Independent Lens: Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos
Under the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina in the late 1970s and early ’80s, thousands of citizens were kidnapped and became desaparecidos—the disappeared. In this heart-rending documentary, an Argentine filmmaker returns home after 30 years to uncover the fate of his own long-lost girlfriend and other loved ones. Monday, Sept. 21, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
NCIS: Los Angeles
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Introduced in a two-part NCIS last spring, this new spinoff stars Chris O’Donnell as the enigmatic chief of a team of undercover military investigators. It’s a typical ensemble procedural in the CSI mold, but the cast has a special charm and chemistry, particularly LL Cool J
as an ex–Navy SEAL and Linda Hunt as a spunky support manager. Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 9 p.m., CBS
The Good Wife
This new series starts off with a strong topical hook—a politician’s wife standing beside her husband as he publicly admits to ethical and sexual transgressions—then settles into a fairly conventional legal drama. But Julianna Margulies, as the wife who resumes her career as a defense attorney to support her family, is indeed good; so is co-star Christine Baranski. Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 10 p.m., CBS
FlashForward
The premise of this new series is far-fetched but intriguing: Everyone in the world simultaneously experiences a two-minute precognitive vision, in which they all see where they’ll be at the same hour on April 29, 2010. Joseph Fiennes leads the ensemble cast as an FBI agent trying to assemble the pieces of a complex, Lost?style puzzle. Thursday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m., ABC
Mercy
Shows featuring feisty nurses seem to be all the rage in prime time: Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, TNT’s HawthoRNe, and now Mercy. Taylor Schilling plays an Iraq war veteran juggling a husband and an ex-lover (along with bedpans) at Mercy Hospital. Schilling and her supporting cast are appealing, but this blue-collar answer to Grey’s Anatomy has unavoidable parallels to Nurse Jackie, and suffers by the comparison. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 8 p.m., NBC
Other highlights
House
In the two-hour Season 6 premiere, Dr. House has become a patient—in a mental institution. Hugh Laurie stars. Monday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m., Fox
Modern Family
This likable new comedy looks at several
new-fashioned families, including two gay dads with an adopted baby. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 9 p.m., ABC
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
Filmed over six years in such locales as Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and the Everglades, this six-part, 12-hour documentary from Ken Burns (The Civil War) chronicles the history of the U.S. national park system. Sunday–Friday, Sept. 27–Oct. 2,
at 8 p.m., PBS
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