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PBS gets under the hood of Henry Ford
OTHER FEATURES CRITIC'S CHOICE SERIES NOTES LATE NIGHT BY KEVIN McDONOUGH,
Ford, the man and the car, get their due on "American Experience" (9 p.m., PBS, channels 12 and 33).
The program explains how Ford, a natural inventor, tinkerer and experimenter, always intended to build cars for average families, like the neighbors in his isolated Michigan farm community. Ever the perfectionist, he worked his way methodically through the alphabet before arriving at the Model T, the car that revolutionized daily life in America and around the world.
We see how Ford's use of the assembly line (inspired by the mechanized slaughterhouse) fundamentally changed manufacturing and how his promise of a $5-a-day wage created an instantly wealthier working class that, in turn, provided a huge market for his automobiles.
We also learn how he undercut managers, employees and, most notably, his only son, Edsel, in a paranoid effort to maintain total control of his corporation. Having ushered in 20th-century industrial culture, Ford created a pastoral 19th-century theme park where he spent much of his time, pretending to farm.
His lifelong distrust of speculators and investors began to express itself in the crudest anti-Semitism, popularized in Ford's own newspaper. His $5-a-day wage made him champion of the workingman in 1914. But by the 1930s, Ford became the most vicious and often violent enemy of organized labor.
Two hours in length, "Henry Ford" leaves one wanting to learn more about this complex figure, an eighth-grade dropout who changed the world.
How huge was Henry Ford in his day? Unmentioned in this documentary is the bleak futuristic novel "Brave New World," written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley. In it, Henry Ford is worshipped as a god.
n Having seemingly exhausted the supply of attention-seeking knuckleheads in America's swamps and backwoods, A&E has found some stereotypes living in South Boston and documents them on "Southie Rules" (10 and 10:30 p.m., TV-PG).
Note: "Ben and Kate" and "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" have been yanked from the Tuesday schedule by Fox and ABC.
n TV-themed DVDs available today include "Downton Abbey: Season Three."
Wedding bells on "Raising Hope" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
Blind auditions on "The Taste" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
Emily distrusts Sutton on "The Lying Game" (9 p.m., ABC Family, TV-14).
"Starter Wives Confidential" (9 p.m., TLC, TV-14) visits with women who sacrificed much for their husbands' careers, only to have them depart.
A manipulative setup on "The Mindy Project" (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
Mia's dad surprises Jack on "Vegas" (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
A senator tangles with corrupt cops on "White Collar" (10 p.m., USA, TV-14).
Boyd and Ava have a showdown on "Justified" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
The weekly comedy talk show "Nikki & Sara Live" (11 p.m., MTV) makes its debut.
The orphaned creation (Johnny Depp) of an inventor (Vincent Price) becomes the subject of fascination and fear in the 1990 fantasy "Edward Scissorhands" (8 p.m., IFC).
Abby's sad memories on "NCIS" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) ... "Betty White's Off Their Rockers" (8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) ... The flu strikes on "Hart of Dixie" (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
Terrorist recruiters on "NCIS: Los Angeles" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) ... An illicit date on "Go On" (9 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) ... Nick and Schmidt compete on "New Girl" (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
On two helpings of "Happy Endings" (ABC, TV-14): pranks (9 p.m.) and vows (9:30 p.m.) ... A bus accident fills the wards on "Emily Owens, M.D." (9 p.m., CW, TV-14).
Much ado about breast-feeding on "The New Normal" (9:30 p.m., NBC, TV-14) ... "Dateline NBC" (10 p.m., TV-PG) ... Megan confronts a killer on "Body of Proof" (10 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14).
Melissa McCarthy is scheduled on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" (11 p.m., Comedy Central) ... Dax Shepard and Adam Cayton-Holland appear on "Conan" (11 p.m., TBS) ... Emmy Rossum, Ross Mathews, Arden Myrin and Ryan Stout are booked on "Chelsea Lately" (11 p.m., E!).
Sylvester Stallone appears on "Late Show With David Letterman" (11:35 p.m., CBS) ... Jay Leno welcomes Whitney Cummings and Aaron Neville on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC) ... Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Adam Driver and Halestorm appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (11:35 p.m., ABC).
Lucy Liu, Billy Gardell, Tommy Mottola and Ultraista visit "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" (12:35 a.m., NBC) ... Craig Ferguson hosts Simon Helberg on "The Late Late Show" (12:35 a.m., CBS).
kevin.tvguy@gmail.com
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