Noteworthy Television This Week: Isn't It Grand?

Grand Central Terminal gets the full PBS American Experience treatment with this documentary from filmmaker Michael Epstein (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13). The one hour film traces the history of the terminal, its construction and its impact on New York and the rest of the world. Expect tales of robber barons, dead commuters, and of course fawning over an architectural treasure.

Since we' ve seen many local productions about Grand Central, we definitely welcome a change of perspective and point of view about the great terminal. We wonder how much the program will dwell on its more recent past with its preservation, renovation and transformation from a place where you could start a cross country train journey to one where commuters just want to catch the train home to the suburbs.

Also of note this week:
African-American Lives 2 (Wednesday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13) In this four part series, Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard professor, takes a look at the family trees of some notables Maya Angelou, Bliss Broyard, Don Cheadle, Morgan Freeman, Peter Gomes, Linda Johnson Rice, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Tom Joyner, Chris Rock, and Tina Turner, along with Kathleen Henderson, a college administrator. Parts 1 and 2 air this Wednesday and concludes next week at the same time