• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Today

If there is a gold standard for World War II documentaries made for television, then it is likely “The World at War.”

The 26-episode series narrated by Laurence Olivier premiered on British TV in 1973 and was seen around the world.

Now, a new 20-episode history of the war narrated and produced by Tom Hanks takes its place in the pantheon of the best WWII documentaries ever made.

Like “The World at War,” “World War II with Tom Hanks” -- premiering on Memorial Day at 8 p.m. Eastern on A&E -- seeks to take on the entire global conflict from Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 to the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945.

The documentary is extraordinary. World War II was the most filmed and photographed war up to that time in human history, and perhaps it still holds the title.

The producers of this documentary must have scoured the archives of the world to tell the story of a conflagration that resulted in an estimated 65 million deaths (according to Hanks), the vast majority of them civilians.

Tom Hanks has been what you might call a World War II activist for years. He starred in “Saving Private Ryan,” and his production company, Playtone, produced the HBO World War II dramas “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.”

He and his producing partner Gary Goetzman are listed as executive producers of the A&E series, along with historian-author Jon Meacham. 

Playtone is not mentioned in an A&E press release, but another production company, Notupia -- founded by Jane Root -- is positioned as taking the lead role in the production of the series,

Going back almost 20 years, World War II content was ubiquitous on TV -- mostly on basic cable.

At one point, documentaries about Adolf Hitler became so numerous that the subject came up every now and then in late-night monologue jokes. But like old soldiers, that avalanche of WWII histories faded away.

With “World War II with Tom Hanks,” the war is restored to the forefront of basic cable, which can always use the occasional shot in the arm.

It is a small thing to bring up, but when I first saw the show’s title, I was struck by the inclusion of Tom Hanks’ name in it.

He is one of our leading movie actors, but so was Laurence Olivier, and the World War II documentary series he narrated was not called “The World at War with Laurence Olivier.”

Still, you can’t spell “Tom Hanks” without “thanks,” and so the TV Blog thanks Tom Hanks for keeping the memory of World War II alive, and doing it so well.

“World War II with Tom Hanks” premieres Monday, Memorial Day, with three back-to-back episodes starting at 8 p.m. Eastern on A&E.

Photo credit: National Archives and Records Administration. Provided by A&E. United States Army fighting at Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, in 1944.