Thank goodness, Pledge Week is over. I should put week in quotes, but I rsquo;m not going to. Even so, I rsquo;m very happy PBS is back to regularly scheduled programs, because the plethora of complaints I received about their changing the schedule around and stuff not airing at all in certain markets was deafening.
Completely deafening. I now completely understand the concept of deafening silence, and am thrilled to be going back to regular old silence.
Sunday, March 18:
Nature - ldquo;War Wrecks of the Coral Seas rdquo;.
Ships sink. After they sink things grow on them. This happens in the Coral Seas, where many ships sank during World War II.
Ships sank there at that time mostly because there was a war on, and many battles took place in the Pacific that dealt with the Navy.
Soundies: A Musical History Hosted by Michael Feinstein. A ldquo;soundie rdquo; is type of movie, first appearing in 1941, that is three minutes long, black and white, and featured big band, jazz, and swing-era artists.
And that, is your musical history for today.
Monday, March 19:
Antiques Roadshow - ldquo;St. Paul (Hour Three) rdquo;.
I rsquo;m standing by this summary from last two weeks: how great would it be if this was at the Cathedral? The experts could go around looking at ancient artifacts and declare them good, bad, or ugly. It rsquo;d be really, really funny.
American Experience - ldquo;Hijacked rdquo;. In September of 1970 the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked five commercial planes. Three of these were blown up.
This show examines the incident, antecedents, and aftermath.
Secrets of the Dead - ldquo;The Sinking of the Andrea Doria rdquo;. See, to me this is just funny, because I know well that dead man tell no tales.
At least that rsquo;s true until you use science to pry tales from the cold, frozen grip of the dead. And that rsquo;s exactly what the scientists do here with the Andrea Doria.
Tuesday, March 20:
Nova - ldquo;Mystery of the Megaflood rdquo;.
Not to worry, this flood was back during the last ice age. It occurred in what would become the American Northwest, and Nova proves once and for all that it did indeed happen. Must rsquo;ve been that damned global warming, Mr.
Gore, I salute you.
Frontline - ldquo;The Soldier rsquo;s Heart rdquo;. Frontline examines the psychological toll of the war in Iraq.
This story originally aired two years ago when a medical study estimated that one in seven returning vets are expected to suffer from major depression, anxiety or PTSD.
Independent Lens - ldquo;Stolen rdquo;. A look at the successful execution of the largest art heist in modern history (just for the record it occurred in 1990 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston).
I rsquo;ve thought for the longest time that the most successful art heist in modern history was when Titanic stole all those Oscars from deserving movies.
Wednesday, March 21:
National Geographic Specials - ldquo;Lost Treasures of Afghanistan rdquo;. Due to umpteen different kinds of strife in Afghanistan, various national treasures have been lost, stolen, and/or destroyed.
This particular special focuses on the recoved ldquo;Bactrian Gold. rdquo; What exactly is that? Watch and find out.
Through Deaf Eyes. How can eyes be deaf? I understand what they rsquo;re going for here, but I still disagree.
Eyes see. Eyes never have the ability to hear, so therefore, technically all eyes are deaf. Yet, that is not the notion they are pushing for here and so I disagree completely with the tack they are taking.
Thursday, March 22:
The This Old House Hour - Episode TBA. It rsquo;s This Old House and Ask This Old House. It rsquo;s like maintenance hellip; for your home.
Wait, no, that rsquo;s exactly what it is.
Great Performances - ldquo;Barenboim on Beethoven rdquo;. He rsquo;s not actually on Beethoven, it rsquo;s more like he does Beethoven.
Wait, that rsquo;s not quite right either. He rsquo;s not doing Beethoven as much as he rsquo;s performing Beethoven. Or, better still, Beethoven rsquo;s music, he rsquo;s doing Beethoven rsquo;s music.
Oh forget it, I give up.
Friday, March 23:
Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4638. Another whole week has gone by and good old Gwen Ifill and National Journal are here to fill us in.
For the record, I like to pretend the National Journal is a sidekick, like Robin to Batman, Starsky to Hutch, or chocolate sauce to chocolate ice cream.
NOW #312. It rsquo;s the Emmy award-winning weekly newsmagazine.
It looks at issues facing our democracy. The show is hosted by David Brancaccio. And, even better, they still send me e-mails (I think that makes me cool and them nice).
Thanks, Now!
National Geographic Specials - ldquo;Lost Treasures of Afghanistan rdquo;. Please see description above, cause it rsquo;s awesome.
Monty Python rsquo;s Flying Circus - #104. It rsquo;s the Python boys again. They rsquo;re still funny.
Funny, wacky, zany, other things. They are the Pythons after all.
Saturday, March 24:
Austin City Limits - ldquo;Coldplay rdquo;.
I started this thing confused and I rsquo;m going to end confused. They rsquo;re playing in Austin, why are they still cold? And, even if Austin is a little chilly, surely they rsquo;ve warmed up in their playing in general so as not to be cold anymore.
PBS doing regularly scheduled programming, it rsquo;s a wonderful thing. Seriously. No more ldquo;you have to lose weight rdquo; shows or Lawrence Welk specials.
Not that there rsquo;s anything wrong with that. This, though, is better. Trust me.
This is definitely better.
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