Thursday , March 28 2024
If I could save time in a bottle...

PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of September 13

Last week I promised that I would try to come up with some better examples of how and why time is amazing. I'm not sure that I have any great examples of that this week. I mean, if I could save time in a bottle that would be pretty amazing, and that would be a great example, but, sadly, I can't save time in a bottle. Boy though, there are tons of things I'd like to do if I could.

Sunday, September 13:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nature – "The Good, the Bad, and the Grizzly." Okay, this I love. This is my kind of title for a show. It's moderately humorous, it tells you exactly what the show is about, and it references a really, really good movie. Go Nature, I applaud you.

9:00 – 10:30PM

Masterpiece Mystery! – "Inspector Lewis, Series II: Life Born of Fire." For those of you not steeped in British police drama culture, "Inspector Lewis" is a spinoff of Inspector Morse. For his series, Lewis heads to Oxford to solve crimes (this time he squares off against a serial killer). I'll certainly be watching (or will have watched it already depending on how things work out).

10:30 – 11:00PM

Yellowstone: Land to Life. Forget the land, it's all about the pic-i-nic baskets (provided that darn Ranger doesn't stop Yogi and Boo Boo from getting them). Actually, I shouldn't jest, this special was filmed over the course of two years and covers every season (perhaps twice) in the park.

Monday, September 14:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Antiques Roadshow "Tucson (Hour Three)." The Roadshow has gone west, landing smack dab in the middle of Tucson. It would be better if they were in Winslow, so that they could be standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, it’d be such a fine sight to see. Take it easy, don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.

9:00 – 10:00PM

History Detectives. They’re back again! Those History Detectives are going to be puzzling out clues, working the scene of the crime, and hoping against hope to solve that greatest mystery of them all: how did Fred Flintstone manage to run fast enough that his big, heavy car started to move? Seriously now, that’s a question about history and one I feel ought to be answered sooner rather than later.

10:00 – 11:00PM

Note by Note (The Making of Steinway L1037). At least they're not doing the making of THX1138, I never saw eye-to-eye with the TH part of THX1138 – I recognize his genius, but never saw eye-to-eye with him. But, I digress, this is about the making of a piano… one piano, from start to finish and all the steps in between.

Tuesday, September 15:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nova – "Arctic Dinosaurs". We often think of dinosaurs as trudging around our planet in the heat and steam and stink of a jungle past. While that may be an accurate picture, it is not a complete one. Some dinosaurs lived in the bitter cold of the arctic. A new field expedition examines these frozen dinos.

9:00 – 10:30PM

 

Retirement Revolution – "The New Reality." Paula Zahn hosts this examination of financial problems people currently face in retirement. Me, I want to know about the problems people are going to face in 50 years, you know, when young people from today retire, people who have started with way more debt than current retirees and been paid lower salaries (when compared using adjusted dollars). You want trouble, that'll be trouble.

10:30 – 11:30PM

P.O.V. – "The Principal Story." Quite the deceptive name here, because what we have is actually not one story but two — the story of the challenges facing public schools in this country and the story of one dedicated principal. Okay, so the stories are intertwined, but that doesn't make them one story, especially when the description of the episode mentions "two stories."

Wednesday, September 16:

8:00 – 10:00PM

Live From the Lincoln Center – "New York Philharmonic Opening Night Gala Concert." Must… not… do… it… again. Must… refrain. Must… not… go… down… that… road. Oh, forget it: This is it, you'll hit the heights. And oh, what heights we'll hit. On with the show, this is it.

10:00 – 11:30PM

Great Performances – "Vienna Philharmonic Summer Concert 2009." Daniel Barenboim is in charge of the Vienna Philharmonic as they perform in the gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace. There'll be Mozart and de Falla and maybe even a little Strauss too.

Thursday, September 17:

8:00 – 9:00PM

The This Old House Hour – Episode TBA. It’s This Old House and Ask This Old House. It’s like maintenance… for your home. Wait, no, that’s exactly what it is. That doesn’t mean it’s not awesome though. Seriously, The This Old House Hour is one of the finest home improvement hours on PBS. No joke.

9:00 – 10:00PM

Antiques Roadshow "Tucson (Hour Three)". The Roadshow has gone west, landing smack dab in the middle of Tucson. It would be better if they were in Winslow, so that they could be standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, it’d be such a fine sight to see. Take it easy, don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.

10:00 – 11:00PM

Great Lodges of the National Parks – "Glacier Lodges." There are lodges in some of our national parks. Some of them are in Glacier National Park. Now, I know what you're thinking because I thought it too, but no, the lodges here themselves are not made of glaciers. That would be truly awesome though, wouldn't it?

Friday, September 18:

8:00 – 8:30PM

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4912. 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 Double Dutch Chocolate ice cream.

8:30 – 9:00PM

NOW on PBS #538. It’s the Emmy award-winning weekly news magazine. 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, you guys are awesome!

9:00 – 10:00PM

Bill Moyers Journal #1323. It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,323rd journal (not really, but I’m not going to explain to you the way in which TV shows are numbered at this point in time, maybe later if you’re nice). He’s a good journalist so I assume this will be good journalism (at least the odds are it will).

10:00 – 11:00PM

Inside – "Speed Week." This originally aired back in 2007, which I think means that this trip to the salt flats of Bonneville did not take place on the same occasion that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May were there. That was one of my favorite episodes… even if the guys didn't come to visit me on that trip to the States.

Saturday, September 19:

11:00PM – 12:00AM

Austin City Limits – "John Mayer." Mayer has been on the show before, but now he's on the show again. I know that because when this first aired and was, therefore, a new episode, he'd already been on the show in the past. Hence, again. Really, that's the very definition of again, isn't it? It happened once, now it is happening once more, so it's happening again.

Stop for a minute and tell me it wouldn't be amazing if you could save time in a bottle. What would you like to do if you could save time in a bottle? Me, I'd like to save every day until eternity passes away just to spend them with… with… well… you. Well, provided you are who I think you are, or, perhaps, more accurately, who I think you think I think you are.

About Josh Lasser

Josh has deftly segued from a life of being pre-med to film school to television production to writing about the media in general. And by 'deftly' he means with agonizing second thoughts and the formation of an ulcer.

Check Also

GalaxyCon Richmond: Tara Strong

"Perfect is boring and you're going to make mistakes. If you learn from them, let them go."