PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of March 22

Last week we talked about bringing your towel on this new Imagineer adventure, this week we'll talk about where exactly you're going to bring it.  The answer is simply enough, but perhaps a mite confusing.  Obviously, it should be pointed out that your towel should be brought everywhere, every single place you go, but there's one place in particular you should bring it on this adventure, you should bring it to your heart.

 

Sunday, March 22:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nature – "Penguins of the Antarctic”. Penguins live in Antarctica. That's not a bad thing, and it's not a good thing, it's just a thing. It's what one often refers to as their "natural habitat." But, the climate changing is a problem and not a good thing, most definitely not a good thing. How are things changing? Watch and learn.

9:00 – 11:00PM

Masterpiece Classic – "David Copperfield (Part Two)."  You know where I'm going to go with this joke, I know where I'm going to go with this joke.  I love David Copperfield.  I saw him once at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore.  He was unbelievable, he kept me, and the rest of the audience, entranced the entire time…  oh wait, this isn't that David Copperfield?  See, you knew where I was going, didn't you?

 

Monday, March 23:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Antiques Roadshow “Wichita (Hour Three)”. Wichita?  I don't know, which ita?  I'm not going to lie to you about this, I know nothing about itas, so to ask me which ita really doesn't buy you anything, except maybe time.  I think that in this case, the best course of action would be for you, yourself to figure out which ita.

9:00 – 10:00PM

American Experience – “Sister Aimee”. I never knew I had a sister named Aimee. I just didn’t. And then I read this and found out I did. Then I read it more accurately and found out I didn’t, because it turns out that Sister Aimee was a “wildly popular evangelist” back in the early 20th century.    

10:00 – 11:30PM

The Powder and the Glory.  Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein apparently had quite the rivalry.  They both wanted to end up with gussied up women, and move makeup from brothels and Broadway to Main Street.  They succeeded and today PBS has programs sponsored by the "Helena Rubinstein Foundation" and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salons are all over the nation.  I'm not sure who won.

 

Tuesday, March 24:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nova – “Extreme Ice”. This title is a misnomer.  The problem isn't so much the extreme ice as the fact that the ice is disappearing due to global warming.  Listen, here's how I see the thing – the time for arguing is done.  Let's stop talking about whether it exists and start figuring out a plan to combat it.  Even if it's not happening, it'll only make our world a better place (and Al Gore will stop yelling at us).

9:00 – 10:00PM

Frontline – "Ten Trillion and Counting."  Our nation has no money.  The debt is massive.  Obama is proposing a budget that will grow the deficit even more in its first year (and then shrink it down the line).  How can we keep these debts going?  What are we going to do about it? Will the Chinese keep buying it?

10:00 – 11:00PM

Frontline – "Sick Around the World."  Imagine Michael Moore's documentary, Sicko, done by Frontline.  T.R. Reid runs around the world trying to figure out what other countries do in terms of healthcare and whether we can learn anything from those countries.  I imagine that while we can, we won't.  We, as a people, are pigheaded.   

 

Wednesday, March 25:

8:00 – 11:00PM

Great Performances – “King Lear.” Gandalf returns to the stage!  Ian McKellan stars here as the titular Shakespearian monarch in a TV adaption of the RSC production.  It's a big night, folks.  It's a big performance.  Gandalf is a big wizard.  He's the White Wizard.  He's the man with the plan, and, I'm told, got great reviews as Lear.

 

Thursday, March 26:

8:00 – 10:00PM

Live From Lincoln Center – "Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra." I don't want you to think this is a one night only thing, Marsalis has been touring with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra nationally, and now he's doing it from Lincoln Center.  That makes sense, they are, after all, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

10:00 – 11:00PM

Gershwin at One Symphony Place.  It's an all-Gershwin all the time program tonight with the Nashville Symphony.  I love Gershwin, you probably do too, after all, who doesn't?  Now, if Gershwin isn't enough to entice you how about Giancarlo Guerrero, the new music director of the Nashville Symphony?  Surely he's enough.

 

Friday, March 27:

8:00 – 8:30PM

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4838. 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 #513.  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 #1250.  It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,250h 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

History Detectives. This show may be the most fascinating show ever, it really may, but its title leave a lot to be desired. Seriously, aren't all historians more or less detectives? The title simply isn't descriptive or exciting enough. I much prefer a title like Josh Lasser, You’ve Been Hired as an Imagineer (and, just for the record, this is the same episode that airs earlier in the week).

 

Saturday, March 28:

9:00 – 10:00PM

Austin City Limits – “Corinne Bailey Rae/KT Tunstall”. These are both British stars that will be performing on the show. I’ve always wondered why British people lose their awesome accents when they sing. Why is that? Can someone explain it to me?

 

That's right, you should bring your towel to your heart, but not just any old heart, your Heart of Gold.  I think you know what I'm suggesting.  I think you know where I'm going, I think you know what we're doing here, and, even better, the big screen pic made back in 2005 was produced by Touchstone and distributed by Buena Vista.  It's already, in some way, a part of the family.