Friday , March 29 2024
The creation of the Sword in the Stone ride continues.

PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of November 16

So, have you been thinking about The Sword in the Stone ride?  The fantastic, new, possible creation that would fit so wonderfully somewhere within the real of Disney World?  As you probably know, or can at least surmise, it would be based on the feature film The Sword in the Stone and it could, quite possibly, be awesome. 

 

Sunday, November 16:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nature – "American Eagle.”  The bald eagle, once a dying breed has found its resurgence due to America's environmental policy.  This show discusses the eagle, its near extinction and its coming back from the brink of extinction.  Good for the eagle, always nice to see a success story like that.

9:00 – 10:30PM

Masterpiece Contemporary – "Filth.”  Back in the 1960s in England there was this "moral watchdog" named Mary Whitehouse.  She found the BBC filthy and complained.  She complained loud and long.  Learn all about her (in a fictionalized sense, of course).

10:30 – 11:00PM

Get Ready for Digital TV.   Two lovely gentleman from This Old House, Norm Abram and Kevin O'Connor, are here to tell you all about getting ready for digital TV (as the transition is coming in February 2009).  Pretty much the answer is that if you have cable or satellite you're fine and that if you don't you're probably going to need a converter box and the government will give you a coupon to buy one.

 

Monday, November 17:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Antiques Roadshow – “Milwaukee (Hour Two).” Wow, Milwaukee.  This repeat episode has the show going to the land of beer.  I imagine that's what people bring in too, old beer that no one really wants to drink.  I promise you people, in at least one of these three episodes beer will come up.  Wanna bet? 

9:00 – 10:30PM

American Experience – "Oswald's Ghost". According to the description of this show the assassination of President Kennedy left a "psychic wound" on this nation. I guess if you're going to talk about the ghost of a killer you can talk about psychic wounds. You can also talk about how the event gave rise to a culture of conspiracy theories.

10:30 – 11:00PM

Remembered Earth:  New Mexico's High Desert.  Filmmaker John Grabowska and author N. Scott Momaday "present a vision of hope for humankind's relationship to the natural world by interpreting the myth, beauty and power of a scarred but sacred landscape of the American West."  Wow, that's quite the mouthful.

 

Tuesday, November 18:

8:00 – 10:00PM

Nova – “The Bible's Buried Secrets."  It's a two-hour doozy of a Nova tonight.  They're going to take a deep look at the bible, they're going to try and investigate the historical realities behind what appears in the Bible.  There's going to be archeology there's going to be literary detective work, there's going to be truths uncovered.

10:00 – 11:00PM

Independent Lens – "March Point."  Three teens from the Swinomish Tribe made a film about the threat that their people face from two local oil refineries.  Said refineries were built on March Point, which had been a part of the Swinomish reservation.  As the story continues the filmmakers evolve and perhaps, just perhaps learn more about themselves than they teach us.

 

Wednesday, November 19:

8:00 – 10:00PM

Monarchy:  The Royal Family at Work – “Headquarters/Head of State.” As a whole, the series takes an inside look at the British monarchy.  Up tonight, the series airs two episodes.  First, "Headquarters," which examines all the fancy bits and pieces of Buckingham Palace and the visit of Ghana's President Kufour.  The second episode, "Head of State," features the ritual of the Queen's role in the opening of Parliament as well her meetings with the PM.

10:00PM  – 12:00AM

Monarchy:  The Royal Family at Work – “Headquarters/Head of State.” As a whole, the series takes an inside look at the British monarchy.  Up tonight, the series airs two episodes.  First, "Headquarters," which examines all the fancy bits and pieces of Buckingham Palace and the visit of Ghana's President Kufour.  The second episode, "Head of State," features the ritual of the Queen's role in the opening of Parliament as well her meetings with the PM.

 

Thursday, November 20:

8:00 – 9:30PM

Live From Lincoln Center – "Gil Shaham and Orpheus in the Penthouse."  Good ol' Gil.  Gil is a violinist and is going to be playing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in the Kaplan Penthouse.  Look at that, one sentence and I explained the whole title.  Go me, way to be succinct.

9:30 – 10:00PM

Get Ready for Digital TV.   Two lovely gentleman from This Old House, Norm Abram and Kevin O'Connor, are here to tell you all about getting ready for digital TV (as the transition is coming in February 2009).  Pretty much the answer is that if you have cable or satellite you're fine and that if you don't you're probably going to need a converter box and the government will give you a coupon to buy one.

10:00 – 11:00PM

The Standard of Perfection – "Show Cats." I don't want to sound conceited or anything, but… done, I'm one cool cat. I joke, relax, I joke, I'm as imperfect as they come. But Mark Lewis, director of The Natural History of the Chicken (seriously, that's not a joke) will be checking out show cats, their owners, and the judges at the Cat Fanciers' Association International Cat Show in this episode

 

Friday, November 21:

8:00 – 8:30PM

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4820. 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 – 9:30PM

NOW on PBS #446.  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 #1232. It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,232nd 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

In Search of Myths and Heroes – "Shangri-La."  This week Michael Wood goes on a journey through India, Nepal, and Tibet looking for Shangri-La.  If you ask me, he really probably should have just found a nice beach somewhere in Hawaii.  That, to me, is Shangri-La.

 

Saturday, November 22:

9:00 – 10:00PM

Austin City Limits – "Gnarls Barkley/Thievery Corporation."  That Gnarls Barkley.  That Thievery Corporation.  Gnarls is here tonight to promote his CD The Odd Couple.  Thievery Corporation is there to… steal things?  I don't know, why not, right?  They're thieves, no?  Yes?  Maybe? 

 

But, what I really want to ask you is now that we have taken two weeks off the discussion of The Sword in the Stone ride have you come up with any more ideas for it?  Do you, after a two week hiatus, have any suggestions on pitching the ride?  If I allowed you to amend a portion of it, what would you amend, what would you alter?  If it were your ride, how would you approach 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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