The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

Independent Lens: Herb & Dorothy

Kicking off its eighth season, Independent Lens presents a charming portrait of Herb and Dorothy Vogel, who amassed an extraordinary collection of contemporary art on their relatively meager salaries as a postal clerk and a librarian. Many of their more than 4,000 minimalist and conceptual pieces, which once crammed a one-bedroom apartment in New York City, now reside in Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art. Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak

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The title of this profile of the prolific children’s author and illustrator refers to Sendak’s determined refusal to sugarcoat reality for kids. Featured footage includes conversations between the 81-year-old and Spike Jonze, director of the new feature film adaptation of Sendak’s classic Where the Wild Things Are. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., HBO

American Masters: Joan Baez, How Sweet the Sound

This comprehensive profile chronicles Joan Baez’s longtime advocacy of pacifism and career as a folk singer. Highlights include rare footage of her Newport Folk Festival debut in 1959 and performances from her 2008–09 world tour. Bob Dylan and Baez’s ex-husband, David Harris, are among those interviewed. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Another Day: Cheating Death

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta recounts remarkable stories of people who have survived medical emergencies. Among the cases highlighted: a heart-attack victim treated by an “ice doctor” who induced medical hypothermia and a school bus driver saved by a new type of CPR that has now been adopted as standard in Arizona. Saturday, Oct. 17, at 8 p.m., CNN

Occupation

From the writer of Viva Blackpool, this powerful drama focuses on three scarred British Iraq war veterans who return to Basra at the height of U.S. occupation for three different reasons—love, money, and political ideals—only to be caught in a moral quagmire. James Nesbitt (Jekyll), Stephen Graham, and Warren Brown (Shameless) all give pitch-perfect performances. Sunday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m., BBC America

Other highlights

100 Mile Challenge

In this new six-part series, six families in British Columbia take on a challenge: to consume only foods produced within a 100-mile radius for 100 days. Monday, Oct. 12, at 9 p.m., Planet Green

Head Games

On this new game show contestants vie to answer questions about unusual scientific facts. Saturday, Oct. 17, at 9 p.m., Science Channel

Witness to Waco

Interviews with survivors add depth to this documentary about cult leader David Koresh and the 51-day siege by federal agents of his compound near Waco, Texas, in 1993. Sunday, Oct. 18, at 10 p.m., MSNBC