The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

The best programs on TV this week

Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County

“Home? I don’t really know what that means,” says 6-year-old Rudee, who shares a motel room with her family in Southern California. Filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi takes her cameras inside discount motels that sit within walking distance of Disneyland and visits Project Hope, a school kept open year-round for homeless children, in this troubling look at the working poor in one of the wealthiest counties in America. Monday, July 26, at 9 p.m., HBO

Fish Warrior

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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

This colorful new series follows “adventure angler” Jakub Vágner on exotic fishing expeditions to remote areas of the world. In the premiere, he makes a grueling trek deep into the Amazon in search of the arapaima—a species of fish, unchanged since the Jurassic period, that can grow to massive proportions. Monday, July 26, at 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel

The Colony

A different kind of reality show, this series isolates a group of 10 individuals in conditions designed to simulate the aftermath of a disaster, to see how they would fare without basic amenities. Season 2 is set in a Louisiana Gulf Coast neighborhood abandoned after Hurricane Katrina. Tuesday, July 27, at 10 p.m., Discovery

POV: Presumed Guilty

In Mexico City in 2005, Antonio Zúñiga was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, despite a complete lack of evidence and several witnesses who placed him elsewhere. This often startling documentary follows the fight that two attorneys mounted to free him, facing down a Mexican legal system riddled with institutionalized corruption and incompetence. Tuesday, July 27, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Paul McCartney in Performance at the White House

Recorded June 2, this concert hosted by President and Mrs. Obama celebrates McCartney’s having been awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. During the hourlong concert, McCartney performed the Beatles’ “Michelle,” dedicating it to the First Lady. Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, and other artists also perform during the 90-minute special. Wednesday, July 28, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Other highlights

This New House

Kevin O’Connor of This Old House and contractor Amy Matthews co-host this new show, which spotlights innovations in building techniques, design, and gadgets. Thursday, July 29, at 8 p.m., DIY

This Week With Christiane Amanpour

CNN’s former chief international correspondent takes over the anchor chair of ABC’s Sunday morning political-affairs program, vacated earlier this year by George Stephanopoulos. Sunday, Aug. 1, ABC; check local listings for time

The Accordion Kings

This documentary looks at vallenato music, the accordion-based “blues of Colombia,” through a fabled festival held only once a decade in that country’s remote Magdalena Valley. Sunday, Aug. 1, at 8 p.m., Smithsonian Channel

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.