The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

Strange Days With Bob Saget

Deadpan wit serves host Bob Saget well in a new series in which the stand-up comic and onetime sitcom star embeds with some of America’s odder subcultures. Saget wisely makes fun of his own fish-out-of-water status rather than of the eccentric groups he’s examining. Back-to-back episodes open the series: In the first, he rides across the South with a hard-core motorcycle club; in the second, he joins the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 10 p.m., A&E

The Other City

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The population of Washington, D.C., has a higher HIV/AIDS infection rate—3 percent—than that of many African nations. By profiling victims, activists, and caregivers who are battling the epidemic without meaningful government support, this eye-opening documentary draws a troubling portrait of neglect in the capital of the world’s most prosperous nation. Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m., Showtime

The President’s Book of Secrets

This special spotlights the highly classified information that a president becomes privy to once he takes office, including the nuclear-weapons launch codes that are carried in a briefcase known as “the nuclear football.” Interviewees include former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden, and former Vice President Dan Quayle. Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 9 p.m., History

Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel

Correspondent Frank Deford sits down with UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, who has won both fans and detractors as he’s led Connecticut to seven NCAA championships since 1995. This month’s episode also includes Gumbel’s look at the sport of falconry; a profile of triathlon competitors Dick Hoyt and his physically challenged son, Rick; and a segment on hazing among marching bands at historically black colleges and universities. Friday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m., HBO

Gold Rush: Alaska

Hard times inspire can-do Oregon inventor Todd Hoffman to try his luck at mining for gold. In this new docu-series, cameras follow Hoffman and his crew of bearded fortune-seekers to scenic Porcupine Creek, Alaska, where their make-or-break attempt at striking it rich echoes the dreams of previous amateur gold miners, including Hoffman’s own father. Friday, Dec. 3, at 10 p.m., Discovery

Other highlights

Brad Meltzer’s Decoded

Best-selling author Brad Meltzer looks at historical secrets and mysterious symbols and codes in this new series. In the premiere: the mystery of the White House’s missing cornerstone. Thursday, Dec. 2, at 10 p.m., History

ID Investigates: For the Love of Money

This look at the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers includes interviews with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and ex–Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain. Saturday, Dec. 4, at 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery

Comedy Central’s Hot List

The comedy channel spotlights seven up-and-coming stand-up performers. Sunday, Dec. 5, at 10 p.m., Comedy Central