‘Frontline’ puts Clinton and Trump on the couch
The “Frontline” (9 p.m., PBS) joint profile “The Choice” offers overlapping glances at the lives of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. It’s easy to see how these two people, and highly polarizing personalities, were formed well before they reached the age of 10.
Both had very demanding and unaffectionate fathers. Fred Trump instilled a competitive instinct in his children, telling them that the world was divided between successful people and “losers,” urging them to develop a “killer” instinct.
When Clinton came home with straight A’s, her father, Hugh Rodham, would demean her and say that the school must be too easy. He was verbally and emotionally abusive to his wife. Some theorize that the toxic atmosphere in the Rodham household contributed to Hillary’s penchant for secrecy and reserve.
Trump is described here by classmates and neighbors as a child terror, likely to smash other people’s birthday cakes and upset tables. In his own book, “The Art of the Deal,” Trump admits to giving a second-grade music teacher a black eye. To discipline him, Trump’s father enrolled him at a tough military academy.
Clinton is shown here as the very stereotype of the gradeschool overachiever: the captain of the crossing guards.
Friends and classmates of both candidates feel neither has changed terribly much since their school days.
Beyond the personal psychobiography, Trump and Clinton are depicted as baby boomers who all but symbolize the culture and gender wars of the past half-century.
Clips show Clinton in the mid1970s, as the young first lady of Arkansas and who constantly had to answer questions about her hair, her glasses, her Ivy League law degree, her use of her maiden name and her decision to work as a lawyer. In short, her refusal to play the role of doting female accessory then associated with being a governor’s wife.
Trump’s military-school classmates recall how much the Playboy magazine ethos and Hugh Hefner in particular shaped their worldview. And some admit here that Trump still sounds like the cocky teen from their old dormitory bull sessions.
Their respective religious upbringing also proves illuminating and character-shaping. Trump’s father took the family to the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, where pastor Norman Vincent Peale preached a gospel of positive thinking, a philosophy that praised the pursuit of material and business success. Clinton would fall under the spell of a Methodist youth minister who tried to broaden the horizons of his conservative suburban flock, taking them to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak to a Chicago gathering.
Two hours in length, “The Choice” goes far beyond the headlines, sound bites and tweets to reach back some 70 years to explore the content and the character of the man and woman who would be president.
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTS
Blind auditions continue on “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
“The Contenders: 16 for 16” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG) recalls the campaigns of Michael Dukakis and Mitt Romney.
A female pilot faces an unsympathetic jury on “Bull” (9
p.m., CBS, TV-14).
Will Sasso and Bobby Lee appear on the season finale of “MADtv” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14).
Joe’s decision reverberates on “Halt and Catch Fire” (10 p.m., AMC, TV-14).
Celebrity behavior on display on “Atlanta” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
“Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” (10 p.m., HBO) examines the history of the national anthem at sporting events.
A murder investigation uncovers a bomb plot on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
Maya Rudolph guest-stars on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
Time for results on “Dancing With the Stars” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
Black Siren arrives on “The Flash” (8 p.m., CW, repeat, TV-PG).
Jess and Cece become politically active on “New Girl” (8:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
Colton Haynes guest-stars as a new patient on “Scream Queens” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
Pride’s old pal faces FBI scrutiny on “NCIS: New Orleans” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
Weight-loss worries on “This Is Us” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
Daisy takes on Ghost Rider on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).