Tuning in: On TV this week.
Saturday April 2
The Alan Partridge Experience (BBC America, 8 p.m.): British comedian Steve Coogan plays a talk-show host whose foot is placed in mouth every time he opens it. Ill-informed, egomaniacal, and rude to his guests (a delicious assortment of first-class actors), "Alan" finds them increasingly uncontrollable. Always amusing and sometimes a scream, the series continues through May 7.
Mystery! Malice Aforethought (PBS, check local listings, with part 2 following on April 10): Set in the charming English countryside during the 1930s, the droll story is as much creepy character study as it is murder mystery. Dr. Edmund Bickleigh is the hen-pecked, younger husband of a fading viper-tongued aristocrat. But Bickleigh is a womanizer and far from a sympathetic character even before he commits murder in the village of Wyvern's Cross.
Mary Pickford (PBS, check local listings): Like many a great actress after her, Pickford started out on the stage. But her enduring contribution was to motion pictures. "America's sweetheart" virtually created the art of film acting. But her star power faded as the years - and the talkies - rolled on. Another fine, poignant addition to the "American Experience" series.
Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork and Mindy (NBC, 9-11 p.m.): This drama paints a dour picture of Robin Williams's early troubles with drugs and infidelity behind the scenes of the TV comedy about an alien on Earth. When he has an epiphany about his wild lifestyle, it's a relief to all of us. Chris Diamantopoulos is amazing in the lead role as he replicates Williams's antics.
