JANE
National Geographic, 8:00 p.m. ET
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: This feature documentary makes its TV premiere uninterrupted by commercials tonight on the National Geographic Channel, and it’s a beautiful piece of work. It’s about the pioneering chimpanzee-study work of Jane Goodall, and is built around hundreds of hours of film footage that was taken more than 50 years ago, but stored in archives and never used until now. Filmmaker Brett Morgen, who has helmed dramatically compiled documentary studies of Kurt Cobain and Robert Evans, lets the story tell itself – and it ends up being not only a nature story, but a love story, too, and a life study of the human species as well. We see Jane Goodall today, reflecting on her younger selves and looking just as beautiful and enthusiastic a human being as when she first went to Africa to study apes in the wild. And in the vintage footage, we see wildlife photography, and behavior, that is spectacular. And the entire movie is scored, brilliantly, by composer Philip Glass, who elevates the experience even more. BBC America’s just-concluded Blue Planet II was a nature documentary for the ages, a wonder to behold and a thrill to watch. Jane is right up there in that astounding company. Do not miss it. For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.