‘Castro’ tells of a modern tragedy
The best television biographies tell you things you’ve never heard before.
“Fidel Castro” on “American Experience” (9 p.m., KSPS) belongs in this superior category.
A Cuban native, director Adriana Bosch, brings a unique perspective to “Castro.” She lived under Castro for the first 10 years of his regime and wrote her doctoral thesis on the Cuban influence on the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua.
Bosch has assembled Castro’s former colleagues and victims (and some colleagues who became victims), as well as journalists, scholars, and even Castro’s daughter, Alina, and former brother-in-law to discuss his complex and compelling personality.
Born illegitimate, Castro was an angry, violent child. When his mother threatened not to send him back to his favorite boarding school, young Fidel promised her he would burn their house to the ground. She knew it was not an idle threat.
Castro would later repay his mother by nationalizing the family farm soon after his 1959 revolution.
“Castro” includes many vintage clips from TV news broadcasts and movie newsreels. The American media celebrated Castro during his years as an anti-Batista rebel.
In 1959, only weeks after the revolution, he visited Manhattan, where he was greeted like a movie star and even appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Jack Paar.
Brian Latell, who has spent his career studying Castro for the CIA, attributes his near half-century tenure to his “ability to play as a grandmaster at chess, always two, three moves ahead.” But his survival has come at a gruesome cost to his people.
Alcibiades Hidalgo, a former aide to Castro’s brother, Raul, says, “Cuba is, pure and simple, a dictatorship each day more devoid of the attributes that once made it attractive.” Bosch sums up the Castro saga as “The tragic story of a nation who saw a messiah in just a man.”
Has product placement on “24” (9 p.m., Fox) turned a new corner? We all know that Ford has been a heavy sponsor of the action series.
Last season featured an F-150 pickup in virtually every scene. This year, Jack Bauer is frequently seen flying down the highway in a black Explorer.
But remember last week’s episode, when young Behrooz was sent to the desert, along with his dad’s henchman, to bury his murdered girlfriend? We knew (and Behrooz certainly knew) that he was next on the hit list. It was a grim and fear-ridden car ride. Did you notice what they were driving? It was a Chevy!
Other highlights
Parallel wives on “Trading Spouses” (8 p.m., Fox).
A pleasant period of adjustment on “Everybody Loves Raymond” (9 p.m., CBS).
A battle with card counters on “Las Vegas” (9 p.m., NBC).
A major-league murder mystery on “CSI: Miami” (10 p.m., CBS).
Allison suspects her husband of infidelity on “Medium” (10 p.m., NBC).
British domestics calm America’s most savage brats on “Supernanny” (10 p.m., ABC).
Pit bulls bite in the city by the bay on “Animal Cops San Francisco” (7 and 10 p.m., Animal Planet).
Cult choice
Second-string Windsors get their very own made-for-TV quickie in the 1992 drama “Fergie & Andrew: Behind the Palace Doors” (5 p.m., WE).
Series notes
A battle with the bottle on “Still Standing” (8 p.m., CBS) … Joe Rogan hosts “Fear Factor” (8 p.m., NBC) … A house becomes a home on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: How’d They Do That?” (8 p.m., ABC) … Celebrity poker on “One on One” (8 p.m., UPN) … Annie frets about Lucy and her baby on “7th Heaven” (8 p.m., WB).
Male bonding on “Listen Up” (8:30 p.m., CBS, TV) … Jacks and Kings on “Half & Half” (8:30 p.m., UPN).
Dim bulbs, big city on “The Bachelorette” (9 p.m., ABC) … Drama in the Crescent City on “The Road to Stardom” (9 p.m., UPN) … Nina finds out on “Everwood” (9 p.m., WB) … Alan puts his foot down on “Two and a Half Men” (9:30 p.m., CBS).