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TV This Week

On PBS, ‘Frontline’ seeks the truth about ISIS

'Confronting ISIS' details efforts to fight the Islamic terrorist group

By Louisa Ada Seltzer

October 11, 2016

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If you’ve watched a presidential debate—and the huge viewership and social media buzz surrounding the debates indicates you have—you’ve heard the candidates discussing ISIS.

It’s become a hot campaign topic, but since Americans tend to focus on domestic policy more heavily than foreign, many people don’t understand ISIS or what the threat could be to our nation.

With that in mind, “Frontline” tackles the issues in tonight’s episode, entitled “Frontline: Confronting ISIS,” airing at 9 p.m. on PBS.

ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and it’s sometimes referred to as ISIL, which means the same thing. The group is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, and it’s attempting to create an independent territory in the Middle East while also masterminding terrorist attacks around the world.

One issue of particular interest to “Frontline” is ISIS recruiting efforts abroad. The group has an active social media presence and has attempted to radicalize people around the world to join the fight.

“Frontline” also traces worldwide efforts against the terrorist organization, noting that even among allies, there are different ways people think the threat should be handled.

It’s doubtful the special will draw significant viewership, but among those who want to feel more informed for the election, it could be a great resource. And it certainly builds PBS’s reputation for relevant programming, especially during fall pledge drive season.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11
Time	Network	Program	Description
5 p.m.	FS1, Fox Deportes	“MLB Playoffs” (S)	Game 4 of the NLDS series between the Nationals and Dodgers, live from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
8 p.m.	ABC	“The Middle” (C)	The eighth-season premiere of ABC’s reliable sitcom launches the network’s new Tuesday two-hour comedy block.
8 p.m.	HLN	“Nancy Grace” (N)	Start of the final week of Nancy Grace hosting her nightly HLN show, which concludes its run on Thursday after 12 years.
9 p.m.	SyFy	“Channel Zero: Candle Cove” (D)	Series premiere. With only a faint memory of a children’s TV show nobody else remembers, Mike Painter seeks clues into the mysterious 1988 death of his twin brother.
9 p.m.	AMC	“Halt and Catch Fire” (D)	On the two-hour third-season finale of AMC’s technology-oriented show, the team tries to fix the batteries that keep making Samsung Galaxy Note 7 replacement smart phones explode. (Just kidding.)
9 p.m.	PBS	“Frontline: Confronting ISIS” (N)	A two-hour exploration of the successes, failures and challenges that the United States faces in its attempts to eradicate the violent Islamic state group responsible for many terrorist attacks.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	“Survivor” (R)	The first reward challenge gets underway; a betrayal by an ally sends two backstabbed competitors on the warpath.
8:30 p.m.	ABC	“Speechless” (C)	While Maya entertains two of her kids with a paintball competition, J.J. and Kenneth accept free food and baseball tickets from strangers.
9 p.m.	Spike	“Lip Sync Battle” (T)	Third-season premiere of Spike’s singing competition, with actors Ben Kingsley and John Cho the first celebrity duelists.
9 p.m.	Discovery	“Dual Survival” (R)	Ninth-season finale of E.J. and Jeff’s traveling show, with the guys stranded in a Botswana delta with territorial elephants and 3,000-pound hippopotamuses to keep them on their toes.
10 p.m.	CNBC	“Cleveland Hustle” (R)	The first season of Lebron James’ business-oriented financial reality cable show wraps up.
10 p.m.	MTV	“Real World: Seattle” (R)	Two-hour 32^nd-season premiere of the granddaddy of reality TV programming, with seven strangers meeting to share a home unaware that seven more will join them shortly.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	The CW	“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” (D)	Season premiere. “Arrow’s” Oliver Queen helps gather the scattered Legends so they can time travel back to 1942 to (a) prevent Albert Einstein’s abduction and (b) stop a nuclear explosion from wiping out New York City.
8:25 p.m.	CBS, NFL Network	“Thursday Night Football” (S)	An AFC West battle between the rising Denver Broncos and the struggling San Diego Chargers.
8:59 p.m.	Fox	“Pitch” (D)	As Ginny tries to strike the right balance between her private and personal life, her team imports a pitcher from Cuba.
9 p.m.	The CW	“Supernatural” (D)	For their 13th season premiere, the Winchester brothers are shot at by Toni (Sam) and come face to face with mother Mary (Dean).
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Almost Impossible Gameshow” (G)	Series premiere. Contestants compete in outrageous physical challenges for cash prizes.
10 p.m.	USA	“Falling Water” (D)	Series premiere. Three strangers share separate parts of a common dream, and the realization they need to find each other troubles them.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 a.m.	Amazon	“Goliath” (D)	A discredited lawyer (Billy Bob Thornton) takes on the rich and powerful in David E. Kelley’s latest TV series. All 10 episodes of this legal drama’s first season, co-starring William Hurt and Maria Bello, drop today.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon” (R)	Third-season premiere of NBC’s comedic found-footage show, with this particular installment emphasizing climate tomfoolery.
8 p.m.	TBS	“MLB Playoffs” (S)	Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
9 p.m.	Discovery	“Gold Rush” (R)	Seventh-season premiere of Discovery’s reality franchise, which lasts until 11:07 (pad those DVRs accordingly).
9 p.m.	SyFy	“Z Nation” (D)	10K (Nat Zang) is injured and alone in the woods with a pack of wolves on his trail. Speaking of wolves…
10 p.m.	POP	“Wolf Creek” (D)	Premiere of a six-part limited series based on the 2005 movie of the same name, about a serial killer (John Jarratt, reprising his role from the film franchise) terrorizing the Australian outback. A rare scripted show in POP’s reality-heavy schedule.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Football” (S)	Alabama visits Tennessee in the best of the Saturday afternoon games.
7:30 p.m.	NBC	“College Football” (S)	Stanford against Notre Dame on the latter’s home turf. Direct TV will air the game in 4K resolution (where available), exclusive to the Fighting Irish’s home games.
8 p.m.	FS1	“MLB Playoffs” (S)	First game of the National League Championship Series.
8 p.m.	Lifetime	“Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le” (M)	Move over, “Straight Outta Compton.” Lifetime’s made-for-TV movie version focuses on female hip-hop singer Michel’le (Rhyon Nicole Brown, with the real Michel’le narrating) and her relationships with the world-famous N.W.A. rappers during their formative years.
9 p.m.	Hallmark	“Pumpkin Pie Wars” (M)	The daughter (Julie Gonzalo) and son (Eric Aragon) of rival bakers in a small Ohio town try to hate each other to carry on their parents’ antagonism for one another during the annual pumpkin pie contest. Unfortunately for the matriarchs, guess what happens?
11:29 p.m.	NBC	“Saturday Night Live” (C)	Emily Blunt hosts, but all eyes will be on Alec Baldwin playing Donald Trump (again). With musical guest Bruno Mars.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Fox	“The Simpsons” (C)	With (a) an NFL late game lead-in, (b) its 600th episode and (c) the 27th installment of its annual “Treehouse of Horrors” show, “The Simpsons” should have no trouble getting good ratings.
8 p.m.	NatGeo	“Killing Reagan” (M)	Based on Bill O’Reilly’s best-selling book, this made-for-TV movie covers the rise of Ronald Reagan to the presidency and John Hinckley Jr.’s attempt to assassinate him in 1981.
9 p.m.	Epix	“Berlin Station” (D)	Epix throws its hat into the competitive Sunday night premium cable original programming arena with the premiere of this spy drama, co-starring Richard Armitage and Emmy-winning actor Richard Jenkins.
9 p.m.	AMC	“The Walking Dead” (A)	A two-hour recap of the story and characters through the past six seasons, in anticipation of next week’s seventh season premiere.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Shameless” (D)	As Frank tries to make new friends and Ian goes through a painful breakup, the Gallaghers get involved in a topless maid service. What could possibly go wrong? Just about everything.
11 p.m.	HBO	“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (C)	With the election a few weeks away and a still-new Emmy award fresh on his mantle, Oliver’s take on the news will mark an amusing and thought-provoking end to the week.
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.