Friday , March 29 2024
Spring is oh-so-close. I can almost touch it. I can almost taste it. I can almost... well, you get the idea.

PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of March 2

Spring has just about sprung. I can get a Quantum of Solace from that. It's so close to being spring and spring is so close to being summer that I'm excited. Very excited. We're close to changing the clocks and I'm working on the golf swing once more. There's so much happening, the birds are chirping, the bees buzzing, life continues. It's wonderful.

 
Sunday, March 2:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nature – “Deep Jungle 'New Frontiers'”. Wow. This is part one of a three-part miniseries – a miniseries, I tell you – that follows explorers and scientists as they examine life in the jungle. Part one deals with "how the rainforest acts as an engine of evolution."

9:00 – 11:00PM

André Rieu: In Wonderland. I would call this the sequel to Alice's visit, but that was the whole Looking Glass thing. Maybe it's now a trilogy. Fine, fine, it's not Rieu and his orchestra, choir, several soloists and some really kicking music playing at a theme park in Holland.

 
Monday, March 3:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Antiques Roadshow – "Tampa (Hour One)". I wonder if the things that appear at the Roadshow in Tampa are imported by snowbirds from New York. Either that or they recall the moments back in the day when the Buccaneers were a good team. 

9:00 – 11:00PM

The Osmonds 50th Anniversary. It's been 50 years since The Osmonds started to do their thing? It's been 50 years since The Osmonds started to do their thing! Holy mackerel, that's a long, long time. All seven Osmonds perform here and there are old clips and photos, too.

10:00 – 10:30PM

PBS Previews – "Carrier". PBS isn't going to show you "Carrier", they're just going to show you a preview of it (it airs at the end of April and beginning of May). They're going to tantalize you. They're going to intrigue you. They're going to tell you about some of the people on the USS Nimitz.

 
Tuesday, March 4:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nova – “The Great Robot Race”. In 2005 DARPA sponsored a challenge that saw 195 teams from around the globe try and qualify for 132 mile race around across the desert. It was all done with robots. And, in case you were unsure, robots are in fact awesome.

9:00 – 10:30PM

The Happiness Prescription with Deepak Chopra. Deepak Chopra explains how we can all be happy. He takes Buddha's teachings and relates "them to a contemporary understanding of consciousness." Apparently that can all make us happy. I'll stick with drugs myself.

10:30PM – 12:00AM

The High Kings. Finbarr Clancy. Brian Dunphy. Martin Furey. Darren Holden. What do these men have in common? I'm glad you asked, they're singers. All of them. Better than that though, they've joined forces and have created a brand-new Irish ballad group. They're called the High Kings. They perform here.

 
Wednesday, March 5:

8:00 – 10:00PM

Great Performances – “James Taylor: One Man Band”. He really is a one man band. He's seen fire. He's seen rain. He's seen sunny days that he thought would never end. He's seen lonely times when he could not find a friend. Me, he'll always see again.

10:00PM – 12:00AM

Great Performances – “Martina McBride: Live in Concert”. I know that I should know what Martina sings, I always think that I like her and she's had a bunch of hits, but I can't name any of her songs of the top of my head. I feel ashamed about that. Maybe I should watch.

 
Thursday, March 6:

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 – 10:30PM

Sarah Brightman: Symphony in Vienna. A brand new Sarah Brightman concert. It was taped way back in January of this year in Vienna (if Indiana Jones has taught me anything, that's in Austria). She sings old stuff, she sings new stuff. She sings and sings and sings.

10:30 – 11:30PM

Shangri-La. No, it's not about the city, it's a dance special. The troupe involved is the Dynamic Hunan Dance Company with China's prima ballerina, Liping Yang, getting into the act. The music is, it seems, new too. Let's see if the troupe is a dance, dance, dance, dance, dance machine.

 
Friday, March 7:

8:00 – 8:30PM

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4736. 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 on PBS #410.  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, you guys are awesome!

9:00 – 10:00PM

Bill Moyers Journal #1148. It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,148th 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

Our Life's Essential Information. Have trouble organizing? I don't, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I couldn't use some tips and tricks. Maybe, just maybe, Dorothy Breininger can help with the whole thing. Maybe if you need more help than I do she can help even more. We'll see.

10:30PM – 11:00PM

Our Treasured Memories. Last week I ordered over 100 prints from the past eight months of my daughter's life. Those are treasured memories. Hopefully she'll know all about her family, where she came from, and where she wants to go. If not, perhaps Debby Bitticks can help her keep things straight.

 
Saturday, March 8:

8:00 – 9:30PM

Life Lessons from Onslow – “A 'Keeping up Appearances' Special”. As you may have figured out by the title, this is a special based on the BBC series, Keeping up Appearances. Onslow is going to be teaching a class and will be doing it on "successful relationships." Will he succeed? Watch and see.

9:30 – 11:00PM

Historic Pubs of Dublin – It is just possible that Frank McCourt knows a thing or two about old pubs. I certainly hope he does as he's leading a tour of Dublin's oldest pubs. Myself, I could use a drink right about now.

 

Okay, I'm sorry, I just have to continue on the historic pubs thing. I don't think I can watch the episode. It's one of those things about me. The yearning to participate would be too great. Going to all those pubs, having a drink at each, grabbing a bite of pub food. I'd love it just too much to watch. I can take a Quantum of Solace from that.

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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