Tuning in: On TV this week.
FRIDAY, March 19
The D.A. (ABC, 10-11 p.m.): Steven Weber stars in this gritty new series that questions the way the justice system sometimes operates. A little more character-centered than, say, "Law and Order," it follows a similar format: In the first two episodes, a murder is committed before the credits roll and the D.A. and his antagonistic crew have to locate the truth among the rubble.
The Last King (A&E, 8 p.m. to midnight): Charles II (Rufus Sewell) of England was a rogue, but not quite a wastrel. Unfortunately, the four-hour epic indulges in his venal excesses more than in his accomplishments. It only alludes to his interest in science, yet Charles patronized the arts and sciences of his time elaborately. He tried to bring some tolerance to England's anti-Roman Catholic Parliament and to protect Catholics at large. But thwarted at every turn by those who remembered his father's despotic reign (ended by Oliver Cromwell's henchmen at the end of an axe), he finally dissolved Parliament and ruled as an absolute monarch until the end of his days.
T-Shirt Travels (PBS, 10-11 p.m.): Shantha Bloeman's thought-provoking documentary takes us to Zambia, where she investigates one facet of the multibillion dollar trade in used clothing. Most of the clothes are donated by Americans to worthy charities. The charities sell it by the bale, mostly to Indian merchants. The bales are marked up 400 percent and then resold to street vendors who sell to the public. Meanwhile, the Zambian textile industry has collapsed, taking thousands of jobs with it. The Americans interviewed have no clue where their old clothes end up.
