Weeds
As this dark satire begins its third season, the home of marijuana-dealing widow Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) lies in ashes, so she moves her brood and her business to a town on the Mexican border—leaving cohort Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) to take the rap with the DEA. Albert Brooks joins the cast for several episodes as Nancy’s less-than-doting father-in-law. Monday, June 16, at 10 p.m., Showtime
Secret Diary of a Call Girl
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Former Doctor Who sidekick Billie Piper charms in this new comedy series as a high-priced London prostitute who talks matter-of-factly to the camera about her work. Based on a book by the real-life call girl who used the nom de plume Belle de Jour, the show is no raunchier than Sex and the City—and probably about as realistic. Monday, June 16, at 10:30 p.m., Showtime
Independent Lens: Abduction, the Megumi Yokata Story
In 1977, 13-year-old Megumi Yokata vanished on her way home from school in Japan. Despite police investigations and public entreaties, decades went by before her distraught parents learned the appalling truth—that Megumi had been “spirited away” by North Korean spies. The gripping true-life espionage tale unfolds in this award-winning documentary. Thursday, June
19, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Welcome to Nollywood
Nonexistent in 1990, the Nigerian film industry is now the world’s third largest, generating almost $300 million per year. This lively, colorful documentary goes behind its scenes with several feisty Nigerian auteurs as they churn out Afrocentric action, romance, and supernatural dramas. Saturday, June 21, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Masterpiece Mystery! Inspector Lewis
Colin Dexter’s perspicacious Inspector Morse is gone, along with his portrayer, the late John Thaw. But the next best thing—Morse’s working-class partner, Robbie Lewis (Kevin Whately)—returns in three new whodunits. “Whom the Gods Would Destroy” takes grieving widower Lewis and his scholarly partner (Laurence Fox) back to Oxford for a clever mystery whose clues involve the Greek god Dionysus. Sunday, June 22, at
9 p.m., PBS
Other highlights
How Life Began
Computer graphics and expert interviews explore the earliest origins of life on Earth. Monday, June 16, at 9 p.m., History Channel
Black Gold
The latest series to join the dangerous-occupation reality genre follows roughnecks drilling for oil in Texas. Wednesday, June 18, at 10 p.m., truTV
The Girl With Eight Limbs
A toddler born with a rare abnormality in a remote Indian village undergoes risky surgery in this documentary. Sunday, June 22, at 9 p.m., National
Geographic Channel
All listings are Eastern time.
Show of the week
Frontline: Young & Restless in China
An advertising executive is torn between her career and her desire for a baby; a young rapper dreams of stardom; a doctor worries about the uninsured; a public-interest lawyer risks the ire of authorities; entrepreneurs frantically launch start-up businesses and Internet cafes. It sounds like America in the ’90s, but it’s China today, where a blazing economy has created both opportunities and challenges for the nation’s mostly young population. As a rural economy gives way to modernity and long-held traditions fall away, Frontline follows nine young Chinese over four years. Some grab for prosperity as quickly as they can; others search for something more meaningful. Tuesday, June 17, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Movies on TV this week
Monday, June 16
Closely Watched Trains (1966)
A naïve young railway worker struggles to learn about love in this Czech comedy, an Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film. 1:05 p.m., IFC
Tuesday
Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and company amble agreeably through their third Rat Pack–style heist comedy under the direction of Steven Soderbergh. 8 p.m., HBO
Wednesday
The Descent (2005)
Not for the squeamish, this above-average horror film follows a group of female spelunkers who are trapped deep beneath the Appalachians with something very nasty. 9:35 p.m., TMC
Thursday
Careful, He Might Hear You (1984)
A motherless boy becomes a pawn in a custody battle between relatives in this moody drama from Down Under, winner of eight awards from the Australian Film Institute. 4 p.m., FMC
Friday
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
This classic nautical adventure won only one Oscar, but that was for Best Picture. Clark Gable and Charles Laughton drew nominations as its hero and villain, respectively. 8 p.m., TCM
Saturday
U-571 (2000)
American submariners vie with a German destroyer to recover a vital code-breaking device in this brawny World War II adventure, an Oscar winner for Best Sound. 10:05 p.m., Encore
Sunday
For All Mankind (1989)
Edited from 80 hours of interviews and millions of feet of archival footage, this Oscar-nominated documentary chronicles NASA’s 1969–72 lunar missions. 1:15 p.m., Flix
Universal donor blood is 'close' to reality
The week's best photos
What is a home energy audit and when is it worth getting one?
