The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows

Martin Scorsese produced and narrates this fascinating profile of the film producer whose thrillers overcame budget restrictions with imaginative use of suggestion and atmosphere. It features clips from such quasi-poetic classics of psychological terror as Lewton’s Cat People, which riveted audiences without gore or special effects. Monday, Jan. 14, at 8 p.m., Turner Classic Movies

American Experience: Oswald’s Ghost

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As its title would suggest, this well-crafted documentary by Robert Stone evokes haunting memories of the JFK assassination and its aftermath through archival footage and insightful commentary. Interviewees include Dan Rather, Warren Commission critics Mark Lane and Edward Jay Epstein, activist Tom Hayden, and Norman Mailer, whose book Oswald’s Tale was a sympathetic portrait of Oswald as a lone killer. Monday, Jan. 14, at 9 p.m., PBS

Andrew Jenks: Room 335

Andrew Jenks, as a 19-year-old, moved into a Florida assisted-living facility for a month to make this documentary. At first his project seems a mere lark, but as Jenks comes to know his new neighbors, he becomes engaged in their struggles with the hazards and indignities of age, and his film takes a deeper and more poignant turn. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m., Cinemax

Masterpiece: The Complete Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

The cycle of Jane Austen productions presented by Masterpiece (formerly Masterpiece Theatre) continues with this new adaptation, starring Felicity Jones as a 17-year-old girl who is a bit too enamored of gothic romances. Screenwriter Andrew Davies (Bleak House) emphasizes the satiric elements of Austen’s novel. Sunday, Jan. 20, at 9 p.m., PBS

Breaking Bad

This promising new comedy-drama series from one of the guiding lights of The X-Files concerns a high school chemistry teacher who abandons his conventional lifestyle for a career as a meth dealer when he is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Malcolm in the Middle’s Bryan Cranston, who excels at portraying the follies and frailties of the middle-aged male, leads the cast. Sunday, Jan. 20, at 10 p.m., AMC

Other highlights

NOVA: The Race for Absolute Zero

In the second half of a two-part documentary, NOVA traces the history of cryogenics from the 19th century to today. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings

10 Items or Less

Partly scripted and partly improvised, this good-natured comedy series set in a family grocery store returns for a second season. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 11 p.m., TBS

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

A new season of bizarre satire starring three anthropomorphic fast-food products begins. Sunday, Jan. 20, at 11:45 p.m., Cartoon Network

All listings are Eastern time.

Show of the week

Independent Lens: Mapping Stem Cell Research, Terra Incognita

The debate over embryonic stem-cell research takes on a personal dimension in this thoughtful and affecting profile of neurologist Dr. Jack Kessler of Northwestern University. Kessler was working on using stem-cell technology to treat diabetes when his teenage daughter, Allison, was paralyzed from the waist down in a skiing accident. This spurred him to shift his focus to spinal-cord injuries—and propelled him into the thick of the culture wars. The documentary addresses the ethical and religious ramifications of such research with a refreshing lack of stridency. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Movies on TV this week

Monday, Jan. 14

Cat People (1942)

A young woman contends with an ancient curse in this tour de force of suspense from producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur.

9:30 p.m., TCM

Tuesday

Cross Creek (1983)

Mary Steenburgen portrays Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling, in this period biodrama from Norma Rae director Martin Ritt.

8 p.m., Flix

Wednesday

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Sam Rockwell is excellent in this adaptation of game-show guru Chuck Barris’ memoir, in which he claimed to have secretly been a CIA assassin. 10:45 p.m., IFC

Friday

The King and I (1956)

The lavish film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway smash stars Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, who won a Best Actor Oscar.

8 p.m., FMC

Saturday

The Fountain (2006)

Darren Aronofsky (Pi) directed this phantasmagoric allegory about a thousand-year quest for immortality. With Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

10 p.m., Cinemax

Sunday

Half Nelson (2006)

Ryan Gosling’s performance as a dedicated inner-city schoolteacher who is secretly a drug addict earned him a Best Actor nomination.

9 p.m., Sundance

New on DVD

Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher (Fight Club) directed this suspenseful retelling of the still-unsolved Zodiac serial murders that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960s. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. (R, $37)