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TV This Week

Assessing the impact of the civil rights movement

'Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise' examines the past 50 years

By Louisa Ada Seltzer

November 22, 2016

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When Barack Obama was elected president eight years ago, it marked a milestone for African-Americans.

Less than five decades earlier, they were marching on Washington and in what was then the heat of the civil rights movement. The decade that followed was turbulent and often violent.

Though Obama’s election certainly did not signal the end of racism, it did usher in a new era, one in which it was truly possible for black children to aspire to be anything.

A documentary on PBS tonight at 8 p.m., “Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise,” examines those gains and whether African Americans ever truly gained the equality they were seeking.

The special, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., asks some tough questions, including what does it mean to be black today and how to make sense of the many contradictory factors of everyday life in our increasingly multiracial society.

Plus, in a country with a black president, how can things such as Ferguson still happen? And what to make of the #BlackLivesMatter movement?

Gates interviews a number of scholars and celebrities to arrive at his answers.

The program won’t draw huge numbers but it does further PBS’s reputation as a place for thought-provoking programming, which helps fill the coffers come pledge drive time.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	TLC	“Little People, Big World” (R)	Amy is left in charge of the farm as Matt gets risky spinal surgery during the 11^th-season premiere of TLC’s reality series.
8 p.m.	PBS	“Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise” (N)	Conclusion of PBS’ two-part civil rights documentary exploring the struggles of African-Americans for equality over the past 50 years.
9 p.m.	MTV	“Teen Wolf” (D)	Scott, Lydia and Malia search for the lost memories of a missing friend as Corey explores a connection between his powers and The Wild Hunt.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (T)	The 23^rd-season finale crowns a new champion couple. Performances by Vanilla Ice, Rick Perry and more.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Chicago Fire” (D)	As Casey and Severide dig deeper into an arson case and Dawson faces repercussion for hitting a pedestrian with his ambulance, Chief Boden must decide whether to leave town for an important event.
11 p.m.	ION	“Saving Hope” (D)	With a fifth and final season on tap, the Canadian drama continues to air back-to-back episodes on Tuesdays after primetime.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Hallmark	“Broadcasting Christmas” (M)	A TV anchor (Dean Cain) and a reporter (Melissa Joan Hart) compete for an on-air job at America’s No. 1 morning show. Their drive to compete rekindles the fire they had when they were an item a long time ago. Hmm…
8 p.m.	NBC	“Macy’s 90th Thanksgiving Day Parade Special” (A)	Recollections by hosts (Al Roker, Scott Bakula, etc.) and highlights of the best parades, floats and musical performances to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the annual Thanksgiving morning tradition.
9 p.m.	HGTV	“Brothers Take New Orleans” (R)	Series premiere of HGTV’s spin-off from its successful “Property Brothers,” with Jonathan and Drew Scott competing to renovate a double-shotgun home to impress a panel of celebrity judges (including, again, Scott Bakula).
9 p.m.	Lifetime	“Little Weddings” (R)	Premiere of three-part limited docuseries about a family business run by and for little people that makes magical romantic moments come true.
10 p.m.	TNT	“Neighborhood Sessions” (A)	Usher gets to thank and perform for the Chattanooga, Tennessee neighborhood that made him who he is in this fourth State Farm-sponsored TNT music special.
10 p.m.	IFC	“Stan Against Evil” (C)	A giant spider and a fatal car accident stuck on a perpetual loop are the backdrop for the back-to-back episodes marking the season finale of IFC’s rookie comedy/horror series.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24
Time	Network	Program	Description
9 a.m.	CBS	“The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS” (T)	While NBC has official 90th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage, CBS offers a more limited view of the same parade/floats. Kevin Frazier and Keltie Knight host, with scheduled musical performances by Sting and Miranda Lambert.
Noon	NBC	“The National Dog Show” (A)	John O’Hurley and David Frei host the annual Philadelphia Kennel Show as three new breeds compete for the best in show title.
12:30 p.m.	CBS	“NFL Football” (S)	An NFC North duel between the visiting Minnesota Vikings and, who else, perennial Thanksgiving home team Detroit Lions.
4:30 p.m.	Fox	“NFL Football” (S)	The Dallas Cowboys welcome the Washington Redskins into AT&T Stadium in an NFC East rivalry game.
8 p.m.	Hallmark	“Christmas in Homestead” (M)	An actress (Taylor Cole) falls in love with a single father (Michael Rady) in the small Christmas-obsessed Iowa town where she’s shooting a holiday movie.
8:20 p.m.	NBC	“NFL Football” (S)	The all-football day concludes with “Big Ben” Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers taking on Andrew Luck and his struggling Indianapolis Colts.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 a.m.	Netflix	“Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” (D)	Stars Hollow is back with the much-anticipated revival of “Gilmore Girls.” The four 90-minute episodes, each covering a weather season in the lives of Lorelai (Lauren Graham), Rory (Alexis Bledel) and their inner circle, drop today.
2:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Football” (S)	Arkansas visiting Missouri is among the better day-after-Thanksgiving afternoon college football games.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (A)	It’s the 50th anniversary of this perennial animated holiday classic, which airs tonight for the first (but not last) time this holiday season. Runs 35 minutes.
9 p.m.	NatGeo Wild	“Savage Kingdom” (N)	Back-to-back episodes mark the premiere of this documentary miniseries exploring the warring clans of animals vying for limited resources in a drought-affected remote African region. Charles Dance (“Game of Thrones”) narrates.
9 p.m.	ID	“Wives with Knives” (N)	Season premiere of ID’s creatively titled real-life crime docuseries, the lead-in for new Friday show “Truth is Stranger than Florida.” Are New York Post headline writers moonlighting over at ID’s programming department?
10 p.m.	SyFy	“Van Helsing” (D)	Rebecca’s latest attempt to create a Daywalker fails, testing Dmitri’s limited patience; Vanessa and the group take refuge in a farm.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	ABC	“College Football” (S)	Michigan at Ohio State provides an appetizing start to the Saturday slate of college football games.
3:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Football” (S)	Auburn has its work cut out as it faces the Alabama Crimson Tide on the latter’s home turf.
8 p.m.	Hallmark	“A Heavenly Christmas” (M)	A recently deceased workaholic woman (Kristin Davis) can’t cut it as a Christmas Angel trainee. So she’s assigned a difficult case helping a struggling musician (Eric McCormack) find his voice. Shirley MacLaine co-stars.
9 p.m.	BBC America	“Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” (D)	What do cops, assassins, vampires, a lottery ticket, a corgi pup, cults, a fake disease and good old Ken (Mpho Koaho) have in common? This episode, apparently.
10 p.m.	CBS	“48 Hours” (N)	The tabloid newsmagazine continues to be the only non-sports broadcast show airing new episodes on Saturday night, even on a low-rated Thanksgiving weekend.
10:35 p.m.	HBO	“Boxing” (S)	WBO world super featherweight Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1) puts his title on the line against Nicholas Walters (26-0-1). Live from Las Vegas, Nevada.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27
Time	Network	Program	Description
4:25 p.m.	CBS	“NFL Football” (S)	The New England Patriots taking on the New York Jets will provide a good lead-in to CBS’s delayed-by-30-minutes-or-more primetime line-up.
7:30 p.m.	Fox	“Bob’s Burgers” (C)	The seven-year-old animated series provides the only original episode on a Sunday night when every other Fox comedy show is airing repeats.
8 p.m.	BET	“2016 Soul Train Awards” (A)	Singer Erykah Badu hosts the annual awards show honoring the best in soul and R&B music. Brandy, Bobby Brown, PAAK and DRU Hill are among the artists scheduled to perform.
9 p.m.	AMC	“The Walking Dead” (D)	A survivor from the main group stumbles on an unseen-by-anyone-else society. But will he/she be able to tell anyone else about the discovery?
10 p.m.	TruTV	“Hack My Life” (C)	For the third-season premiere of their comedy variety show, hosts Kevin Pereira and Brooke Van Poppelen offer ways to survive any office Christmas party and take a look at NYC New Year’s Eve preparations.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.