History Channel offers up some of the most whitewashed and banal documentary content, if it can even be called documentary. More like no-name non-fiction TV filler.

But I did want to see The Statue of Liberty, HC's hour-long, trivia-filled look at the construction and refurbishing of the famous landmark. Having climbed up the thing, and having been traumatized as a child by that Planet of the Apes punchline, I figured only a special kind of filmmaker could make the facts surrounding Liberty Lady drab. But as it turns out, that's just the kind of people they hire over at HC. Aside from a few neat bits of history (I had no idea the corporate elite refused to chip in for the statue, worrying it would inspire the working class to ask for more wages and better working conditions, for example) this 50-minute entry offers up a few construction details, and not a whole lot else. Still, some of the shots are gorgeous: whatever you think of America's version of democracy, this is an undeniably stunning statue. » Matthew Hays