Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Why have Cadbury Crème Eggs been in stores since the end of January? No, seriously – it's been about a month since I first saw a Cadbury Crème Egg in stores. Regularly readers of this column will remember that I am desperately in love with Cadbury Crème Eggs, but not the same way I love Salma Hayek, and yet I don't believe that they ought to be available for purchase in January.
Sunday, February 28:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Nature – “Is That Skunk?” Do you smell what a rock has cooking? Oh wait, that's not a rock, it's not even The Rock, it's a skunk, and it's downright stinky. I certainly wouldn't follow one of them around, however, the nice cameramen here are doing just that. So are a bunch of a researchers. I wonder if they took communal tomato juice baths every evening in order to save money.
9:00 – 10:30PM
Masterpiece Classic – "The 39 Steps." Rupert Penry-Jones is going to be starring in this remake (potentially of a remake) or perhaps just new telling of a book written by John Buchan. We have this screener sitting right in front of our television and are totally looking forward to watching it (if that means anything to you).
10:30 – 11:00PM
Ribbon of Sand. Things change. It's the way of the world. It just happens. Things change. Get used to it. In this documentary Meryl Streep tells us all about how things change off the coast of North Carolina, in North Carolina's Outer Banks, to be specific. The sand shifts, the beautiful islands that exist now may not exist in the future. Things change.
Monday, March 1:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Antiques Roadshow – "Madison (Hour Three)." Madison, Wisconsin. Is there a more picturesque city than Madison, Wisconsin? Seriously, we've never been there before, but we've heard things. Are they true? Is the city filled old, but potential beautiful and expensive things? Will they tell us tonight?
9:00 – 10:30PM
Dolley Madison: American Experience. Eve Best will be playing the part of Dolley this evening and Jefferson Mays will be playing James. Dolley was, we have been informed by the description and people like our high school American History teacher that Dolley is the first First Lady to take on the role that we usually assume the First Lady to take. Plus, she's got that ice cream and we love that ice cream.
10:30 – 11:00PM
Morristown: Where America Survived. The children lived in Morrisotwn and hid in the shelters underground till the Soviets… no, not quite right is that? Morristown is actually where Washington's trips camped out during the winter of 1779-1780. How did they survive? How did they keep warm? If you watch, you might just learn.
Tuesday, March 2:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Nova – “The Pluto Files.” Poor, poor Pluto. Oh yes, the planet interests us extremely – and by us we don't just mean us personally, we mean us as in our whole society and yet, as you may recall, Pluto has been de-planeted. Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of those who stopped calling Pluto a planet is going to talk about the place tonight.
9:00 – 10:00PM
Frontline – The Suicide Terrorist. Despite the fact that this episode is titled "The Suicide Terrorist," it doesn't seem to be about suicide bombers. Instead, it seems to be about the right to die and assisted suicide. We have to assume that there's probably a very clever reason for the title being what the title is, but we don't quite know what that reason is.
10:00 – 11:00PM
Independent Lens – "The Eyes of Me." Maggie Gyllenhaal hosts this piece which is all about four different teens who have lost their site. It's particularly cruel if you ask us to have Maggie Gyllenhaal host this particular episode because these four teens will never get to see her.
Wednesday, March 3:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. – "Know Thyself." The series is going to be using DNA testing and genealogical research to help tell the stories of 12 famous Americans. Gates and company are going to be doing that over the course of four episodes and will delve into the history of people like Meryl Streep and Meryl Streep's eighth great-grandfather who fought in Metacom's War.
9:00 – 11:00PM
The National Parks: America's Best Idea – “The Morning of Creation (1946-1980).” In part six of this massive Ken Burns documentary we get brought up to the present day, or at the very least 1995. I know, it says "1980" above, but according to the description I have, there is mention of wolves being re-established in Yellowstone in 1995, which, if I understand time, occurred after 1980.
Thursday, March 4:
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. That doesn’t mean it’s not awesome though. Seriously, The This Old House Hour is one of the finest home improvement hours on PBS. No joke.
9:30 – 10:00PM
Antiques Roadshow – "Madison (Hour Three)." Madison, Wisconsin. Is there a more picturesque city than Madison, Wisconsin? Seriously, we've never been there before, but we've heard things. Are they true? Is the city filled old, but potential beautiful and expensive things? Will they tell us tonight?
10:00 – 11:00PM
At Close Range with National Geographic. A show about a magazine photographer and the harrowing and fantastic experiences he’s had working for National Geographic. I like to think of this as self-promotion at its finest.
Friday, March 5:
8:00 – 8:30PM
Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4935. 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 Double Dutch Chocolate ice cream.
8:30 – 9:00PM
NOW on PBS #610. It’s the Emmy award-winning weekly news magazine. 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 #1345. It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,345th 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
Time Team America – "Fort Raleigh, North Carolina." Here it is folks, time to get in on the ground floor of a brand new series. In essence, the show has a team of folks given just three days to dig into archaeological sites. I'm not sure from the description why three days is such a relevant number (costs?), but I can tell you this week that they're looking for stuff at Roanoke Island.
Saturday, March 6:
9:00 – 10:00PM
Austin City Limits – "Lyle Lovett & Friends: A Songwriters Special." I'm told everyone singing this evening is an "acclaimed tunesmith." I like that word, tunesmith. It reminds me of Toonces. You know, Toonces, the driving cat. And, if you recall Toonces, you'll also recall the pretty swell song that went with the sketches, it was probably written by a tunesmith.
I like the idea of my Cadbury Crème Eggs being special in January. You know, the ones that I bought the Easter before and have rationed to last over the course of a year. It's awesome to be able to whip out a Crème Egg in January and have people look at you and wonder where you got it. If the answer is "CVS" that's not as great as "I've got a secret stash that I've slowly parceled out over the course of the past year." It just isn’t.
