthusiasm reminiscent of a modern-day Carl Sagan, the astronomer who brought astronomy and astrophysics to a lay audience in the award-winning series Cosmos, which aired on PBS in the 1980s. Whether he is flying into the stratosphere, diving into the deepest parts of the ocean, or setting ice on fire (very cool, until you learn what it means for the future of the planet), Stewart, along with some truly gorgeous CGI, high-definition film, and time-lapse technology, actually makes you sit up with awe. My only complaint is that this spectacular documentary begs to be seen on a larger screen.
Earth: The Biography airs three nights starting Sunday, July 13, on the National Geographic Channel. Check local listings for times. Don't have cable? Not to worry. The series will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc the following week.
The Last Conquistador, the next installment in the POV series, should also be filed under TV-is-good-for-you programming. In one compact hour, the film candidly captures the pain and frustration that arises when what seemed a straightforward art-in-public-spaces project turned into a political flashpoint in El Paso.
When artist John Houser was commissioned to create a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, he envisioned a piece that would both celebrate Hispanic culture and carry on his family tradition of capturing history in stone (his grandfather was a carver on Mount Rushmore). But when Native Americans began to protest the work, Houser and supporters of the work were taken aback. The protesters saw the Oñate project as honoring a military leader who was tried and convicted for human rights abuses against their ancestors. The Oñate project launched a series of heated discussions about how history is written and revealed the barbed relationship between cultures and classes in the present.
The Last Conquistador airs Tuesday, July 15, at 10pm on PBS.
As always, stay tuned.
