Sunday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m.
Great Performances
Don Carlo
Director Nicholas Hytner makes his Met debut with this new production of Verdi’s historic epic set during the Spanish Inquisition. Roberto Alagna leads the cast, and Ferruccio Furlanetto, Marina Poplavskaya, Anna Smirnova, and Simon Keenlyside also star.

Sunday, April 3 at 8:00 p.m.
The Civil War: The Cause - 1861
What caused the war? Beginning with an examination of slavery, this episode looks at the causes of the war and the burning questions of union and states’ rights. This is the epic story of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one. Voices for the series include Sam Waterston, Jason Robards, Julie Harris, Jeremy Irons, Morgan Freeman, Paul Roebling, Garrison Keillor, Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur Miller and Studs Terkel. Historian David McCullough narrates.

Monday, April 4 at 8:00 p.m.
The Civil War: A Very Bloody Affair - 1861/Forever Free - 1862
1862 sees the birth of modern warfare and the transformation of Abraham Lincoln’s war to preserve the Union into a war to emancipate the slaves. Political infighting threatens to swamp Lincoln’s administration, and Union General George McClellan wages an ill-fated campaign on the Virginia peninsula. The episode follows the battle of ironclad ships, camp life and the beginning of the end of slavery.

Tuesday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m.
The Civil War: Simply Murder - 1863/The Universe of Battle- 1863
A nightmarish Union disaster at Fredericksburg precedes two clashes in the spring of 1863: at Chancellorsville in May, where Robert E. Lee wins his most brilliant victory but loses Stonewall Jackson; and at Vicksburg, where Ulysses S. Grant is prevented from taking the city by siege. Meanwhile, the Battle of Gettysburg is the turning point of the war. For three days, 150,000 fight to the death in the Pennsylvania countryside culminating in Pickett’s legendary charge. Vicksburg falls to Union forces, draft riots rage in New York and black troops join the fight for the first time.

Tuesday, April 5 at 11:00 p.m.
Independent Lens
Desert of Forbidden Art
This is the incredible true story of how one man, Igor Savitsky, saved a treasure trove of art worth millions of dollars by "hiding" it in a museum in the desert in Uzbekistan. A tireless collector of paintings that the Soviet government wanted destroyed, Savitsky traveled thousands of miles scheming, plotting, pleading, doing whatever it took to get his hands on the art he so passionately wanted to preserve.

Wednesday, April 6 at 8:00 p.m.
The Civil War: Valley of the Shadow of Death - 1864/Most Hallowed Ground - 1864
Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee are pitted against each other in an extraordinary series of battles from the wilderness to Petersburg in Virginia. The presidential campaign of 1864 sets Abraham Lincoln against his old commanding general, George McClellan. The stakes are nothing less than the survival of the Union itself. Opinion in the North has turned strongly against Lincoln and the war, but 11th-hour Union victories at Mobile Bay, Atlanta and the Shenandoah Valley tilt the election to Lincoln, and the Confederacy’s last hope for independence dies.

Thursday, April 7 at 8:00 p.m.
The Civil War: War is All Hell - 1865/The Better Angels of Our Nature - 1865
William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea brings war to the heart of Georgia and the Carolinas and spells the end of the Confederacy. Following Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration, Petersburg and Richmond finally fall to Ulysses S. Grant’s army. Five days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Abraham Lincoln is assassinated. Lincoln is buried, John Wilkes Booth is captured and the war finally comes to a close.

Sunday, April 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Nature
Cuba: Accidental Eden
For decades, Cuba’s wild landscapes lay untouched while its Caribbean neighbors poisoned or paved over their ecological riches. Now, Cuba’s priceless treasures are about to face an onslaught. Tourism is already on the rise and most experts predict tourism will double once the U.S. trade embargo ends. What will happen to Cuba’s stunning bio diversity — an island filled with amphibians, reptiles and the most biologically diverse freshwater fish in the region?

Monday, April 11 at 9:00 p.m.
American Experience
Great Famine
It was the worst natural disaster in Europe since the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. Half a world away, Americans responded with a massive two-year relief campaign, championed by a new secretary of commerce, “the Great Humanitarian” Herbert Hoover. The program tells the story of America’s engagement with a distant and desperate people in Russia — an operation to feed their masses that was hailed for its efficiency, grit and generosity.

Tuesday, April 12 at 11:00 p.m.
Independent Lens
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
Director Tamra Davis shot, along with her colleague, this rare interview with contemporary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat over 20 years ago. The program is the definitive chronicle of the short but brilliant life of the young man who revolutionized the New York art scene almost overnight.

Wednesday, April 13 at 9:00 p.m.
NOVA
The Bible's Buried Secrets
This two-hour special breaks exciting new ground in investigating the origins of the ancient Israelites, the evolution of their belief in one God and the creation of the Bible. A story of science, history and faith, "The Bible's Buried Secrets" will leave a lasting impact on viewers and become the definitive documentary on the Bible for generations to come.

Begins Thursday, April 14 at 9:30 p.m.
Ashes to Ashes
The third and final series of Ashes to Ashes is back - and it's a real slap in the face for DI Alex Drake. Time traveling copper Alex thought she'd made it home to the present day, but wakes to find herself in a hospital bed back in 1983, having been shot by her boss, DCI Gene Hunt, three months ago.

Thursday, April 14 at 10:30 p.m.
MI-5
Go inside the thrilling world of the MI-5, the clandestine British security service. With two of their colleagues gone, the team must stay focused as they face demons from their past, and race against time to protect their families, their integrity, and their nation from lethal terrorist attacks, as well as from evil forces within the organization.

Sunday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m.
The Gefilte Fish Chronicles
For the last four decades, Passover has been celebrated in Newburgh, New York. Led by the three surviving sisters, Sophie Patasnik, Peppy Barer and Rosie Groman, traditional preparations were made for the Seder at Peppy's home in Newburgh. Six Weeks before the Seder they shopped and chopped, tasted and seasoned. Using recipes nearly a century old, they began to put together the Gefilte Fish, Cholent, Horse Radish and Sponge Cake. This is a loving, living album of the Seder.

Sunday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m.
A Passover Celebration
This entertaining family special hosted by Jeffrey Tambor (The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development ) illuminates the traditions that set the Jewish holiday of Passover apart from all other nights of the year.

Sunday, April 17 & 24 at 9:00 p.m.
Masterpiece Classic
Upstairs Downstairs
The saga continues at 165 Eaton Place with new characters upstairs and down in a three-part sequel to the much-loved MASTERPIECE series from the 1970s. Jean Marsh returns as Rose with a stellar cast including Dame Eileen Atkins (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Cranford”), Keeley Hawes (MI-5), Ed Stoppard (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Any Human Heart”), Claire Foy (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Little Dorrit”) and Ellie Kendrick (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “The Diary of Anne Frank”). Set in 1936, the lives of masters and servants have never been so captivating. Laura Linney hosts.

Sunday, April 17 & 24 at 10:00 p.m.
Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate
The program provides an intimate look into the spontaneous outpouring of forgiveness: from the Amish families for the 2006 shooting of their children in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania; the struggle of ’60s radicals to cope with the serious consequences of their violent acts of protest; to the shattering of a family after the mother abandons them, only to return seeking forgiveness.

Monday, April 18 at 9:00 p.m.
American Masters
John Muir in the New World
Through his tireless advocacy and his writings, Muir almost single-handedly preserved the Yosemite Valley of California and was the force behind the creation of the National Park Service. Filmed throughout the majestic landscapes in which he traveled, this documentary places our nation’s most important wilderness assets in a cultural and social context. Muir’s story could not be a timelier reminder of America’s unique and, ultimately, threatened eco-systems.

Tuesday, April 19 & 26 at 8:00 p.m. & Friday, April 22 & 29 at 10:00 p.m.
Black in Latin America
Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s discovers on this journey, a shared legacy of colonialism and slavery, vivid stories and people marked by African roots. He introduces viewers to the faces and voices of the descendants of the Africans in six Latin-American countries, who created these worlds. He shows the similarities and distinctions between these cultures and how the New-World manifestations are rooted in, but distinct from, their African antecedents.

Tuesday, April 19 & 26 at 9:00 p.m.
African American Lives
PAFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 again journeys deep into ancestry of an all-new group of remarkable individuals, offering an in-depth look at the African-American experience and race relations throughout U.S. history. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns as series host, guiding genealogical investigations down through the 20th century, Reconstruction, slavery and early U.S. history.

Wednesday, April 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Secrets of the Dead
Lost in the Amazon
What happened to famed adventurer Col. Percy Fawcett who went looking for a city of gold — the Lost City of "Z" — in the Amazon in 1925 and disappeared in the jungles of Brazil forever? New archaeological digs, the science behind the discovery of "newly found" jungle cities and clues collected over the years reveal the fate of the explorer.

Wednesday, April 20 at 9:00 p.m.
NOVA
Power Surge
With more than $30 billion earmarked for “green energy,” President Obama’s stimulus package marks the first serious step by a U.S. administration to tackle the threat of global warming. NOVA focuses on the latest and greatest innovations that include everything from artificial trees to cleaner coal, nuclear energy and wildly ambitious — and risky — schemes to re-engineer the entire climate system. Can our technology, which helped create this problem, now solve it?

Wednesday, April 20 at 10:00 p.m.
Olmstead and America's Urban Parks
The program is a one hour documentary, examines the formation of America’s first great city parks in the late 19th century through the enigmatic eyes of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822 – 1903), visionary urban planner and landscape architect. The film features Academy Award winning actor Kevin Kline as the voice of Frederick Law Olmsted.

Wednesday, April 27 at 8:00 p.m.
William & Kate: The Royal Wedding
The program follows the upbringing of the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, as well as commoner Kate Middleton, and follows their 9-year relationship leading up to their royal nuptials this month.

Wednesday, April 13 at 9:00 p.m.
NOVA
Mt. St. Helens: Back From the Dead
The mountain, like the wildlife, is coming back to life. New lava was bubbling up to the surface, and in 2004, a flurry of explosions blasted steam and ash thousands of feet into the air over Mount St. Helens. What force is driving this baffling pattern? NOVA presents a pioneering look at the interplay between biology and geology that may help scientists predict future volcanic eruptions.