The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

Mondays at Racine

One of the challenges of battling cancer is that the illness and its treatment can affect a person’s appearance and self-image. This touching 2012 documentary, which kicks off a night of Oscar-nominated short films, goes inside a Long Island salon on the one night each month when the co-owners provide free hair styling and cosmetic services to women diagnosed with the disease. Monday, Oct. 14, at 9 p.m., HBO

Pure Evel: American Legend

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Robert “Evel” Knievel crashed his way into the American imagination in 1967 with one bone-shattering failed motorcycle stunt. But Knievel and his Triumph kept flying over new obstacles, becoming star-spangled icons that inspired a toy line, lunch boxes, and countless backyard BMX accidents. This documentary rides a wheelie into your living room, tracing the arc of a daredevil career whose demise proved fairly spectacular too. Monday, Oct. 14, at 10 p.m., Discovery

POV: 56 Up

There is, it turns out, an effective way to measure a life. In 1963, 14 British 7-year-olds were questioned about their lives, hopes, and dreams for a TV documentary called Seven Up! Director Michael Apted has gone back to them every seven years since, and his series grows ever more poignant. In the eighth installment, his subjects are 56, and, though few of their journeys have been easy, appear surprisingly free of bitterness or regrets. Monday, Oct. 14, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Burton and Taylor

Liz Taylor, Richard Burton, and their tumultuous, high-profile relationship deserved better than last year’s dismal Lifetime production starring Lindsay Lohan in comeback mode. In this BBC-produced effort, Helena Bonham Carter and The Wire’s Dominic West star as Taylor and Burton as the boozy twice-married screen legends reunite, disastrously, for a 1983 staging of Noël Coward’s Private Lives. Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 9 p.m., BBC America

Dancing on the Edge

Jazz musicians who ventured overseas in the 1930s found no sanctuary in England. This five-part miniseries, inspired by Duke Ellington’s experiences, follows the rise of a fictional big band as it’s briefly embraced by English aristocrats before being undone by a murder conspiracy. Chiwetel Ejiofor of 12 Years a Slave stars as the bandleader, and John Goodman plays a key patron. Saturday, Oct. 19, at 10 p.m., Starz

Other highlights

Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle

Comic books have come a long way since Action Comics No. 1. This three-hour special chronicles the whole amazing story. Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Schooled: The Price of College Sports

Sam Rockwell narrates this hard-hitting documentary about how amateur athletes are exploited by big-time college sports. Houston Texans running back Arian Foster reveals a few of the racket’s secrets. Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 8 p.m., Epix

The Birthday Boys

Fresh off his Breaking Bad stint, Bob Odenkirk returns to his Mr. Show roots, starring alongside an L.A. improv troupe in this new sketch comedy series.Friday, Oct. 18, at 10:30 p.m., IFC