TV Daily

Prime Pick

Photo: HBO

There are two kinds of people in the world. There are the people who think they may have seen and read the plays of William Shakespeare enough times by now, and then there's Kenneth Branagh. As tough as it is to understand why Branagh wants to direct movie versions of every single one of Shakespeare's plays, we can at least guess that his productions will put an imaginative spin on the Bard's classics. His latest, a 2006 version of "As You Like It" (premieres at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO), boasts enough interesting updates that it might just reignite your love for words you may not have heard since you were a junior in high school. Branagh sets the comedy in Japan at the end of the 19th century, and it features wealthy Western merchants as its main characters. The story begins with an unexpected action sequence, and as it progresses, we shift between stark Japanese interiors and lush outdoor landscapes. (All the world is a stage, after all.) Stars Kevin Kline, Romola Garai, Bryce Dallas Howard and Alfred Molina.

-- H.H.

Also…

Who will win the big bucks on NBC's "America's Got Talent"? You can find out in a two-hour finale, which kicks off at 8 p.m. EDT. A winner will also be crowned on Fox's "On the Lot"; the show's first-season finale airs at 8 p.m. EDT. And all this week on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" (11 p.m. EDT on Comedy Central), Rob Riggle reports live from Iraq -- "Yes, actual Iraq, not greenscreen Iraq," notes the show -- in a series they're calling "Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq."

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Contributors: Matthew Fishbane, Heather Havrilesky, Amy Reiter

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