The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

last updated 8 January 2015

Inside the Afghanistan War

First-person accounts and raw combat footage— much of it shot by soldiers using helmet-cams— provide a visceral sense of the war in Afghanistan in this two-hour special. Dramatic moments include a mine-clearing operation gone awry and a medic’s scramble to remove a live rocket-propelled grenade lodged in a gunner’s side. Monday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m., National Geographic Channel

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“Access is the key…you can’t take the picture unless you’re there.” So says photojournalist Eros Hoagland in this vivid documentary, the first in a series of four profiles of combat photographers executive-produced by director Michael Mann. This entry follows Hoagland—son of a Newsweek photographer killed in El Salvador— to Juárez, Mexico, where he warily embeds with police and the military to capture dramatic portraits of the nation’s thriving drug trade. Monday, Nov. 5, at 9 p.m., HBO

Actor Michael K. Williams of The Wire returns to the Brooklyn neighborhood where he grew up to accompany chef Bourdain on a culinary tour that provides a worthy final episode for this engaging series. The two enjoy a typical Bahamian meal, during which Williams praises the borough for delivering “a lot of different riffs on food in one community.” Sure enough, Bourdain also ends up sampling northern Thai and Italian flavors, plus the inventive offerings of Brooklyn Fare, a Michelin three-star restaurant. Monday, Nov. 5, at 9 p.m., Travel Channel

As this entertaining espionage series returns with a two-hour episode, there’s some good news: Having tracked down his brother’s killer, agent-without-an-agency Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) and his team have evaded death by fighter jet. But the bad news is they’re stranded in Panama, with no resources and no idea what to do next. Gabrielle Anwar and Bruce Campbell co-star. Thursday, Nov. 8, at 9 p.m., USA

Brian Austin Green is well cast in this new hour-long comedy as the frontman of a talented wedding band in Seattle. Smart about music and ungratuitously bawdy, the show is filled with funny characters, sharp dialogue, and charm. The capable cast also includes Melora Hardin (The Office), Harold Perrineau (Lost), Peter Cambor (NCIS: Los Angeles), and Derek Miller, channeling Jack Black and doing it well. Saturday, Nov. 10, at 10 p.m., TBS

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