By Rick Gables
PBS will present the broadcast premiere of American Masters’ Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away on Tuesday, July 27, at 9 p.m. ET (check your local listings). This is a new documentary on living legend George “Buddy” Guy, a blues master who transcended his early years as a sharecropper in Lettsworth, Louisiana, to become one of the most influential guitarists of all time. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and eight-time GRAMMY winner, Guy is a pioneer of Chicago’s fabled West Side sound and a living link to the city’s halcyon days of electric blues. Guy’s 85th birthday is on July 30. Featured is intimate interviews with Guy and archival, never-before-seen performances, including footage of the blues legend on stage with the likes of President Obama and The Rolling Stones. Interweaving archival interviews with Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Willie Dixon with original interviews with musicians Guy influenced, including John Mayer, Carlos Santana, Gary Clark, Jr., Kingfish and more, American Masters traces Guy’s rich career and lasting impact as one of the final surviving connections to a historic era in the country’s musical evolution. His guitar playing directly inspired The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many more.
BAFTA Award-winning actress Helena Bonham Carter will narrate the new, original natural history series Eden: Untamed Planet, set to simulcast weekly on BBC America and AMC starting Saturday, July 24, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The series invites viewers to travel to the far corners of the planet and discover the secrets of Earth’s few remaining untouched lands, all flourishing with rich biodiversity. Isolated from the rest of the world, life here exists as nature truly intended. Each episode will also reflect on the survival of these rare, precious, and unique environments amid the perils of the modern world. Delicately balanced, species-rich, unique ecosystems, this series embarks on a breath-taking journey to Earth’s last Edens.
Breakthrough hit Darcey & Stacey returns to TLC for a second season, premiering Monday, July 19, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Stacey is hopeful to give the gift of fatherhood to her younger husband, Florian, and Darcey is left questioning her engagement to Georgi. So, Darcey and Stacey will head to Turkey on a trip of transformations.