Basic cable roars with historical epics
National Geographic goes back to the future. There was a time when event TV programming revolved around the adaptation of epic novels, the more sweeping in scope, the better. But that was a long time ago.
Based on a novel by Annie Proulx spanning hundreds of years and many generations, the 10-part series “Barkskins” (9 p.m., National Geographic, TV-MA) begins in the late 1600s, as English traders for the Hudson Bay Company run up against the settlers of “New France” in what is now known as Quebec. And both empires contend with the native tribes, notably the Iroquois, who are none too happy to share their land.
In addition to the imperial chess game, there are stories of individuals of every caste, from agents for the crown to indentured servants sent across the ocean to work for years to pay off petty debts. There are also boatloads of women, secured by the French king to serve as wives for the settlers of New France and populate the New World.
As the title implies, the focus is on the forest, as resource, metaphor, source of power and sanctuary for spirits both good and evil. The first episode is shot through with drone footage of tree canopies, a seemingly limitless vista of green, a gift from providence that will be “conquered” in all the worst ways.
The cast includes Marcia Gay Harden (“Miller’s Crossing”) as an innkeeper’s wife much smarter than her husband. David Thewlis, an ominous force in the most recent season of “Fargo,” is a French landowner who takes two indentured men into his vast domain.
“Barkskins” does a good job of evoking this new, raw forest kingdom, both monumental and claustrophobic. It has the grandeur of a historic epic and the haunted intimacy of director Robert Eggers’ horror gem “The Witch.”
› Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, the threepart series “Grant” (9 p.m., History, TV-14) mixes cinematic reenactment with documentary-style biography and talking-head interviews with historians
including Ron Chernow, whose recent biography of Ulysses S. Grant rekindled interest and appreciation of the 18th president, a man long ranked as one of our worst commanders in chief.
“Grant” also relies on his own “Personal Memoirs,” one of the great bestsellers of the 19th century and a book generally considered to be the best presidential autobiography ever written, perhaps the only one that rises to the level of literature.
A short man, Grant was
often overlooked by his peers, and won glory in both the Mexican American War and the Civil War by sheer determination and hard work.
The hybrid nature of this series, presenting vivid, violent battle scenes followed by still photography and interviews, prevents a natural narrative flow. “Grant” has a lot of great material to work with, but it chugs along in fits and starts.