Frontline: The Released
Of the 700,000 people released from prison this year, more than half will be mentally ill. They will try to re-enter society unsupervised, with nothing but a bus ticket, $75, and two weeks’ worth of medication in their pockets. Two-thirds of mentally ill offenders are rearrested within 18 months of their release. In a troubling sequel to its 2005 documentary The New Asylums, Frontline returns to Ohio to follow two all-too-typical cases. Tuesday, April 28, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Independent Lens: At Home in Utopia
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In the 1920s, thousands of immigrant Jewish factory workers in New York City, many of them Communists and sympathizers, formed housing cooperatives in the Bronx to create “a fortress for the working class.” Seventy years later, Independent Lens visits the largest of them—the United Workers Cooperative Colony, known as “the Coops”—for a fascinating look back at an idealistic social experiment that included racial integration in the 1930s. Tuesday, April 28,
at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Addicted to Plastic
Filmmaker Ian Connacher visited 12 countries on five continents for this irreverent but sobering profile of plastic: its history, its ubiquity, its indestructibility, and its harm to the environment, from piling up in landfills to harming ocean wildlife. Winner of several international awards, the documentary ends on a hopeful note with a look at solutions to plastic pollution. Tuesday, April 28, at 10 p.m., Sundance Channel
Patton 360
This 10-part series combines computer animation with archival footage and eyewitness interviews for an in-depth examination of the colorful life and military campaigns of Gen. George S. Patton. This week’s episode, “Rogue General,” includes one of the most controversial incidents in his career: the slapping of two shell-shocked soldiers that almost cost Patton his command. Friday, May 1, at 9 p.m., History
Expedition Grizzly With Casey Anderson
Naturalist Casey Anderson has a remarkable friendship with Brutus, an 800-pound grizzly bear that he reared from birth. Together man and bear chronicle a year in the lives of Yellowstone National Park’s endangered colony of grizzlies, in a documentary as uplifting as it is visually striking. In high-def. Sunday, May 3, at 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel
Other highlights
Southland
Gang members steal a detective’s gun in “Two Gangs.” This gritty cop show is one of the best new series of the year. Thursday, April 30,
at 10 p.m., NBC
Kangaroo Kaos
A look at kangaroo overpopulation Down Under, plus a visit with a “’roo whisperer.” Saturday, May 2, at 8 p.m., National Geographic Channel
Nature’s Eagles of Mull
Scottish cameraman Gordon Buchanan films white-tailed sea eagles and other fauna on his native island of Mull. Sunday, May 3, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings
