LIFE’S ROCKY START

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 @ 11:00PM

Four and a half billion years ago, the young Earth was a hellish place—a seething chaos of meteorite impacts, volcanoes belching noxious gases, and lightning flashing through a thin, torrid atmosphere. Then, in a process that has puzzled scientists for decades, life emerged. But how? NOVA joins mineralogist Robert Hazen as he journeys around the globe. From an ancient Moroccan market to the Australian Outback, he advances a startling and counterintuitive idea—that the rocks beneath our feet were not only essential to jump-starting life, but that microbial life helped give birth to hundreds of minerals we know and depend on today. It’s a theory of the co-evolution of Earth and life that is reshaping the grand-narrative of our planet’s story.

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AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12 @ 10:00PM

With the coming of the Civil War, and the staggering casualties it ushered in, death entered the experience of the American people as it never had before — permanently altering the character of the republic and the psyche of the American people. Contending with death on an unprecedented scale posed challenges for which there were no ready answers when the war began. Americans worked to improvise new solutions, new institutions, and new ways of coping with death on an unimaginable scale.

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THE IRISH FACTOR

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

Explore the shared Irish ancestry of Soledad O’Brien, Bill O’Reilly and Bill Maher and how they have been deeply influenced by their Irish roots.

The third season of the Finding Your Roots series will continue to explore how diverse racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds challenge many of our long-held national myths. Hosted and written by Gates, this new season will continue to be compelling television, filled with emotional moments that enrich our national discussion on race, ethnicity, and identity.

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AUTISM IN LOVE

MONDAY, JANUARY 11 @ 11:00PM

Finding love can be hard enough for anyone, but for those on the autism spectrum, the challenges may seem overwhelming. The disorder can jeopardize the core characteristics of a successful relationship — communication and social interaction. Autism in Love offers a warm and stereotype-shattering look at four people with autism as they pursue and manage romantic relationships.

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SEASON 6 ON MASTERPIECE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 10 @ 7:00PM & 11:30PM

EPISODE 2

A visit to Yew Tree Farm spells trouble for Edith, while wedding plans get a frosty reception. Mary keeps Anna’s secret and returns a favor, and Violet and Isobel lock horns over the hospital dilemma. See the much-anticipated final season of the Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning drama.

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AT THE WHITE HOUSE

A CELEBRATION OF AMERICAN CREATIVITY

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8 @ 10:00PM

President and Mrs. Obama host an all-star music tribute celebrating the cultural resonance of art and literature in unique American musical forms. The evening includes performances by Buddy Guy, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Audra McDonald, Keb’ Mo’, Smokey Robinson, Trombone Shorty, Esperanza Spalding, Brian Stokes Mitchell, James Taylor and Usher, with special readings and remarks from Carol Burnett. The performances commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act that was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965, and also marks the first hip-hop performance in the “In Performance at the White House” broadcast series.

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SECRET TUNNEL WARFARE

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17 @ 8:00PM

During World War I, the Allies and Germans repeatedly struggled to break the hideous stalemate of trench warfare. In the winter of 1916, Allied engineers devised a massive surprise attack: over 1 million pounds of explosives hidden in secret tunnels driven under German lines. Building the tunnels was desperate work, with tunnelers at constant risk from flooding, cave-ins, and enemy digging teams. In June of 1917, the planted mines at Messines were simultaneously triggered, killing an estimated 10,000 German troops instantly. Now, archaeologists are revealing the extraordinary scale and risks of the Allied tunneling operations in one of the biggest excavations ever undertaken on the Western Front. “Secret Tunnel Warfare” opens a unique window on the frenzy of Allied mining activity that led up to the attack and its bitter aftermath.

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NETANYAHU AT WAR

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the most polarizing political leaders on the world stage. His hardline politics on Iran and Israeli-Palestinian affairs have won him both intense support and bitter criticism at home and abroad — all the more so after his dramatic attempt in March to derail President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran in front of the U.S. Congress. With new waves of violence between Israelis and Palestinians unfolding and Israel-U.S. relations already emerging as a 2016 campaign issue, FRONTLINE presents Netanyahu at War — an epic, two-hour documentary from veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk tracing Netanyahu’s path to power, his combative relationships with multiple U.S. presidents and the implications in America and the Middle East.

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THE STORIES WE TELL

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 @ 11:00PM

Discover the unsolved mysteries behind the family stories of political organizer Donna Brazile, actor Ty Burrell and artist Kara Walker as they learn how the legacy of slavery has shaped their identities.

In season three of Finding Your Roots, Henry, Louis Gates, Jr. traces the ancestral trails of 28 new guests including Maya Rudolph, Richard Branson, Soledad O’Brien, Bill Hader, Julianne Moore, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Senator John McCain, Norman Lear, Shonda Rhimes, and more.

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CHUCK NORRIS VS COMMUNISM

MONDAY, JANUARY 4 @ 8:00PM

In communist Romania, thousands of Western films on bootleg VHS tapes — mostly Hollywood action movies — were smuggled behind the Iron Curtain, opening a window into the free world.

Under President Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania was culturally isolated and ideologically censored. Images of life outside its borders were cut off and TV was reduced to propaganda bulletins. From the drab concrete housing blocks to the food ration lines, the threat of surveillance prevented people from stepping out of line.

But in the mid-1980s, under the nose of the Securitate, Ceaușescu’s secret police, thousands of Hollywood films were smuggled into the country by an underground operative named Zamfir, and they were all covertly dubbed by Irina Nistor, a courageous translator whose distinct voice captivated the nation and became a symbol of freedom.

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