TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 @ 9:00PM

Mark Twain was a lifelong creator and keeper of scrapbooks. He took them with him everywhere and filled them with souvenirs, pictures, and articles about his books and performances. But in time, he grew tired of the lost glue, rock-hard paste, and the swearing that resulted from the standard scrapbook process. So, he came up with the idea of printing thin strips of glue on the pages to make updates neat and easy to do. In 1872, he patented his “self-pasting” scrapbook, and by 1901, at least 57 different types of his albums were available. It would be his only invention that ever made money.

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FALLEN CITY

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2 @ 8:00PM

In today’s go-go China, an old city completely destroyed by a devastating earthquake can be rebuilt — boasting new and improved civic amenities — in an astoundingly quick two years. But, as Fallen City reveals, the journey from the ruined old city of Beichuan to the new Beichuan nearby is long and heartbreaking for the survivors. Three families struggle with loss — most strikingly the loss of children and grandchildren — and feelings of loneliness, fear and dislocation that no amount of propaganda can disguise. First-time director Qi Zhao offers an intimate look at a country torn between tradition and modernity.

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POIROT SEASON 12

THE BIG FOUR

SUNDAY, JULY 27 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

David Suchet returns in his signature role as suave Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot to tantalize fans with two new cases, The Big Four (July 27) and Dead Man’s Folly (August 3), based on the novels by Agatha Christie. As the world stands on the brink of World War II in The Big Four, a grisly, ingeniously devised murder at an international peace reception reunites Hercule Poirot with old friends. In Dead Man’s Folly, famous mystery writer Ariadne Oliver creates a fiendishly complicated murder mystery weekend but calls in Poirot when it takes a a tragic turn.

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THE APE WHO WENT TO COLLEGE

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

This episode features Chantek, the orangutan raised as a human child on an American university campus during the 70s and 80s. Taught to speak in sign language, he is now living among his own kind at Zoo Atlanta, although he describes himself as an “orangutan person.”

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AUSTRALIA’S FIRST 4 BILLION

LIFE EXPLODES

SUNDAY, JUNE 28 @ 6:00PM

How did life storm the beaches and dominate planet Earth? Ancient Australian fossils offer clues in “Life Explodes.” Half a billion years ago, Australia was still part of the super-continent Gondwana. The oceans were teeming with weird and wonderful animals, but the world above the waves remained an almost lifeless wasteland. All that was about to change, though. Host Richard Smith introduces Earth’s forgotten pioneers: the scuttling arthropod armies that invaded the shores and the waves of green revolutionaries whose battle for the light pushed plant life across the face of a barren continent.

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ICON

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

From his early days rising through the ranks of New York’s gangs, to his slow demise in the aftermath of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Al Capone: Icon chronicles the complicated life of one of America’s favorite mob bosses. The special exposes Capone not only as a bootlegger, killer and gangster, but as the popular public figure who opened one of the nation’s first soup kitchens, fought for expiration dates on milk and wrote love songs to his wife from prison.

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SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS

WHO KILLED JIMMY HOFFA?

SATURDAY, APRIL 13 @ 6:00PM

On July 30, 1975, teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa disappeared without a trace. At the time, he was one of the most powerful men in the country. Because of his union leadership, many working Americans considered Hoffa their hero, but Hoffa also had powerful enemies.

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DANCE FOR ME

SATURDAY, JULY 26 @ 10:30PM

Professional ballroom dancing is very big in little Denmark. Since success in this intensely competitive art depends on finding the right partner, aspiring Danish dancers often look beyond their borders to find their matches. In Dance for Me, 15-year-old Russian performer Egor leaves home and family to team up with 14-year-old Mie, one of Denmark’s most promising young dancers. Strikingly different, Egor and Mie bond over their passion for Latin dance — and for winning. As they head to the championships, so much is at stake: emotional bonds, career and the future. Dance for Me is a poetic coming-of-age story, with a global twist and thrilling dance moves.

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ENDEAVOUR, SEASON 2

NEVERLAND

SUNDAY, JULY 20 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

NEVERLAND: A missing boy, a dead journalist, and an absconder from an open prison plunge DC Endeavour Morse and DI Thursday into the unearthing of corruption in their midst and horrors from the past.

The riveting Season 2 finale, written by Inspector Lewis creator and Inspector Morse writer Russell Lewis, stars Shaun Evans as young Endeavour Morse, Roger Allam as Detective Inspector Fred Thursday, and series regulars Abigail Thaw (daughter of Inspector Morse star John Thaw), Anton Lesser, and newcomer Shvorne Marks.

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, JULY 18 @ 9:00PM

This Week: Global Flashpoints and U.S. Foreign Policy Dilemma

There is plenty of speculation but few hard facts about the circumstances surrounding the crash of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet in eastern Ukraine near the border with Russia. U.S. officials have reportedly determined that the jetliner with 295 people on board was brought down by an anti-aircraft missile in an area under the control of pro-Russian separatists.

Meanwhile, tensions are escalating in the Middle-East where late Thursday the Israeli military began a ground offensive in Gaza aimed at thwarting the barrage of missiles launched into Israeli territory.

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