Band on the Run

Band of Brothers
HBO, Sundays 9-10 p.m.
Debuts September 9

If you’ve tuned in to HBO at all in the past few months, you’ve likely been hit by a shrapnel barrage of promos for the WWII epic Band of Brothers. Think of it as an insurance policy in the form of trailers, since at $125 million, the 10-episode docudrama — airing in The Sopranos’ slot — gets bragging rights as the costliest miniseries in TV history.

The only big names HBO has to hype remained behind the scenes: Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are executive producers, with Hanks cowriting one episode and directing another. (Spielberg considered directing the kickoff segment himself, says one of the series’ other auteurs, but ”his kidney thing happened.”)

Band was filmed over nine months, mostly at an aerodrome in Hertfordshire, England. The U.S. troops are played primarily by a mix of American and British unknowns, but watch for David Schwimmer in a decidedly un-Friend-ly guest spot as the despised lieutenant who trains the men of Easy Company, a group we follow from the D-Day invasion to the capture of Hitler’s Berchtesgaden stronghold. VCR alert: Some episodes run just over an hour, so set your timer accordingly. War is hell, but so is missing the ending.