Thursday , March 28 2024
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PBS Primetime Programming for The Week of June 17

Week three of my quest to get someone to talk to me about becoming an Imagineer continues.  This week I’d like to highlight what I’ve highlighted in the past once more, particularly my genuine desire to do this job and my genuine love of Disney.  I don’t mean love in one of those weird, unhealthy ways, I’m not obsessed (except with the idea of becoming an Imagineer, of course).  I have a perfectly understandable admiration for so much of what the Mouse House does. 

Sunday, June 17th:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nature – “Silent Roar:  Searching for the Snow Leopard.”  According to the show description, “a legendary filmmaker sets out to film a legendary cat.”  Legendary viewers will watch this legendary experience from the most legendary seat in their legendary houses.  Legendary popcorn will be made and eaten with legendary hands prior to legendary burps and (should too much popcorn be eaten) a legendary unbuttoning of the legendary pants. 

9:00 – 10:30PM

Mystery!  “Foyle’s War, Series IV”. Ah, that popular World War II whodunit is back, still starring Michael Kitchen as our titular hero.  He’s fighting his own battle against murder, mystery, and betrayal on the south coast of England. 

10:30 – 11:00PM

Encore!  With James Conlon – “Beauty or Truth?”  Or, your money or your life.  Your wife or your mistress.  Your husband or your mister.  Yellow or purple?  Green or brown?  So many questions, so little time, and only one Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. 

 

Monday, June 18th:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Antiques Roadshow –  “Memphis (Hour Three).”  First up in Memphis:  a 35 year old peanut butter and banana sandwich, stolen from Graceland.  Second up:  a TCB thunderbolt, stolen from Graceland.  Third up:  a velvet Elvis, that’s right, stolen from Graceland.    

9:00 – 11:00PM

Simon Schama’s Power of Art – “Van Gogh/Picasso.”  Internationally acclaimed writer Simon Schama tells all he knows about different artists and their masterpieces.  Up tonight are Van Gogh and Picasso.  Boy, I hope they do Monet cause I’m a huge fan of waterlillies.  Or, Disney, because I’m just a huge fan. 

 

Tuesday, June 19th:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nova – “Bone Diggers.”  I’m just oh-so-excited for this program.  Really.  There’s megafauna and Thylacoleo carnifex beneath the Nullarbor Plain.  Megafauna and Theylacoleo carnifex beneath the Nullarbor Plain!  Do you understand what I’m saying to you?  Yeah, I don’t either.  

9:00 – 10:00PM

Frontline – “The Endgame.”  Not that they don’t seem to do a similar story every week, but this week, the show is going to look at how the mistakes we’ve made in Iraq have led, virtually, to a civil war.  Unquestionably, there have been mistakes made, and this show will look at some of them.    

10:00 – 11:00PM

P.O.V. – “Rain in a Dry Land.”  This show recounts the story of two Somali Bantu families that were moved by relief agencies to Atlanta, Georgia, and Springfield, Massachusetts, respectively.

  

Wednesday, June 20th:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Secrets of the Dead – “The Hunt for Nazi Scientists.”  I’ve seen the movies, they all went to Brazil.  Some even decided to try and clone the Fuhrer.  Talk about a weird movie with a sick and twisted bad guy behind it all.  My goodness, those Boys from Brazil.      

9:00PM – 10:00PM

Great Performances – “Dance in America:  Dancing in the Light.”  This is an extended version of a show that aired in 2001, focusing exclusively on African-American Dancers.  Now, the show is all-performances, and not just that, but they’re extended.  Very exciting. 

10:00 – 11:00PM

Great Performances – “Sting:  Songs From the Labyrinth.”  How absolutely great would it be if Sting was singing songs from the movie Labyrinth?  That would be so utterly fantastic I’d take my TiVo out of storage (long story, people) in order to record this bad boy.  It is him singing, but he’s singing the songs of John Dowland.  

 

Thursday, June 21st:

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.

9:00 – 10:00PM

Antiques Roadshow –  “Memphis (Hour Three).”  First up in Memphis:  a 35 year old peanut butter and banana sandwich, stolen from Graceland.  Second up:  a TCB thunderbolt, stolen from Graceland.  Third up:  a velvet Elvis, that’s right, stolen from Graceland.   

10:00 – 11:00PM 

Black Grace:  From Cannon’s Creek to Jacob’s Pillow.   A dance troupe of Maori and Pacific Islanders rise from a small town to “the pinnacle of the international modern dance world.”  

 

Friday, June 22nd:

8:00 – 8:30PM

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4651.  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.

8:30 – 9:00PM

NOW #325.  It’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!

9:00 – 10:00PM

Bill Moyers Journal #1111 – It’s Bill Moyers.  It’s his 1,111th 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).

10:00PM – 10:30PM

Exposé:  America’s Investigative Reports #201.  Of each episode in this series focuses on journalistic investigations and the people that went and did them.  I think it’s a dying art in this country. 

10:30 – 11:00PM

Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers – “Surgical Slimmers.”  Originally airing two years ago this episode looks a different ways people are using surgery to eliminate their weight. One of the latest devices the episode explores is an implantable stomach “pacer.” 

 

Saturday, June 23rd:

9:00 – 10:0PM

Austin City Limits – “Alejandro Escovedo.”  After battling Hepatitis C, Escovedo is back with a microphone in his hand performing songs from The Boxing Mirror.  Apparently Billboard quite liked the album. 

 

Another week down.  There are only something like 2.5 dozen shopping weeks left till Christmas.  You know what would be a great gift?  Helping make your friendly neighborhood TV writer an Imagineer.  And don’t think that you need to wait till December to get this little gift going either.  You can help make me an Imagineer at any point.  And, all I’m not even asking for that much, just an interview, just a discussion, just a foot in the door.  Think about it.

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.

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