The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

American Experience: Buffalo Bill

William Cody and Buffalo Bill were two sides of the same person, as this colorful profile makes clear. The former was a real-life adventurer whose restless life paralleled a young nation’s expansion across the West. The latter was a master showman who turned that expansion—and himself—into highly lucrative American mythology. Monday, Feb. 25, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

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This earnest new drama from the creators of thirtysomething endeavors to portray a generation struggling to come of age on the Internet (in fact, it debuted on MySpace before coming to TV). Bitsie Tulloch anchors the show as an aspiring writer who roils her circle of friends by blogging bluntly about them. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 10 p.m., NBC

Independent Lens: Hard Road Home

This Independent Lens documentary goes behind the scenes of Exodus Transitional Community, a Harlem-based program that helps ex-convicts break the cycle of recidivism and rebuild their lives. Exodus’ founder, Julio Medina, is a onetime drug dealer who employs both charm and tough love in his determined quest to help clients become self-sufficient. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

American Masters: Pete Seeger

The long and sometimes controversial career of Pete Seeger comes to life through rare footage and the reminiscences of fellow performers, family members, and the folk singer himself. In this engaging profile, Seeger emerges as an artist of integrity, for whom music and social conviction are inseparable. Interviewees include Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Joan Baez. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

The Gates

This stirring, often funny documentary relates how artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude prevailed against decades of public skepticism and institutional resistance to install The Gates: a daring installation of more than 7,500 fabric-festooned gates that snaked through New York’s Central Park for 16 days in February 2005. Albert and David Maysles (Grey Gardens) co-directed. Thursday, Feb. 28, at 3:30 p.m., HBO

Other highlights

Top Gear

Helen Mirren pays a visit during the season premiere of this irreverent British automotive series. A U.S. version is in the works. Monday, Feb. 25, at 8 p.m., BBC America

NOVA: The Four-Winged Dinosaur

Using a wind tunnel, NOVA gives a bizarre dinosaur fossil found in China a flight-test. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Shameless

The award-winning British comedy-drama about an unruly clan in a Manchester housing project returns for a second season. Sunday, March 2,

at 9 p.m., Sundance Channel

All listings are Eastern time.

Show of the week

A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play tells of a struggling African-American family in Chicago whose members have divergent dreams for an insurance windfall. The cast members of Broadway’s recent award-winning revival, who reprise their roles in this TV-movie adaptation, included Sean Combs; Phylicia Rashad and Audra MacDonald (both of whom won Tonys on Broadway); and Sanaa Lathan (who was Tony-nominated). Hansberry’s saga remains as topical today as when it won a New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1959. Monday, Feb. 25, at 8 p.m., ABC

Movies on TV this week

Monday, Feb. 25

Stagecoach (1939)

A motley assortment of stagecoach passengers face danger together in John Ford’s classic Western, which made John Wayne a star. 8 p.m., TCM

Tuesday

George Washington (2000)

Made with a cast of amateurs, this bleak drama about a group of rural youths affected by a tragic death won a number of festival awards.

1:40 p.m., IFC

Wednesday

Wise Blood (1979)

A young veteran turns preacher in director John Huston’s offbeat adaptation of Flannery O’Connor’s first novel. With Brad Dourif. 6 p.m., Flix

Thursday

Cinderella Liberty (1973)

Marsha Mason won a Golden Globe as a pregnant prostitute who captures the heart of a callow sailor. James Caan co-stars. 7:30 p.m., FMC

Friday

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)

In this critically acclaimed black comedy from Romania, an ailing alcoholic embarks on a nightlong odyssey in futile search of medical care.

8 p.m., Sundance

Saturday

Gladiator (2000)

Oscars for Best Picture and Actor (Russell Crowe) went to director Ridley Scott’s hit revival of the sword-and-sandal genre. 4:15 p.m., Cinemax

New on DVD

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

One of Cate Blanchett’s two Oscar nominations this year was for this sequel to 1998’s Elizabeth—her second Best Actress bid as Queen Elizabeth I. With Clive Owen and Geoffrey Rush. (PG-13, $30)