DAVID BIANCULLI

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One Good Side Effect of the Writers' Strike: Summer TV Documentaries
June 9, 2008  | By David Bianculli
 

There aren't many good side effects to the 2007-08 writers' strike, but one is just starting to become evident. A wealth of quality documentaries has been scheduled for summer -- some as ongoing recurring series, others scheduled to help fill the holes caused by a lack of scripted programming...

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Tonight at 9 ET, HBO begins a summer-long run of Monday documentaries, including a July documentary on Heidi Fleiss and an August offering called Baghdad High. The series begins tonight with Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, a feature-length study of the infamous director's underage sex scandal, as well as his marriage to actress Sharon Tate, one of the victims of the Charles Manson killings.

The documentary is very interesting, and contains many eye-opening elements, including accounts of misconduct by the judge in Polanski's trial -- but the most obviously missing, and valuable, element is sorely missed. The woman, 13 at the time Polanski gave her champagne and a Quaalude, photographed her in a hot tub and had sex with her, is interviewed anew for this film. But while she says other people weren't there and don't know what really happened, she never says what really happened, or offers her own perspective.

Other documentary series showing up soon include the PBS series P.O.V., the annual summer series returning later this month, and the ABC six-part series Hopkins, the continuation of a prime-time documentary series last shown (as Hopkins 24/7) in 2000. Hopkins begins June 26, and its prominent placement this time around owes a lot to the writers' strike.

So out of every bad comes some good. Unfortunately, out of every bad also comes a lot of worse -- so steel yourself for such summer fare as, sigh, Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show on ABC, and Wednesday's Celebrity Circus on NBC.

 

2 Comments

 

Talbert said:

Then there are programs like "Live with Regis and Kelly"--no writers to muck them up or improve them. They are television Bisquick: Formula has not changed for years; reliable in a way, but no surprises, for sure.

Comment posted on June 9, 2008 7:43 PM


Japhy said:

We enjoy watching This American Life on Showtime. Great visual work this season and of course always terrific story telling.

I particularly enjoyed watching the high school picture day segment and this last episode about the lives of 7 different men all at different stages of life, from birth to death, but with one thing in common, the name John Smith. If you haven't watched it yet David, I suggest you take some time to watch it.

And thank you for recommendation on the HBO documentary with the couple and the cochlear implants. It's documentaries like this and This American Life that prove that any one of us, leading are ordinary lives, can have quite extraordinary stories and lessons. (I love This American Life too, and should have mentioned it. Good for you. -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 10, 2008 9:51 AM

 
 
 
 
 
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