Nelson George, who co-wrote and directs Life Support, is thinking about his real-life sister Andrea, a community health activist in Bed-Stuy whose specialty is spreading the word about AIDS.

Thursday nights used to be simple: Just set the dial to NBC and put the popcorn in the microwave. This season, though, the night’s become a ratings battleground.

According to Independent Lens and filmmaker Frank Popper the answer is a resonant “maybe.”

The Black Donnellys presents a smart—if familiar— take on Irish guts and guilt.

As if the Huns, Goths, Vikings, and Mongols of three years ago weren’t enough, the History Channel returns with four more hours of rape and pillage.

Lost returns with more questions, few answers, and an audience whose patience is wearing thin.

While I can’t imagine why we’d want another Dracula, this one’s sturdy enough. Next time, though, how about a subtext that speaks to the feeding frenzies of HMOs, Microsoft Windows, and Donald Trump?

From the Emmy-winning writer-producer-director Robert Levi comes this enthralling documentary film on the composer, arranger, and pianist that is, as well, a celebration of big bands like Duke Ellington’s, an account of Strayhorn’s troubles as a gay man in the homophobic jazz world of the forties and fifties, and a case history of Oedipal struggle.

Don’t imagine you are tuning in to The L Word behind bars. Bad Girls is much better than that—it has a rough Oz edge and some of the feminist wit of Jonathan Demme’s Caged Heat.

On his new sitcom, David Spade trots out old gags about couples, while 30 Rock’s leading lady frets that she’s not in one.