The 2024 documentary “Admissions Granted” (9 p.m., Sunday, MSNBC) concerns the issue of affirmative action and arrives one year after the Supreme Court’s SFFA v. Harvard case outlawed the use of race considerations in admission, stating in a 6-3 decision that such criteria violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
This 90-minute film examines longstanding issues surrounding affirmative action. Since at least the 1970s, many have argued that admissions policies designed to redress historic inequality in fact discriminate against white applicants.
What made the SFFA case different was the emergence of a group of Asian American students who felt that Harvard had deliberately denied them admission on the basis of their race and ethnicity in the name of a policy of diversity that the institution had a hard time explaining.
While this case revolved around the issue of Asian students, it was the latest in a series of anti-affirmative action cases brought by the same institution, bankrolled by conservatives.
So, in addition to the social and legal issues here, “Admissions” looks at the use of such resentments as a political wedge issue. It also discusses the legal limbo facing college admissions offices that find longstanding practices now condemned as discrimination.
The film examines the perception that Ivy League institutions are some kind of golden ticket, conferring elite status on students and graduates.
The notion that such institutions might seek a diverse campus and use an arbitrarily selective process to achieve that goal is hardly new. Well into the 20th century, schools like Harvard placed quotas on the number of Jews admitted, creating a resentment not terribly different from the feelings that Asians expressed in this film. One person’s “diversity” can sound like “we don’t want ‘too many’ of ‘those people’” to others.
It’s complicated, and it always has been.
And the notion that the Ivies were offering an entry to elite society is hardly new. At a time when Catholics who attended college were expected to attend Holy Cross or Georgetown, Joseph P. Kennedy (Harvard, 1912) knew his degree would help him stand out from the immigrant class and insisted that his sons go there as well.
At the heart of this problem is the perception among some that any admission short of the Ivy League is a lifelong mark of shame and second-rate status — a notion that is not only untrue, but deeply unhealthy for individuals and society.
— TCM concludes its Saturday Night Double Feature festival with two films chosen by director Nicole Holofcener. Over the past three decades she has been associated with ensemble comedies, including her 1996 debut “Walking and Talking,” a film that featured a remarkable cast including Catherine Keener, Anne Heche, Todd Field, Liev Schreiber and Kevin Corrigan.
She’s made several movies with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, including the 2013 effort “Enough Said,” released shortly after the sudden death of its co-star, James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos”).
Holofcener’s selections for Saturday include two Vietnam-era dramas directed by Hal Ashby. The 1978 antiwar drama “Coming Home” (8 p.m.) stars Jane Fonda as a military wife appalled by the toll of the war who embarks on an affair with a paraplegic veteran (Jon Voight), much to the horror of her officer husband (Bruce Dern), still committed to the war’s mission. Based on an acclaimed script by Robert Towne (“Chinatown”), the 1973 satire “The Last Detail” (10:15 p.m.) stars Jack Nicholson and Otis Young as shore patrol officers assigned to drag a sailor (Randy Quaid) to the brig.
Ashby emerged as a symbol of the “new Hollywood” of the 1970s, along with directors named Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg and Lucas. His other films of the period included “Shampoo,” “Bound for Glory” and “Being There,” Peter Sellers’ last work.
Ashby fell out of favor as corporate elements gained dominance in the film industry. His rise and fall is explored the 1998 book “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls,” a history of 1970s cinema by Peter Biskind.
— Summer arrives in earnest as “Sharkfest” kicks off on National Geographic, starting with “Shark Beach With Anthony Mackie” (9 p.m., Sunday). For Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, you’ll have to wait until next Sunday, July 7.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— The Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers meet in MLB (7 p.m., Fox) action.
— U.S. Olympic Trials (8 p.m., NBC) feature track and field.
— Authorities grow suspicious when a kidnapping victim suddenly reappears in the 2024 shocker “The Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— A photographer enlists an old friend to capture the perfect frozen moment in the 2024 romance “Falling Like Snowflakes” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Previously aired segments scheduled on two hours of “60 Minutes” (CBS): the children of wounded warriors; the use and abuse of Interpol by authoritarian regimes; the Tasmanian tiger (7 p.m.); Russia’s war on Ukrainian culture; the changing flu season; sports betting (8 p.m.).
— “The Great Food Truck Race” (8 p.m., Food) enters its 17th season.
— U.S. Olympic Trials (NBC) feature track and field (7:30 p.m.) and women’s gymnastics (8:30 p.m.).
— Mexico takes on Ecuador in the 2024 Copa America (8 p.m., Fox).
— On two episodes of “Elsbeth” (CBS, r, TV-14): death on the tennis court (9 p.m.); plastic surgery can be murder (10 p.m.).
— The 2009 animated adaptation of “The Princess and the Frog” (9 p.m., ABC) moves the location to the Louisiana bayou.
— A local landowner’s murder makes for a complicated investigation on “Grantchester on Masterpiece” (9 p.m., PBS).
— The chat concludes on the season finale of “Interview With the Vampire” (9 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
— “Biography” (A&E, TV-14) offers profiles of Sammy Hagar (9 p.m.) and Sebastian Bach (10 p.m.).
— Targaryans show their roots on “House of the Dragon” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— A guest from Colombia falls under scrutiny on “Hotel Cocaine” (9 p.m., MGM+, TV-MA).
— Lucy needs Craig’s help on “Orphan Black: Echoes” (10:15 p.m., AMC, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
Endowed with a remarkable imagination, a young man (director Julio Torres) travels from El Salvador to New York to create toys in the 2023 surrealistic comedy “Problemista” (8 p.m., Saturday, HBO). Released just this past March, the film received generally positive reviews and features a cast including Tilda Swinton, Julio Torres, RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully and Isabella Rossellini.
SATURDAY SERIES
Child traffickers move freely in Romania on “FBI International” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Three episodes of “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … “48 Hours” (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., CBS) … “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG).
