Tubegazing: Notable shows on TV this week

Inside the Green Berets

(National Geographic Channel, June 3, 9 p.m.): This hour-long look at America's elite fighting force in what has been called "the forgotten war" of Afghanistan, unexpectedly reminds viewers of the deadly price of war, for those who report on it as well as fight it. National Geographic Channel crew members were granted unprecedented access – 10 days embedded on a remote south-central Afghanistan outpost known as Firebase Cobra Strike. Early on, the team encounters the worst IED (improvised explosive device) ambush of the five-year war, killing two soldiers and wounding five others as well as the NGC film crew. Visceral and graphic, this is a good look into the challenges and heartbreak of fighting an insurgent war in a faraway land. Grade: A–

Write & Wrong

(Lifetime, June 3, 8 p.m.): This insider-y soap opera about an over-40 woman writer snubbed by Hollywood suits young enough to be her children ought to have just skipped the snappy title and called itself "The Kirstie Alley Show." She stars in it, she gives it life, and she makes you actually care about the tired Cyrano de Bergerac update (she hires her young nephew to be her front) and its shameless predictability. None of that really matters because if you're any kind of fan (even the tiniest will do), the subtext of the star and her very public career struggles makes it fun to watch her go down kicking – and come back up again. Grade: B