[UPDATE: Lincoln program added below.]
That was the week that was -- 200 years ago. Both Lincoln and Darwin were born, and suddenly, TV can't get enough of these bicentennial boys. They're big news in new shows on channels like History, NatGeo and PBS all week long.
First comes Charles Darwin, who was not only born 200 years ago Feb. 12 but whose book On the Origin of Species was published 150 years ago this week, too. The evolution revolution gets a two-night salute on National Geographic Channel, starting with Morphed(Sunday 8-11 p.m. ET, NatGeo), a three-parter using computer animation to portray creatures evolving in the way his landmark writings theorized. (All parts repeat on NatGeo Thursday 8-11 p.m. ET.)
Tuesday brings more, with Darwin's Secret Notebooks (Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, NatGeo), exploring the records he kept during his HMS Beagle journeys, and Explorer: Monster Fish of the Congo (Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET, NatGeo), showing how tiger fish in that river embody his theory in action today. There's also What Darwin Didn't Know (Thursday at 10 p.m. ET, Science Channel), illuminating how his work has been examined and validated in the decades since his groundbreaking book.
Abraham Lincoln gets his from PBS starting Monday, with the new American Experience documentary The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Monday at 9 p.m. ET on many PBS stations; check local listings). This one doesn't offer much new, compared to, say, History Channel's detail-packed The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth, but it's starkly filmed to evoke 1865's stunning first-time murder of an American president.
Other PBS offerings this week (check local listings) include Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, exploring his Illinois' law career before he ran for public office; Young Lincoln, assessing how his Midwestern childhood shaped his life; Lincoln and Lee at Antietam: The Cost of Freedom, about that horrifically deadly Civil War battle, and the new Looking for Lincoln, where historians Henry Louis Gates and Doris Kearns Goodwin examine myths and misconceptions about this American icon.
History Channel has a load of Lincoln lined up Thursday on his actual birthday, including Lincoln: The Untold Stories Part 2 (6 a.m. ET, following Wednesday's Part 1 at 6 a.m. ET); the three-hour biography Lincoln (8 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET); Lincoln: Man or Myth? (11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET), and Conspiracy: Lincoln Assassination (noon and 6 p.m. ET).
UPDATE: Program added -- The new profile The Real Abraham Lincoln (Saturday 9-11 p.m. ET, NatGeo) traces Lincoln's entire journey, from his youth to his losing political campaigns to his presidency, exploring the Civil War, emancipation and finally the stunning assassination plot. This film views America's 16th president from a different perspective: international. It's written and directed by Germany's Wilfried Hauke and produced in association with European TV (ARTE, NDR, EU MEDIA funding, the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Fund).
Lincolnmania extends into next week with the premiere of Stealing Lincoln's Body(Monday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. ET, History), a bizarrely riveting account of the many times the slain president's remains were interred, disinterred and even plotted to be held for ransom.
There's lots more Lincoln, including video, speeches, letters and teachers' lesson plans (even Thursday's live Lincoln teach-in webcast), at History's Lincoln site.
Find more Darwinmania online from Science and NatGeo.