Documentary Archives - Page 45 of 63

Catch Discovery Fit & Health’s “My Mom Is Obsessed”

March 28, 2012 StayTuned Staff

It’s one of the most fundamental relationships in the human jungle, and it’s going under the magnifying glass. The mother/daughter dynamic is at the heart of Discovery Fit & Health’s new series, My Mom Is Obsessed — premiering tomorrow, March 29 at 10pm ET/PT — which looks at mothers with obsessive or addictive behaviors and the damaged and sometimes desperate teen daughters whose lives suffer as a result. As the girls attempt to connect with their moms and have healthy, communicative relationships with them, these mothers too often eschew their parental responsibilities in favor of shopping, working out, cosmetic surgery, […]

When hotels go wrong, “Hotel Impossible” puts things right

March 23, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Anthony Melchiorri doesn’t mess around when it comes to hotels. He’s been all over the world and worked in the hotel industry for more than 20 years, and after all of that time, he knows how to spot what’s wrong with a hotel from the second he walks in. He also knows how to put it right. And that’s what he does in his new series for Travel Channel. Hotel Impossible premieres Monday, April 9 at 10pm ET/PT, and has Melchiorri taking charge of situations in the independent boutique hotels and resorts that commission him. And he’s not always Mr. […]

TV specials and movies commemorate 100th anniversary of Titanic disaster

March 23, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

April 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the fateful and infamous maiden voyage of Titanic, which hit an iceberg late in the evening of April 14, 1912, and eventually sank into the icy depths of the North Atlantic early the next morning. In the weeks leading up to the exact anniversary date, various TV networks will remember the tragedy with premiere and encore specials and movies. Many of the documentaries offer promises of “the final word” or “mystery solved” regarding exactly what happened to the great ship. Whether they actually will or not may be beside the point. It might […]

Henry Louis Gates Jr. explores race, culture and identity in new “Finding Your Roots” series

March 22, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

In recent years, genealogy has enjoyed a renaissance as a trend on reality shows like NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?, and that can be attributed in large part to Harvard scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. (pictured), whose PBS specials African American Lives, African American Lives 2 and Faces of America helped shed a light on the fascinating ethnic backgrounds of many different people. This passion that Gates has to, as he says, “get into the DNA of American culture” now continues on a larger scale in the new 10-part PBS series Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis […]

“Frozen Planet” preview: “Summer” (video)

March 22, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Here are some preview clips of “Summer,” the next episode of Discovery Channel’s Frozen Planet, premiering this Sunday, March 25, at 8pm ET/PT. In the first one, an epic clash between two massive male seals over a female threatens to crush a little seal pup standing near the fray. In the second one, caribou also fight for ladies, with an older caribou showing who’s boss by fending off a series of younger bulls who dare to try and cramp his style with a certain female. RELATED: “PLANET EARTH” FILMMAKERS IMPRESS AGAIN WITH “FROZEN PLANET”

A&E hunts for a hit with “Duck Dynasty”

March 20, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Willie Robertson, an avid outdoorsman and family man, gets to spend his days hunting and fishing in the Louisiana wilderness while working with his large, eclectic family. Sounds like the dream life, right? Well, it is, but it’s one Willie says he never really pictured himself pursuing as he was growing up. And now that he’s in it, even the dream life has its ups and downs, all of which will be laid out in often hilarious detail in A&E’s new reality series Duck Dynasty, premiering March 21. It follows Willie, his brother Jase, their parents Phil and Kay, and […]

Military Channel to engage audiences with “Combat Tech”

March 19, 2012 StayTuned Staff

As impressive and fascinating as military technology can be, the stories that drive the innovations are often just as compelling. The interplay between history and technology is at the heart of Military Channel’s new series Combat Tech, premiering tomorrow night. I talked with John Terp, executive producer of the show, to find out more. “Technology genres and history genres — they’re almost always treated as two separate entities,” Terp explains. “Where technology shows are all about the whiz-bang, marveling at cool technologies, the historical shows are the story of what happened in the past. I think what we’ve done — […]

Cartoon Network gets real about trying to stop bullying in “Speak Up”

March 15, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Cartoon Network is usually a place for kids to escape from the real world, letting them catch up with their favorite characters and fantastical adventures. But a new documentary airing this weekend takes on a tough issue many of them have to deal with every day — bullying. Speak Up, premiering commercial-free at 5:30pm Sunday with an encore at 8pm, features several kids talking about their time being bullied and some who are still going through it. They list all the names they have heard — fat, stupid, ugly, dumb, etc. — and one little girl mentions how she would […]

Filmmaker Mimi Chakarova bravely explores “The Price of Sex” in new documentary

March 9, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Plenty of movies and news reports have attempted to shine the light on the scourge of sex trafficking, but few efforts have the immediacy and impact of filmmaker Mimi Chakarova’s The Price of Sex. A photojournalist by trade, Chakarova was inspired to explore the topic because of her background in Bulgaria, where the trafficking of young, poor women is an epidemic. Her bold investigation takes her into the lives of women who have escaped the life, and even some men who perpetrate it. She travels around Eastern Europe and the Middle East, providing an unflinching look at a problem that […]

“Duke ’91 & ’92: Back to Back” Sunday on truTV

March 9, 2012 Ryan Berenz

College basketball fans may have a love/hate relationship with the Duke Blue Devils, but there’s no doubting that the program is one of the most successful and influential of the past 20 years. On Sunday, March 11, at 8pm ET on truTV, former Duke standouts Christian Laettner and Grant Hill team up to present Duke ’91 & ’92: Back to Back, a documentary about Duke’s repeat NCAA championship seasons in 1991-92. The film also features teammates and coaches revealing never-before-told stories, including highlights from the team’s 20-year reunion. Coming off the 1990 loss to UNLV in the championship game, some […]