PBS is amazing. It’s a bastion of BBC-esque wisdom wrapped up in a candy shell of Americanness, kind of like the chewiness at the center of a Tootsie Pop (do they still even make those?). You can almost sing it, can’t you? The world looks mighty good to me, cause PBS is all I see, whatever it is I think I see, becomes like PBS to me.
Sunday, January 28:
8:00 - 9:30PM
Nature - “Rhinoceros”. This episode of Nature focuses entirely on the majestic hippopotamus. That’s right, the producers of the show decided to pull a fast one on us, suckering us in with thoughts of rhinos but delivering only hippos instead. Can you imagine? I kid people, lighten up, it’s about rhinos, okay?
9:00PM - 11:00PM
Masterpiece Theatre - “Jane Eyre”. Part two of two in this new-to-you (it has aired in England but not here in the U.S.) four-hour version of Jane Eyre, the classic novel by Charlotte Brontë. Don’t ask me which Brontë sister that is, I get them confused. I just know it’s not the brother, he was a man and therefore not a sister.
Monday, January 29:
8:00 - 9:00PM
Antiques Roadshow “Philadelphia (Hour Two)”. So, people have old things and they bring them to antique dealers to find out how much their old stuff is worth. Some of it is worth a lot, some of it not so much. But at least everyone that attends knows exactly how much the dusty stuff in their attic might fetch at auction.
9:00 - 10:00PM
American Experience - “The Berlin Airlift”. No, silly, they didn’t airlift Berlin, that’s a city and not possible. Rather, after the Soviets blockaded the city on June 24, 1948, the U.S. and allied forces delivered more than 4,500 tons of supplies daily. Take that, you pesky Reds!
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Article comments
1 - Bliffle
For pure fun you should watch Metropolitan Operas "Magic Flute" (Mozart), which is presented in English and somewhat abbreviated (but still almost 2 hours long). After I'd viewed it and enthused to my neighbor, she retorted "it's abridged and WE don't like operas in English", and huffed away with husband in tow.
The sets are spectacular and the humor is sexy, as when Papageno The Bird Catcher tells the three ladies brightly "I brought my bird with me!" and one tactilely assures his veracity.
Half the fun is eyeing the exotic special affects.
Best to see this on widescreen HDTV.