Dream School
Can any teacher turn the lives of 15 high school dropouts around? This new reality series asks various celebrities to take up the challenge, handing over a classroom of disaffected teenagers to one achiever after another, from the Rev. Jesse Jackson to personal finance guru Suze Orman. Filmmaker Oliver Stone will teach history. Monday, Oct. 7, at 10 p.m., Sundance
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It’s been a year since Hurricane Sandy brought massive devastation to the East Coast. In the wake of the storm, questions remain. Was Sandy a freak occurrence, or a harbinger of storms to come? Should American cities be racing to invest in the infrastructure to gird against storm surges and rising sea levels? Climate scientists, engineers, and civic leaders weigh in. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings
American Horror Story: Coven
The hands-down scariest series on television returns with a new setting and storyline. This season, descendents of 18th-century Salem witches gather at a school in New Orleans to learn self-defense, only to fall into a turf war with the city’s voodoo witches. Series veteran Jessica Lange returns, this time as the Salem coven’s leader. Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, and Gabourey Sidibe co-star. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 10 p.m., FX
Secrets of the Dead: The Man Who Saved the World
Say a little thank-you tonight to Vasili Arkhipov. When the world teetered on the brink of World War III during 1962’s Cuban missile crisis, the little-known Soviet naval officer might have done more than anyone to prevent a nuclear holocaust. This gripping account brings viewers inside the Soviet sub that Arkhipov was serving on to detail how close the besieged crew came to unleashing a nuclear missile, and how Arkhipov prevailed on his peers to hold fire. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Gold Fever
The things people will do for a little gold. This four-part documentary miniseries revisits the California Gold Rush by following the travails of an outfit of 40 men who crossed the country and risked all to join the mad, nation-reshaping hunt for pay dirt in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath mountains. Begins Friday, Oct. 11, at 9 p.m., Discovery
Other highlights
Made in America
When rapper Jay Z put together a major, genre-mixing 2012 concert festival, director Ron Howard was on hand to shape performance footage and interviews into a documentary. Highlights include stage appearances by Kanye West, Pearl Jam, and a reunited Run-D.M.C. Friday, Oct. 11, at 9 p.m., Showtime
Vanilla Ice Goes Amish
The 1980s rapper takes his home-renovation show to Amish country, where even former pop stars must tackle kitchen makeovers without electricity and the usual array of power tools. Saturday, Oct. 12, at 10 p.m., DIY Network
The Walking Dead
The zombie apocalypse rolls on as a fourth season begins for this popular horror series. Sunday, Oct. 13, at 9 p.m., AMC
