DAYTIME TV treats marriage as a division of personal crisis. The networks, meanwhile, crank out ridiculous and contrived game shows in which marriage or something like it is the unlikely and possibly unwanted prize. Both leave one asking that popular question, Where’s the love? And the answer has been: on sitcoms. Shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The King of Queens,” and “The Bernie Mac Show” present far more humane and even more gripping portraits of the marital bond and its attendant family issues.

Yet for all the real people and romantic gamesmanship on television these days, there are no reality shows even trying to take marriage and its ideals seriously. Into this void steps “Married in America,” an A&E special from famed English-born filmmaker Michael Apted. Airing on June 17 (9 p.m., the first two hours) and again on June 20 (all three hours, third hour starting at 10 p.m.), the documentary will be updated with fresh interviews every two years over the next decade. The first installment serves as a welcome reminder of the many wholesome reasons people wed, without shying away from the many difficulties waylaying the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Good Intentions as they take that fateful walk down the aisle.