TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: Dec. 29
REALITY American Restoration History, 5 p.m.-midnight If you're a fan of shows about people who make a living from buying, fixing up and selling old junk, settle in for tonight's marathon of this popular series. The Pawn Stars spinoff focuses on the Las Vegas-based Rick's Restorations, which is operated by professional restorer Rick Dale and his teen son, Tyler. In tonight's first show, Dale works to restore an authentic NASA astronaut helmet once used in the Gemini space missions. In the closer, he tries to restore a vintage street lamp belonging to magician Lance Burton, while Tyler wildly lowballs an estimate to restore a thirties-era tire meter.
PROFILE Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie CBC, 8 p.m. Shown in limited theatrical release last year, this documentary recounts the life and times of David Suzuki in moving fashion. Directed by Surla Gunnarsson, the film showcases the Nature of Things host's lifelong commitment to environmentalism, but also follows Suzuki travelling to important locations in order to tell his life story. The program trails Suzuki to a memorial ceremony in Hiroshima and to the site of a former internment camp like the one his family and other Japanese-Canadians were shipped to during the Second World War. Suzuki also returns to his former hometown of Leamington, Ontario, where he developed his love of fishing and nature. Long may he run.
HISTORY World War II in HD Colour PBS, 9 p.m. Nearly seven decades later, historians are still finding footage from the Second World War. Even more incredibly, much of the film was shot in colour and has been remastered for high-definition television in this unique series. Tonight's opening episode demonstrates how the Great Depression of the thirties drained Western democracies of their ability to confront an ominous political force rising elsewhere – namely, the rise of militaristic dictators in Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan. Even now, the amateur footage of Hitler and Mussolini is frightening.
MOVIE Oscar Wilde Vision, 9 p.m. Based on a British stage play, this 1960 film paints a colourful, if slightly idealized, portrait of the fabled Irish writer and poet Oscar Wilde. Veteran character player Robert Morley assumes the role with appropriate flamboyance and deftly captures Wilde's trademark style. The highlight is the extended scene reenacting Wilde's trial for gross indecency, during which the accused infuriates the Crown, and prosecutor Edward Carson (Sir Ralph Richardson), repeatedly with his dry wit and intelligence. No less wonderful is John Neville, who passed away last month, as Wilde's most trusted confidante.