This nature documentary from NOVA follows the epic migration of the monarch butterfly over 2000 miles, providing a butterfly's-eye-view as the two month journey passes over forests, swamps, desserts, and open water, eventually touching down at their destination in Mexio. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Despite the fact that he never even existed, Sherlock Holmes embodies the very essence of Victorian-era London. Since he was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the 1880s, Holmes has been the subject of countless films, books, and biographies. It's a testament to Doyle's talents as an author that the public should take such a shine to the character and now, fans of mystery fiction can get to know their favorite detective better than ever before. In addition to examining the detective's brilliant inductive methods, his many personality quirks, and his relationship with his indispensible assistant Watson, this revealing documentary also offers a look at author Doyle's life, and his unique role as the grandfather of contemporary crime fiction. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 

This combination nature and travel documentary ventures out to the Kilauea volcano on the Hawaiian island of Hawai'i. A formation that first began erupting in 1983, Kilaeuea now sustains a reputation as the world's single most active volcano. In the 26 years that spanned 1983 to 2009, the volcano consumed an estimated 200 residential homes, but more intriguingly, it also created 544 acres of new land in the process - making it more productive than destructive and qualifying it as one of nature's most intriguing but least understood phenomena. This program witnesses the spectacular eruptions and the devastation regularly wrought, but director Paul Atkins also fixes his lens on the explosive union of 2,000 degree lava and 75 degree ocean water. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Romulus "Rom" Whitaker sustains a reputation as one of the world's most respected herpetologists (scientists who study reptiles and amphibians). But his fascination blossomed from a most unusual source: as a child, he fantasized constantly about validating the existence of real-life dragons. As an adult, this desire evolved into something far more plausible and tangible: Whitaker's quest to chart the actual origins of dragon myths. His love of herpetology inspired him to found the first crocodile bank and snake park in India (a breeding ground for reptiles in the wild), which set a remarkable precedent for wildlife sanctuaries around the globe. This documentary follows Whitaker in a search for contemporary "dragons." He journeys to Slovenian caves, where he encounters the olm - a blind, nocturnal salamander once mistaken for a baby dragon. He then heads off to the rainforest in the Western Ghats of India, where he handles and examines Draco lizards with bright yellow flaps on their necks that extend when the males are threatened or courting. And finally, Whitaker journeys to the Komodo Island of Indonesia, where he encounters the venomous, carnivorous and incredibly dangerous Komodo Dragon - the largest known lizard on Earth. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

 

For the first time ever on film, the filmmakers at Nova and National Geographic capture a remarkable phenomenon known as the Mautam that occurs only once every 48 years in the remote Indian state of Mizoram. Mizoram is approximately 8,100 square miles, and twice every century an indigenous species of bamboo blooms, blanketing 30 percent of the land. When that happens, the rat population that feeds on the bamboo's fruit explodes. The result is an unstoppable army of rodents that obliterates crops, and precipitates a massive famine throughout the state. This is nature at its most mysterious and fierce, and in this investigation scientists attempt to understand how it always happens with clockwork precision. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Join Frontline producer Michael Kirk as he ventures behind closed doors in Washington and Wall Street on a mission to discover how the economy went so bad so fast, and learn why emergency measures by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake and Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson couldn't manage to prevent the worst economic crisis in a generation. It was 2007 when the housing bubble began to burst and Wall Street started to panic. By spring of the following year, rumors began to swirl that prominent investment bank Bear Stearns was about to go bankrupt due to billions of dollars in bad mortgages. In the world of finance rumors can be the difference between success and failure, and Bear Stearns was only hours away from declaring bankruptcy when former Princeton economics professor Bernake orchestrated a shotgun marriage between the high-profile investment bank and commercial bank JP Morgan. But there was a catch; in order to make this happen, the federal government would pledge $30 billion to account for Bear Stearns' questionable assets tied to festering mortgages. A student of the Great Depression, Bernake knew what was at stake should Wall Street fail to act fast. But this was only the beginning of a bad chain reaction, and when Wall Street's Lehman Brothers, too, began teetering on the brink of collapse, Bernake and Paulson were called upon to bail them out as well. By this time, conservative Republicans in Washington were exerting pressure to invoke moral hazard and let Lehman Brothers fail, prompting CEO Dick Fuld to seek out a buyer for the failing investment bank. But his efforts were all for naught, and Lehman Brothers quickly declared bankruptcy. Over the course of the next 24 hours, the stock market crashed and credit markets across the globe froze, effectively sending the economy into a downward spiral. Would the $700 billion bailout plan subsequently proposed by Paulson and Bernanke -- and ultimately passed by Congress -- be enough to steer the economy clear of disaster, or is the United States headed towards a depression the likes of which haven't been felt since the early 20th century? This question, and many more, are at the heart of Inside the Meltdown, a Frontline special produced to provide the average American a better understanding of the economic crisis, and the problems it may pose for the country's future. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi