On TV: HBO celebrates Black History Month with 'Thurgood'

Attaining Nirvana

The Documentary Channel marks what would have been Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain's 44th birthday with the biographical profile “About a Son” at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. The documentary is culled from interviews conducted by music journalist Michael Azerrad for his book “Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana.”

Golden history

Comcast SportsNet Chicago's series on Black History Month looks back at the Golden Gloves, the boxing tournament developed by Chicago newspaperman Arch Ward (who would go on to think up baseball's original All-Star Game), at 10 and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22. Joe Louis, Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay (later, of course, Muhammad Ali) are among the Gloves champs profiled.

Judging ‘Thurgood'

Speaking of Black History Month, HBO gets on the bandwagon with a one-man play based on the life and words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black man named to the high court. “Thurgood,” starring Laurence Fishburne (the “CSI” star who previously played Morpheus in the “Matrix” movies and Cowboy Curtis on “Pee-wee's Playhouse”), premieres at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, on the premium-cable channel.

Waste Watcher

Having become a star in the meantime, Jack Black returns to the musical roots of his original band and HBO series with the film “Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny.” Rejoining his old colleague Kyle Gass in the folk-metal duo, they pursue greatness in the form of a quest for a mythical guitar pick. Tim Robbins and Ben Stiller are along for the ride at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, on VH1.