When a big name Hollywood director/producer attaches themselves to a television project a lot of people tend to notice. When that big name is possibly the biggest name in adventure feature films with credits like Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, E.T. and Saving Private Ryan the project becomes an event. Such is the case with Hollywood veteran and directing guru Steven Spielberg as every once in a while he gets involved with a television event that viewers become enthralled with over a long period of time. Waste this weekend with Steven Spielberg mini series’.

SyFy Channel – Taken

In one of the biggest North American produced science fiction television projects, Steven Spielberg took Thomas H.

Cook‘s novel Taken and transformed it into a ten week mini series. Taken follows three main families and their subsequent generations from 1944 to about 2001. The Keys, Crawfords and Clarkes are all in some way effected by alien visitors dating all the way back to the second World War. With twists and turns like alien visitors taking the form of humans and memorable Roswell incidents, Taken embodies everything an alien abduction story should. But in true Spielberg fashion, Taken is less about the events and the aliens and more about the characters that have to deal with it all. Put them all together in a cross generational story arc that covers decades of family bloodlines, global events and politics and you could definitely waste your weekend exploring the inner emotions of the characters. The mini series has a large cast, but some bigger names you might recognize include Julie Benz, Dakota Fanning and Anton Yelchin.

HBO – Band of Brothers

Band of Brothers was the first big behind the camera team-up between two of Hollywood’s most powerful people, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. In the epic tale of WW II parachute infantry East Company original penned by Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers became a ten episode journey of brotherhood, companionship, war and tragedy. Although most television experiences center around one incident and build the story around it, Band of Brothers follows the growth of boys to men during one of the most difficult times our world has ever seen. From training days until the end of the war, Spielberg and Hanks go very deep into the psyche of a WW II soldier and show that it is always the characters that carry a story from beginning to end. Band of Brothers went on to become one of the most celebrated television events in history and stars recognizable names like David Schwimmer, James McAvoy and Ron Livingston.

HBO – The Pacific

The Pacific is the second installment of the Hollywood team up of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and follows three marines through separate combat missions in the Pacific War. Marines Sledge, Leckie and Basilone (played by Joseph Mazzello, James Dale and Jon Seda) carry The Pacific through events like the Battle of Tenaru, a memorable face-off at Peleliu’s Bloody Nose Ridge and the eventual home coming when the Japanese surrender. Although at first glance, The Pacific looks similar to Band of Brothers, the style is actually quite different. This ten episode mini series chronicles events in Okinawa, Iwo Jima and Australia, but like a lot of the other successful series’ from Spielberg, the strength is in the characters.