Through the Wormhole: Will We Survive First Contact?
Scientists ponder an unsettling question: What if the first alien intelligence mankind encounters isn’t friendly? Morgan Freeman hosts this special edition of Through the Wormhole, part of a month of E.T.-themed programming developed in partnership with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute and the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conferences. Tuesday, March 6, at 10 p.m., Science
Saving Face
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Now the 2012 Oscar winner for Best Documentary Short, this affecting film focuses on a horrific Pakistani custom in which men throw acid on the faces and bodies of women to exact revenge over divorce and rebuffed sexual propositions. Pakistani-born plastic surgeon Mohammad Jawad volunteers to assist acid-attack survivors as they attempt to bring their assailants—often their husbands—to justice. Thursday, March 8, at 8:30 p.m., HBO
On Death Row
“I respectfully disagree with capital punishment.” So says filmmaker Werner Herzog in the premiere of the companion series to his documentary Into the Abyss, in which he explored a senseless Texas murder and the state-sanctioned execution that followed. In the first of four episodes, Herzog conducts an unsettling interview with multiple murderer James Barnes, a prisoner on Florida’s death row, and wins some startling confessions. Friday, March 9, at 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel
Last September, a plane carrying one of Russia’s finest hockey teams ran off a runway and struck a tower mast, killing 43 passengers. Bernard Goldberg follows up on the tragedy, which has been ruled the result of pilot error. In other segments, skydiver Jeb Corliss makes a near-fatal jump, and Armen Keteyian looks at the fall of former NFL superagent Leigh Steinberg. Saturday, March 10, at 1:40 p.m., HBO2
The Undefeated
This documentary paints a portrait of Sarah Palin that might be unrecognizable to viewers of the HBO docudrama Game Change (see below). Through archival footage and interviews with sympathetic commentators, The Undefeated depicts the former Alaska governor as an intrepid reformer who was inspired by the Exxon Valdez disaster to battle special interests at home before she was tapped as John McCain’s running mate. Sunday, March 11, at 8 p.m., ReelzChannel
Other highlights
Top Gear
In homage to the settlers of the American West, the hosts of this irreverent series about car culture set out to cross the Rockies—only in soccer-mom vans instead of covered wagons. Tuesday, March 6, at 9 p.m., History
Sons of Guns
The gunsmiths at Louisiana’s Red Jacket Firearms are hired to devise a silencer for a .50-caliber sniper rifle. Wednesday, March 7, at 9 p.m., Discovery
America the Wild
This new series sends naturalist Casey Anderson crisscrossing the nation to explore how various species adapt to inhospitable climes. Sunday, March 11, at 8 p.m., Nat Geo Wild
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