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ESPN documentary “Unguarded” sheds light on athlete’s addiction, rehab

November 1, 2011 Tom Comi

Most professional basketball players certainly enjoy a life of luxury thanks to huge paychecks, gigantic homes, fast cars and gorgeous groupies, but Chris Herren very well be the poster child for the notion that money and fame can’t buy happiness. Herren seemed to have everything going for him, beginning with a heralded high school career in Massachusetts to an NBA career with the Denver Nuggets and his hometown Boston Celtics. Sandwiched in between was a stellar career at Boston College and Fresno State. But as we learn tonight (8pm ET) on the ESPN documentary Unguarded, not everything was as it […]

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Animal Planet’s “My Extreme Animal Phobia” gets to the root of fear

October 26, 2011 StayTuned Staff

by Karl J. Paloucek Follow @ChannelGuideK I remember, many years ago, a colleague of mine admitted to being terrified of birds. It didn’t matter if they were seagulls up in the air, pigeons on the ground or even little parakeets in cages — any suggestion of flapping wings or pecking beaks had the power to set her on edge. Naturally, she never should have said such a thing to me, since I ended up periodically taunting her with parrot puppets and anything else that smacked of fine-feathered unfriendliness. (Always in fun — trust me, she was annoyed, but amused.) But […]

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HBO’s “Prayer for a Perfect Season” follows NJ high school hoops team

October 25, 2011 Tom Comi

At most public high schools around the country, the basketball team merely provides entertainment and school spirit for students and people in the community. At some Catholic schools like St. Patrick in New Jersey, the stakes are much, much higher. Tonight on HBO (9pm ET), we get a behind-the-scenes look at those stakes thanks to acclaimed director Marc Levin’s documentary Prayer for a Perfect Season. Levin spent a year following the 2010-11 boys basketball team at the Elizabeth, NJ, school, which culminates in a thrilling showdown with rival St. Anthony of Jersey City. For those who don’t follow high school […]

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ESPN’s “The Real Rocky” looks at boxer Chuck Wepner

October 25, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz Follow @ChannelGuideRAB ESPN’s fall documentary series continues on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 8pm ET, with “The Real Rocky,” looking at “The Bayonne Bleeder” Chuck Wepner, a former New Jersey state heavyweight boxing champion, who fought the likes of George Foreman, Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali. But Wepner’s claim to fame, so he says, is that he was the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky character. But Wepner’s career took a bizarre turn as he went on to fight wrestling legend Andre the Giant and even boxed a bear.

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PBS’s “The Fabric of the Cosmos” explores the universe’s big picture

October 24, 2011 StayTuned Staff

The first of four episodes of Brian Greene’s new PBS series, The Fabric of the Cosmos With Brian Greene, premieres next week, but you can watch it today. Through available free PBS apps, viewers can start to take in this new series that shows how today’s scientists are mapping out the most complete picture of space, time and our universe. Exploring some of the most exciting theories proposed by science, The Fabric of the Cosmos peels back layers of understanding to show that underneath the world that we perceive and experience lies an incredibly strange and wonder-filled one than we […]

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OWN documentary “Miss Representation” explores media undermining of women

October 20, 2011 Lori Acken

When the documentary Miss Representation premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, audiences were riveted and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network acquired its broadcast rights. Miss Representation — premiering tonight at 9pm ET on OWN —  brings together some of America’s most influential women in politics, news and entertainment, including Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem to give audiences an inside look at the media’s message about and depiction of women. The film explores women’s under-representation in positions of power by challenging their limited and often disparaging portrayals in the media. Miss Representation takes the stand […]

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ID’s “Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda” draws on a detective’s haunted past

October 14, 2011 StayTuned Staff

In so many ways, murder is the most unbearable of crimes. Certainly there’s no getting over it for the victim, but it also permanently impacts the victim’s family, loved ones and the community at large. And for the investigator who assembles the evidence to solve the crime and put the killer away? It’s often one more traumatic experience catalogued amid many others. It’s this backlog of disturbing memories that’s at the heart of Investigation Discovery’s new series Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda, premiering Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 10pm ET/PT. ID’s “Facing Evil With Candice DeLong” returns for Season 2 Psychologically […]

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A&E goes behind the lines of the U.S. drug war in “Bordertown: Laredo”

October 12, 2011 StayTuned Staff

By Stacey Harrison Follow @ChannelGuideSRH I’ve interviewed plenty of people who use stage names, but until I spoke with “Sgt. Sifuentes” of the Laredo (Texas) Police Department’s Narcotics Unit, I’d never talked with anyone who did so for protection. That’s the reality facing Sifuentes and his crew who are on the front lines of America’s battle against illegal drugs. Sitting directly on the U.S.-Mexico border, Laredo is a hotbed of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking, and it’s a Herculean task for the officers of Bordertown: Laredo to keep up. The series, which follows its subjects around for more than a […]

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Showtime doc “A Game of Honor” dives deep into Army-Navy game

October 12, 2011 StayTuned Staff

  College football has a lot going against it lately. The constant scandals that only seem to get uglier with each revelation are rivaled only by the heated discussion over the morality of paying the players nothing while the colleges make millions. But one thing that remains true and pure is the annual Army-Navy game. The new documentary, A Game of Honor, provides unprecedented access to the football programs at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Viewers will delve deep into the back stories of the student athletes involved in the game, […]