Friday , March 29 2024
The creation of the Sword in the Stone ride continues (Imagineer Quest Part 2, as I like to call it).

PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of August 31

Let's just say, purely hypothetically, that someone from Disney were to contact me and say something along the lines of, "Josh, we want to build your Sword in the Stone ride [the ride I would create were I an Imagineer and given the chance], but we don't want you as a full-fledged Imagineer right now. Would you be amenable to some sort of apprenticeship?" Quite obviously I would, that's not even a real question. How could I say no? The real question is how are we going to make the horses that people ride on give the feel of being on a squirrel?

 
Sunday, August 31

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nature – " Animals Behaving Worse”. Ooh… a sequel! It uses the format developed in the 2000 episode, "Animals Behaving Badly." As it turns out, animals and people don't so much always get along. Those pesky squirrels in birdfeeders…

9:00PM – 10:30PM

Masterpiece Mystery! – "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Series VI – One Guilty Deed.'" The eighth Earl of Asherton (that would by Thomas Lynley) is going back in time. Earlier this month Series VII aired, now we're back on Series VI. Poor Lynley, he's in for some serious heartache at the end of this series.

10:30PM – 11:00PM

Atchafalaya Houseboat. Now that is great name, Atchafalaya. For those of you who are unaware, Atchafalaya is a swamp in Louisiana which measures a million acres. A writer, Gwen Roland, built a houseboat by hand 30 years ago. Wow. She's like the Noah of Louisiana.

 
Monday, September 1:

8:00 – 11:00PM

PBS Convention Coverage – A Newshour Special Report – "Republican Convention." I am really and truly excited for this, and you should be too. Seriously, this is a big election coming up. The world is changing, and depending on who we elect, it might change differently. We should all be well aware of who we're going to vote for (or against) and why we're going to do that.

 
Tuesday, September 2:

8:00 – 11:00PM

PBS Convention Coverage – A Newshour Special Report – "Republican Convention." I am really and truly excited for this, and you should be too. Seriously, this is a big election coming up. The world is changing, and depending on who we elect, it might change differently. We should all be well aware of who we're going to vote for (or against) and why we're going to do that.

 
Wednesday, September 3:

8:00 – 11:00PM

PBS Convention Coverage – A Newshour Special Report – "Republican Convention." I am really and truly excited for this, and you should be too. Seriously, this is a big election coming up. The world is changing, and depending on who we elect, it might change differently. We should all be well aware of who we're going to vote for (or against) and why we're going to do that.

 
Thursday, September 4:

8:00 – 11:00PM

PBS Convention Coverage – A Newshour Special Report – "Republican Convention." I am really and truly excited for this, and you should be too. Seriously, this is a big election coming up. The world is changing, and depending on who we elect, it might change differently. We should all be well aware of who we're going to vote for (or against) and why we're going to do that.

 
Friday, September 5:

8:00 – 8:30PM

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4809. 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 #435. 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 #1221. It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,221st 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

An Ice Cream Show. It's another re-airing of a Rick Sebak special. It's a road trip, it's a wacky good time, it might just be plain old fun (I haven't seen it, so I can't attest to it). Sebak goes and looks at some of the most famous ice cream eateries and makers.

 
Saturday, September 6:

9:00 – 10:00PM

Austin City Limits – " Brad Paisley/Dierks Bentley". Ah Paisley, that pattern that shouldn't exist. The country singer, however, is pretty fun. Now, I'm not the biggest country guy, but that Paisley sure can sing. He rocks like a Bentley rolls, smooth.

 

Remember now, for one of the transformations in the movie on which the ride I'm creating is based, Wart becomes a squirrel. Thus, in the ride, the passenger needs to get the impression that they are on a squirrel. It needs to have a scrabbly sensation. That's a tough one. Obviously, the sound design is a huge part of that, there needs to be animals crawling on bark-type noises. If you'll recall, for the fish transformation I was advocating a really loose feel to the passenger conveyances, something that would almost allow a floaty feel. Well, I think that if you go from fish to squirrel, if you change the loose feel of the carriage to a really tightly controlled one, with quick little jerks here and there, you can get away with the sense of being on a squirrel (particularly with the appropriate sounds).

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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