Documentary Archives - Page 48 of 63

Discovery Channel special on Costa Concordia disaster planned

January 20, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

In a special scheduled to air this spring, Discovery Channel will dissect the events that led to the disaster on Jan. 13 in which the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground just off Giglio Island mere hours after leaving port in Civitavecchia, outside of Rome. The ship ended up listing heavily to the starboard side. Eleven passengers are confirmed dead, and 23 are still missing, and in the months ahead, Discovery will be covering the engineering crews tasked with figuring out a way to salvage a shipping vessel larger than the Titanic. (UPDATE 1/21/12: The body of a woman […]

Thom Beers dishes on Discovery Channel’s “Bering Sea Gold”

January 18, 2012 StayTuned Staff

He’s been all over Alaska working on shows for Discovery Channel, from Iditarod to Deadliest Catch, and now Thom Beers is venturing into another corner of life in the largest state. Bering Sea Gold, on which Beers serves as executive producer, premieres Friday, Jan. 27, at 10pm ET, bringing viewers to the waters just off the coast of Nome, where they’ll see people risk their lives in pursuit of gold on the floor of the sea. It’s a brutal life and one that most people would think you’d have to be out of your mind to pursue. But Beers and […]

“On Freddie Roach” chronicles the life of the famed boxing trainer

January 17, 2012 Ryan Berenz

HBO and filmmaker Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) team up for On Freddie Roach, an innovative new prime-time series following Freddie Roach, the world-famous boxing trainer who has worked with the likes of Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao. Roach operates the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, where he has produced a host of world champions. On Freddie Roach also explores Roach’s struggle against Parkinson’s disease. The series premieres Friday, Jan. 20 at 9:30pm ET/PT on HBO. Press release from HBO with details of the first two episodes: NEW HBO SERIES ON FREDDIE ROACH, FROM RENOWNED FILMMAKER PETER BERG, […]

PBS special explores “Custer’s Last Stand”

January 17, 2012 Tom Comi

Much of how we view history is based on interpretation, and perhaps no figure in American lore creates more diverse opinions than Gen. George Custer. To some, he was a military hero; to others, he was a controversial figure whose arrogance ultimately led to his infamous death at The Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. As part of its fantastic American Experience series, PBS tonight airs a two-hour biography of one of our countries most lauded and criticized icons of 19th century. Premiering at 8pm ET, Custer’s Last Stand documents his heroic Civil War battles while also exploring the narcissistic […]

Gypsy TV: Gypsies are new trending topic for TV shows at TCA

January 14, 2012 Barb Oates

For the first time cameras are taking viewers into the complex world of the American gypsy culture via two new series —National Geographic Channel’s American Gypsies (debuting later this summer) and TLC’s My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding (this spring). Ralph Macchio (Karate Kid) is the executive producer behind American Gypsies, a compelling look at one of Manhattan’s most prominent Gypsy families — the Johns family. Despite the title of their show, the family prefers to be referred to as Roma vs. Gypsies. “It was difficult to get people to open up on camera because the Roma have been taken […]

“Secrets of the Manor House” looks at real-life homes that inspired “Downton Abbey”

January 11, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Fans of Downton Abbey will be able to get a glimpse inside the real world of the Edwardian homes and English society that inspired the acclaimed drama when the documentary Secrets of the Manor House airs Jan. 22 at 8pm ET on PBS (check local listings). Shot on location at some of Britain’s finest estates and country houses, and featuring interviews with contemporary masters and servants, the special reveals that life in the manor house was a world unchanged for nearly a thousand years, until the 20th century entered its second decade, when mounting financial, political and social pressures altered […]

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” provides a stunning conclusion to the West Memphis Three saga

January 11, 2012 StayTuned Staff

By Stacey Harrison When word came in August that the West Memphis Three were going to be released after serving 18 years for the murder of three young boys, it provided an unexpected epilogue to a trilogy of documentaries that stirred an international controversy. The third chapter in that trilogy, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, follows the continuing efforts to free Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who were convicted of the brutal, seemingly ritualistic murders back in 1994 despite a lack of physical evidence. Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky documented the case in 1996’s Paradise Lost, which […]

PBS separates the man from the myth in “Billy the Kid” special

January 10, 2012 Tom Comi

Many people are familiar with the legend of Billy the Kid, but those who want to know how an Irish immigrant named Henry McCarty became one of America’s most storied killers ever should definitely tune into PBS tonight. Premiering at 9pm ET as part of the the network’s popular “American Experience” series, Billy the Kid goes behind the folklore and examines the developments in McCarty’s life that transformed him from a likable teenager into to a cold-blooded murderer. Born in New York without a father, he and his mother Catherine moved to New Mexico after the Civil War. According to those […]

NGC to reair “Inside North Korea” documentary

December 19, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

For a 2007 episode of its acclaimed documentary series Explorer called “Inside North Korea,” National Geographic Channel crossed into the secretive nation of North Korea and showed viewers an extremely rare glimpse of the country and its absolute dictator, Kim Jong Il, who passed away Saturday. Correspondent Lisa Ling crossed the border by traveling undercover with a Nepalese eye surgeon on a humanitarian mission. As Dr. Sanduk Ruit performed more than 1,000 surgeries in less than 10 days, the NGC camera crew posed as members of his medical team to document his work and offer unprecedented insight into the most […]

“Midnight Snack” and “Suzilla” set Planet Green off in search of food

December 19, 2011 StayTuned Staff

Planet Green takes a step in a direction away from its purely eco-centric mission with two specials hitting its schedule Dec. 20. Midnight Snack and Suzilla: The Mouth That Roars both take to America’s highways in search of eats, but with different agendas. The first, Midnight Snack (Dec. 20 at 10pm), hosted by VH1’s and Fuse’s Steven Smith, is set in those late-night after-hours, when people out on the prowl are looking for a nosh, either to combat the effects of booze or simply because they just wanna eat. Smith goes through the heart of Hollywood in search of the […]