Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Music
The music business isn’t the first one that springs to mind when it comes to environmental devastation, but the industry actually consumes massive amounts of energy and generates enormous waste. As this award-winning series begins its third season, musicians and ecology experts consider such options as sustainable stages and “green” guitars. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 9 p.m., Sundance Channel
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel
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Segments include an interview with former Oakland Raider Barret Robbins, whose disappearance days before the Super Bowl in 2003 was only the start of a painful downward spiral; a profile of in-demand boxing trainer Freddie Roach; the story of a young cancer patient adopted by the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team; and an update on Yankee catcher Jorge Posada’s young son, who is afflicted with craniosynostosis, a dangerous condition that can threaten brain development. Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m., HBO
Broken Noses
Best known for his striking black-and-white fashion magazine layouts, photographer Bruce Weber is also a noted filmmaker; his work will be showcased weekly on Sundance throughout August. His rarely seen 1988 debut film, Broken Noses, is a portrait of lightweight boxer Andy Minsker. Once a Golden Gloves champion and Olympic hopeful, he’s reduced to teaching boxing at a club in Portland, Ore., where he mentors young men while still battling regrets from his own recent past. Thursday, Aug. 6, at 10 p.m., Sundance Channel
Monk
Having won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild award for his performance as obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk, Tony Shalhoub embarks on an eighth and final season of droll whodunits. In the opener, “Mr. Monk’s Favorite Show,” he teams up with an equally gifted comic actor: Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds), playing a former child star who turns out to be not at all like her beloved character. Friday, Aug. 7, at 9 p.m., USA
Drain the Ocean
This special puts computer-generated imagery and digital mapping technology to imaginative use: It shows what the Earth’s oceans would look like if all their water were emptied through an imaginary drain. The result: a landscape far more dramatic than anything on dry land, including a 40,000-mile-long mountain range, the world’s deepest canyon and widest plains, and bizarre, bioluminescent life forms. Sunday, Aug. 9, at 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel
Other highlights
Skins
The award-winning ensemble drama about a group of precocious British teenagers returns. Thursday, Aug. 6, at 9 p.m., BBC America
Burn Notice
Tyne Daly guest-stars in the season finale as a widow threatened by a gang of violent con artists. Thursday, Aug. 6, at 9 p.m., USA
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