“Vietnam in HD”
Tuesday 9pm, History Channel
As President Obama prepares to bring an end to one of the most controversial military engagements of our time, History Channel looks back at an even more contentious deployment with this six-episode mini-series. Following a similar format to 2009’s award-winning “WWII in HD,” “Vietnam” explores the Vietnam War via 13 stories of American men and women who were directly involved in the war. Among them are a Marine turned author, a journalist who received the Bronze Star for rescuing wounded soldiers, a nurse who was on the front lines during the Tet Offensive, an infantryman whose experience transformed him into an anti-war activist, and the wife of the highest-ranking military prisoner-of-war during the conflict. The documentary uses archival footage—including video shot by the soldiers during their service—as well as narration by Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”) and voiceover work by Ed Burns, James Marsden, Dylan McDermott and even Tempestt Bledsoe (Vanessa Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”).
“Metal Evolution”
Friday 10pm, VH1 Classic
In 2005 anthropologist Sam Dunn released Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, a film he co-directed that attempted to document the origins and appeal of heavy-metal music. He has since made several other documentaries dealing with metal, and now VH1 Classic is bringing Dunn and his fixation on the hyper-aggressive genre to TV with an 11-episode series that will further flesh out the metal “family tree” he came up with in A Headbanger’s Journey. The series is part of VH1 Classic’s 11-day metal celebration that also includes an all-metal episode of “Pop-Up Video,” remastered “Behind the Music” episodes, the return of “That Metal Show” and more. Maybe somewhere in there they can explain why metal guys have such terrible taste in facial hair.
“Diane Sawyer Interview with Gabrielle Giffords”
Monday 10pm, ABC
On January 8, 2011, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot outside a Tucson supermarket in a alleged assassination attempt that left her with life-threatening wounds to her head, as well as six bystanders dead and 13 more injured. Giffords’ husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has given interviews about the attack and its effect on his wife and their family, but up until now Giffords has remained silent. On the eve of the release of a memoir by Giffords and Kelly, the spouses will talk with Diane Sawyer. Giffords’ exact participation in the interview is still unclear, as it depends on her level of recuperation.