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TV picks: 'America in Color,' July 4 celebrations, 'Snowfall' and more

Look for celebrations of America's independence - and some looks back at the 1980s - in the week to come.

Welcome America fireworks explode over the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on July 4th 2012.
Welcome America fireworks explode over the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on July 4th 2012.Read moreED HILLE/Staff Photographer
    by Ellen Gray
    Published 

America in Color. New five-episode series, narrated by Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), colorizes history, looking back at significant events from the 1920 to 1960s, with an assist from today's technology. 8 p.m. Sunday, Smithsonian Channel.

Grantchester on Masterpiece. When villagers attending a local cricket match fall ill, it becomes a matter for police detective Geordie Keating (Robson Green) and his vicar sidekick, the Rev. Sidney Chambers (James Norton). 9 p.m. Sunday, WHYY12.

The Words That Built America. Looking for a meaningful (and bipartisan) way to mark Independence Day without fireworks? Watch actors, politicians — including every living president and vice president — and schoolchildren read every word of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in this new film from Alexandra Pelosi (Journeys with George) that focuses on the ideas that tie Americans together. 7 p.m. Tuesday, HBO.

Welcome America Concert.  Can't make it to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway? Mary J. Blige, Boyz II Men, the Philly POPS, and others will be piped right into your home. 7 p.m. Tuesday, NBC10  and the Comcast Network.

A Capitol Fourth.  John Stamos hosts the annual celebration of America's birthday, featuring music and fireworks. (Stamos apparently also will be playing drums with the Beach Boys.) Other performers include the Four Tops, Trace Adkins, and the National Symphony Orchestra. 7 p.m. Tuesday, WHYY12.

Snowfall.  New drama from John Singleton, Eric Amadio, and Dave Andron is set in 1983 Los Angeles, at the dawn of the crack-cocaine epidemic. Damson Idris plays Franklin Saint, whose entrepreneurial instincts lead him into a risky business. Carter Hudson is Teddy McDonald, a CIA operative who sees in the drug trade an opportunity to fund anti-Communist forces in Nicaragua. What could possibly go wrong? 10 p.m. Wednesday, FX.

Tour de Pharmacy. Produced by and starring Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Saturday Night Live), this mockumentary about a fictional 1982 cycling event features appearances by John Cena, Daveed Diggs, Orlando Bloom, Freddie Highmore, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Julia Ormond, Dolph Lundgren, James Marsden, Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fielder, Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Joe Buck, Mike Tyson, J.J. Abrams, Phylicia Rashad, Chris Webber, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Lance Armstrong. 10 p.m. July 8, HBO.