Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Please note, PBS is doing its pledge drive all week this week, and so you need to check your local listings (which you should always do anyway, but more so this time) and not just rely on me as gospel. Much as I enjoy the idea of The Gospel According to TV and Film Guy, it’s still being worked on. I’m only up to chapter 7 verse 10 at this point, but have gotten stuck on a few sermons; I don’t quite know what God said about TiVo, I just know it was awesome.
Sunday, March 4:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Nature – “The Best of Nature – 25 Years”. Boy, if you think that this is going to be a different episode than the “Best of” that aired back in mid-January you are going to be sorely mistaken. Trust me, between now and Mid-January there is no way Nature put out another 25 years of programming.
9:00 – 10:00PM
Masterpiece Theatre – “The Best of Masterpiece Theatre”. This would be another “Best of” episode, but rather than focusing on Nature, it’s going to focus on Masterpiece Theatre. See how that works?
10:00 – 11:20PM
Soundies: A Musical History Hosted By Michael Feinstein. A “soundie” is type of movie, first appearing in 1941, that is three minutes long, black and white, and featured big band, jazz, and swing-era artists. And that is your musical history for today.
Monday, March 5:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Antiques Roadshow – “St. Paul (Hour One)”. How great would it be if this was at the Cathedral? The experts could go around looking at ancient artifacts and declare them good, bad, or ugly. It’d be really, really funny.
9:00 – 10:15PM
My Music: The British Beat. The show travels to London and around the UK. It’s got new performances, old performances, and full-length performances. Woo-hoo! Performances!
10:30 – 11:45PM
My Music: Movie Songs. Ah, memorable movie songs from the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Again, it’s got full-length performances. It’s really a good thing, because those half-length ones are always so disappointing.
Tuesday, March 6:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Nova – “Battle Plan Under Fire”. An old episode of Nova, where they look at the battle plan for Bush’s “smart war” in Afghanistan and Iraq that seems to have fizzled. The show is actually from about three years ago, and they knew then that the war plan had fizzled.
9:00 – 10:00PM
The Rockabilly Legends: They Called it Rockabilly Long Before They Called it Rock and Roll. The history of rockabilly, which, if you were unsure about the timeline for the whole shebang, came before rock and roll.
10:00 – 11:00PM
Broadway’s Best at Pops. A look back at the past 35 years of Evening at Pops. Specifically, they focus on performers from Broadway, and, you know, singing.
Wednesday, March 7:
8:00 – 9:20PM
Dr. Christiane Northrup: Menopause and Beyond – New Wisdom for Women. No menopause jokes here because I will be lambasted for them. Not even a cheap shot at this point about how easy it would be for me to be lambasted, what with the hot flashes causing quick anger. I hereby refrain from all jokes on this subject.
9:30 – 10:50PM
Suze Orman: Women & Money. Again, no jokes about women spending money and not understanding the value of a dollar. If there’s one thing Suze Orman knows it’s money. Not didley, money. It was Bo that didn’t know didley, but Suze knows money.
Thursday, March 8:
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.
9:00 – 10:00PM
The Art of Quilting. This is entirely too close to How to Make an American Quilt, which amounted to little more in my mind than how to con people out of money at a movie theater. I do not denigrate quilt making, but I still have flashbacks of the $6 I gave the person at the box office to get a ticket for that movie.
10:00 – 11:00PM
Kenny Rogers: The Journey. What journey, you ask. Well, he was on a train bound for nowhere, and he met up with a gambler, they were both too tired to sleep. They took turns staring out the window in the darkness, but, then the boredom overtook him [the gambler] and he began to speak…
Friday, March 9:
8:00 – 8:30PM
Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4636. 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 #310. 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
Andiamo. This is a concert with “three of the brightest young stars on the Italian classical crossover scene, Giovanni Cavaretta, Paolo Fanale, and Claudio Catalano.” Apparently, not only are they 100 percent Italian, but they’re accompanied by a 55-piece orchestra (the Il Novecento Orchestra, in case you were wondering).
10:00PM – Lengths Vary
Monty Python’s Flying Circus – #102. Sheep that think they’re birds, among other things. What other things, you ask (boy, you’ve done a lot of asking today). Funny, wacky, zany, other things. They are the Pythons after all.
Saturday, March 10:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Ralna English: From my Heart. The longtime star of The Lawrence Welk Show (that wasn’t Lawrence Welk?) sings songs with the Charlotte Philharmonic, the Philharmonic Gospel Choir, and the Eddie Mabry Dancers.
9:30 – 10:20PM
Lawrence Welk’s TV Treasures. Ah, so the last show had a Lawrence Welk tie-in and this show has a Lawrence Welk tie-in. Is Lawrence Welk a big draw for the PBS pledge drive?
Thus end this weeks listings, which, may I remind you, is a PBS pledge drive week, which means that you should check your local listings rather than just relying on my words as gospel. Please see above for the Gospel According to TV and Film Guy reference; needless to say, I’m suffering some writer's block on it, I know that God has said wonderful things about TiVo, I just don’t know what exactly they were (but I’m looking into it).
