Five shows our TV critic is checking out this week

'Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson'

The acclaimed producer plays professor in this deep dive into music technology, tackling topics like auto-tuning, reverb and drum machines. The series can get a bit geeky, but Ronson breaks up the lectures with fun anecdotes about his work with superstars like Lady Gaga and the late Amy Winehouse.

Now streaming on Apple TV Plus

'Small Town News'

This docuseries alternates between paying homage to and poking fun at employees at a tiny TV operation in Pahrump, Nev. But like so many things in the recent past, the story gets hijacked by the debate over the previous president. When station owner Vernon Van Winkle misses out on a chance to interview Donald Trump Jr., he reacts as if he just lost his nest egg at a Vegas casino.

8 p.m. Mon., HBO

'Obama : In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union'

Despite a nearly three-hour running time over three nights, this documentary is far from a complete biography of President Barack Obama. Director Peter Kunhardt is only concerned with Obama's role in race relations. You end up learning more about Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest than Obama's approach to the Iraq war. Even Republicans might get goose bumps rewatching his "Amazing Grace" speech delivered after the Charleston, S.C., church massacre.

8 p.m. Tue.-Thu., HBO

'Cooking With Paris'

Paris Hilton has recently insisted that her airhead persona is just an act. This new series doesn't support her case. In each episode, the heiress fumbles around the kitchen, unable to identify a blender or a pair of tongs. Famous friends like Kim Kardashian and Demi Lovato giggle in the background as Hilton tries not to scald herself.

Starts streaming Wednesday on Netflix

'Mr. Soul!'

"Soul!," the PBS program that celebrated African American dance, music and literature in the late '60s and early '70s, doesn't get mentioned much in TV history pieces. That makes the excerpts from this documentary all the more riveting. There's a good chance you've never before seen Billy Preston jam on a gospel tune or Stevie Wonder provide the music for a ballet number. After watching the clips — and hearing the back story of the show's ambitious creator, Ellis Haizlip — you'll wonder what took so long.

Starts streaming Sunday on HBO Max