I intend to update this post with TV that I think has merit. The criteria are completely subjective. I'll start small and add stuff if anyone likes it.
I'm not quite sure how to organize it. I'll make it up as I go along. Feel free to post on this thread. I'll keep things organized from the OP. Expect heavy editing.
Enjoy.
History
The Day the Universe Changed: A Personal View by James Burke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Universe_Changed)
The Day the Universe Changed (subtitled "A Personal View by James Burke") is a British documentary television series produced by and starring science historian James Burke, originally broadcast in 1985. It was released in DVD form in 2009. A companion book of the same title, also written by Burke, was published the same year, presenting the same general premise of the television series in expanded detail. A revised edition subsequently appeared in 1995.
The series' primary focus is on the effect of advances in science and technology on western philosophy. The title comes from the philosophical idea that the universe essentially only exists as you perceive it through what you know; therefore, if you change your perception of the universe with new knowledge, you have essentially changed the universe itself.
To illustrate this concept, James Burke tells the various stories of important scientific discoveries and technological advances and how they fundamentally altered how western civilization perceives the world. The series runs in roughly chronological order, from around the beginning of the Middle Ages to the present.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=59C661333A0B65BC
Richard Feynman - No Ordinary Genius (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9801006F29E4FADC)
A profile of the Scientist Richard Feynman. An intimate, moving, and funny account of the remarkable life and times of Richard Feynmanâ€"the most extraordinary scientist of his age. With a unique combination of dazzling intellect and touching simplicity, Feynman had a passion for physics that was merely the Nobel Prize-winning part of an immense love of life and everything it could offer. He was hugely irreverent and always completely honestâ€"with himself, with his colleagues, and with nature. Director: Christopher Sykes Year: 1993 Country: United Kingdom
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9801006F29E4FADC
Philosophy
The Great Philosophers (http://ffh.films.com/id/9320)
This series of incisive intellectual conversations from the BBC archives presents a comprehensive introduction to the concepts of western philosophy through 15 of its greatest thinkers. Each program features series creator, world-renowned author, professor, and philosophy specialist Bryan Magee, who discusses the philosophers’ ideas within the context of their times and intellectual accomplishments with other distinguished experts. 15-part series, 43-48 minutes each.
(incomplete list below - request a philosopher!)
Plato
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBQRuMfs2E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBQRuMfs2E)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xaL4EJPEoQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xaL4EJPEoQ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT294Q7BG34 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT294Q7BG34)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5GjdbbEiqc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5GjdbbEiqc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5c06mFPFLM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5c06mFPFLM)
Aristotle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNIPAwZVqb4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNIPAwZVqb4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p16vMGXTS80 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p16vMGXTS80)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6o6hGOXuw0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6o6hGOXuw0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48wiPk_IOlg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48wiPk_IOlg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi8XFuvvcrg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi8XFuvvcrg)
Descartes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44h9QuWcJYk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44h9QuWcJYk)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyddgzJF3-M (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyddgzJF3-M)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUWR8pEBBC0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUWR8pEBBC0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBlCK4OW_Wc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBlCK4OW_Wc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-obRljOXY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-obRljOXY)
Kant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN5XzaWumV0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN5XzaWumV0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpvNLijGKp0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpvNLijGKp0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiKt4gISPxU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiKt4gISPxU)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3DvpzwIvLY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3DvpzwIvLY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOnQ1fSQ1MQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOnQ1fSQ1MQ)
Nietzsche
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu-16Wz347g (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu-16Wz347g)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEs90bM_R8k (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEs90bM_R8k)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLzKkn3RUGc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLzKkn3RUGc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oSqp3rHq2g (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oSqp3rHq2g)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM6jn1LhWqk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM6jn1LhWqk)
Husserl and Heidegger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaGk6S1qhz0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaGk6S1qhz0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylKnb6WtYqU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylKnb6WtYqU)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgUDaml7ZJY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgUDaml7ZJY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzAqfzWJTq4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzAqfzWJTq4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfsKTSM5Sns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfsKTSM5Sns)
Spinoza and Leibniz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmbGbo-oyKc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmbGbo-oyKc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHaHCxsMy28 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHaHCxsMy28)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB4FVwy5OI4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB4FVwy5OI4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB5JhqIpN24 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB5JhqIpN24)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFqSGFE7Crc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFqSGFE7Crc)
Hegel and Marx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxjnG1X510A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxjnG1X510A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDjXBr3RtKk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDjXBr3RtKk)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYX9UP55ISc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYX9UP55ISc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Eg_fLP-5U (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Eg_fLP-5U)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbwZw0wy_n0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbwZw0wy_n0)
Hume
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6v3ZYt08fY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6v3ZYt08fY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpmBufGBW1Q (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpmBufGBW1Q)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXS-HcBsHQ8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXS-HcBsHQ8)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYkMQultX9Y (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYkMQultX9Y)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmeC85cS_3s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmeC85cS_3s)
Schopenhauer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiSaACnYA44 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiSaACnYA44)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLsut3X_Ofw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLsut3X_Ofw)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaqhCWXgSA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaqhCWXgSA)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoUzTcelt6Q (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoUzTcelt6Q)
The Ascent of Man: A Personal View - Jacob Brownoski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_of_Man)
The 13-part series was shot on 16mm film. Executive Producer was Adrian Malone, film directors Dick Gilling, Mick Jackson, David Kennard, David Paterson. Malone and Kennard later emigrated to Hollywood, where they produced Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Jackson followed them, and now directs feature films.
The title alludes to The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin. Over the series' thirteen episodes, Bronowski travelled around the world in order to trace the development of human society through its understanding of science. It was written specifically to complement Kenneth Clark's Civilisation (1969), in which Clark argued that art was a major driving force in cultural evolution. Bronowski wrote in his 1951 book The Commonsense of Science: "It has been one of the most destructive modern prejudices that art and science are different and somehow incompatible interests". Both series had been commissioned by David Attenborough, then controller of BBC2, although he had moved on by the time The Ascent of Man aired. Quotations were read by actors Roy Dotrice and Joss Ackland.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A3FC4D7ED67F4B1A
Science
Cosmos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos_TV_series)
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as global presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers and David Oyster, Richard Wells, Tom Weidlinger, and others. It covered a wide range of scientific subjects including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe.
The series was first broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service in 1980, and was the most widely watched series in the history of American public television until The Civil War (1990). As of 2009, it is still the most widely watched PBS series in the world.[1] It won an Emmy and a Peabody Award and has since been broadcast in more than 60 countries and seen by over 500 million people.[2][3] A book to accompany the series was also published.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=132835F0A6B0412B
The Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures (http://vega.org.uk/video/subseries/8)
This isn't TV. It's a series of lectures given by Richard Feynman on physics, specifically Quantum Electodynamics, or what photons and electrons do. The quality of the recording isn't great but it's Feynman! A book called QED was also published on the subject.
http://vega.org.uk/video/subseries/8