What to Watch on Monday: Frontline docuseries tackles America’s Obama-Trump divide
America’s Got Talent: The Champions (8 p.m., NBC) - In Week 2, we’ll be looking for Raleigh natives Tyler Butler-Figueroa and Christal Sanders-Rheams (of Voices of Service). But between you and me, I don’t think they are on this week.
America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump (9 p.m., PBS / UNC-TV) - Frontline kicks off a two-night, four-hour documentary series from veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk that examines the nation’s increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics over the past decade. Tonight’s first episode traces how Barack Obama’s promise of unity collapsed as increasing racial, cultural and political divisions laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump. Episode 2, airing Tuesday night, examines how Donald Trump’s campaign exploited the country’s divisions and how his presidency has unleashed anger on both sides of the divide.
The New Pope (9 p.m., HBO) - This new series picks up where “The Young Pope” left off, with Jude Law’s Lenny Belardo, known as Pope Pius XIII, in a coma. Following an unpredictable and mysterious turn of events, Secretary of State Voiello (Silvio Orlando) succeeds in having Sir John Brannox (John Malkovich), a charming and sophisticated moderate English aristocrat, placed on the papal throne, adopting the name John Paul III. The new pope seems ideal, but he conceals secrets and has a certain fragility, and Voiello immediately understands that it will not be easy to replace the charismatic Pius XIII.
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