Just writing for myself I really dislike those pseudo-documenteries with the over dramatic soundtracks and CGI cartoonish light shows. Most that I have watched have about the same historical depth as the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck re-telling of the Robin Hood legend.
With some notable exceptions, in the hands of most producers television is far too superficial a medium to do justice to any complex historical event. Too bad that many viewers think 44-minutes of narrowly focused and highly subjective narrative actually qualifies as real analysis. But history on TV is popular as it requires niether effort or thinking...
For all that, if the action off Samar was not the finest hours of the USN it should be high in the top five. For a pretty good and fairly recent account see
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfischer.
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Tin...8963971&sr=8-1
Buy it at Amazon and help out SubSim.