NBC (8-11 p.m. ET)
NBC's five-night, 12-hour rendition of James Clavell's 1975 best-seller about 17th-century Japan took $22 million and six months to make—but was worth it. Stunningly photographed, the series follows shipwrecked English navigator Richard Chamberlain through a slew of adventures as he becomes the first foreigner ever made a samurai—a medieval Japanese knight. Chamberlain dominates his scenes, but Toshiro Mifune, as a menacing warlord, and Yoko Shimada, as Chamberlain's lover, are also outstanding.
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