First Comes Love
Filmmaker Nina Davenport was 41 when she decided to stop searching for a husband and focus on having a baby. She also chose to document every step—from acquiring the sperm of a gay friend to enlisting a female friend as a birth partner. The moving result is a tale about following life’s unconventional paths, this one leading to the beginnings of a family. Monday, July 29, at 9 p.m., HBO
POV: Neurotypical
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When autistics refer to non-autistics, the term they use is “neurotypical.” Thanks to the work of advocates like Temple Grandin, being neuro-atypical has never been more accepted, yet the daily challenges of living with autism remain real. In this eye-opening documentary, three neuroatypical subjects of different ages are given a chance to describe in detail how they view the neurotypical world. Monday, July 29, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
The Writers’ Room
Sometime around the 1999 debut of HBO’s The Sopranos, television writing entered a golden age. Roundtable discussions in this new series take viewers into the writing rooms of some of TV’s most acclaimed shows. In week one, the creative minds behind Breaking Bad discuss the challenges of crafting the series’ soon-to-be-aired final episodes. Subsequent shows will give Dexter and Game of Thrones their due. Monday, July 29, at 10 p.m., Sundance
Frontline: Life and Death in Assisted Living
Assisted living is often considered a welcome alternative to nursing-home care for seniors who wish to maintain a degree of independence. But what are the costs of that freedom? Frontline and ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization, joined forces to examine this growing, but largely unregulated, segment of the health-care industry. Profit pressures, they claim, are contributing to sometimes fatal lapses in care. Tuesday, July 30, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
The Awesomes
If the Justice League had a farm system, The Awesomes might be the low-A squad. This new animated series from Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers follows a team of misfit superheroes as they struggle to restore the organization to greatness after the true stars defect. Meyers voices the group’s leader; other SNL cast members and alums, including Bill Hader, Kenan Thompson, and Rachel Dratch, fill out the ranks.Available for streaming on Hulu, Thursday, Aug. 1
Other highlights
Best Daym Takeout
Hip-hop food critic Daymon “Daym” Patterson graduates from YouTube to the Travel Channel as host of a new show inspired by his million-hit fast-food reviews. Wednesday, July 31, at 10 p.m., Travel Channel
Inside the American Mob
A look at the five crime families who ruled underworld New York City in the 1970s kicks off a four-episode night for this multipart series about the modern Mafia. Sunday, Aug. 4, at 8 p.m., National Geographic
Shark Week
Beach crowds may thin this week after Discovery begins rolling out an 11-episode version of its annual shark showcase. Sunday, Aug. 4, at 8 p.m., Discovery
