Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Oh, that kooky Sword in the Stone ride (the ride I would create were I an Imagineer and given a chance). It's a crazy one, that ride. It goes up, it goes down, it goes left, it goes right. It has all the elements needed to be one of the rockingest rides ever. Not rocking in the sense of the Aerosmith Rock-n-Roller Coaster, but rocking in the sense of just plain awesome.
Sunday, October 26
8:00 – 9:00PM
Nature – "White Falcon, White Wolf”. Oh, Canada. You have many places where the winter lasts for well more than half the year. One of those places is Ellesmere Island, where white gyrfalcons and Arctic Wolves live. How does their lifecycle exactly work? I hope it has to do with huddling together for warmth.
9:00 – 10:00PM
Masterpiece Theatre – "The Last Enemy (Part 4)”. Imagine this – an expatriate returns to England to find his homeland transformed. The place he knew and loved has turned into a paranoid place, terrorists run rampant, spies are everywhere. You're watching the fourth part of a five-part series and looking forward to seeing what happens.
10:00PM – 12:00AM
Frontline – " The Choice 2008". Frontline goes in depth, talking about our choice for president this year. They'll go into the history of McCain and Obama, where they came from and how it influences their ideas. Of course, if you don't know about these guys by now you probably haven't been paying attention.
Monday, October 27:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Antiques Roadshow – "Jackpot!" This special looks at the various windfalls that people have gotten through the years — you know, buying a bubblegum wrapper for a quarter and it turning out that the bubblegum contained in the wrapper has a fleck of saliva from Gregory Peck and consequently the whole thing is worth 1.2 million dollars, except, of course, you can't sell it on eBay because eBay doesn't traffic in body parts.
9:00 – 11:00PM
American Experience – "The Presidents 'LBJ'". The story of LBJ is one of those great American stories; well, it is right up until the whole expanding of the Vietnam War thing. Up to that point he had come from a poor upbringing in small-town Texas and had gone on to become the President of the United States. LBJ certainly did do great things as President, thing like pushing through an incredible amount of social legislation that was right and did a huge amount of good, and those will be covered as well.
Tuesday, October 28:
8:00 – 9:00PM
Nova – “Hunting the Hidden Dimension". When I was a but a lad we had this fractals program on our computer. My understanding is that a fractal is a picture that describes a mathematical equation. Of course, my understanding is probably incredibly flawed. Happily, that's exactly where Nova comes in — they're going to correct my understanding and quite possibly yours, too.
9:00 – 11:00PM
Frontline – "The War Briefing". There will be a number of massive challenges facing our next president. A massive number. Clearly not all of them are the fault of our current president, but that's neither here nor there. Frontline is going to examine the upcoming challenges our next Commander-in-Chief will face in terms of foreign policy.
10:00 – 11:00PM
Frontline – "Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey". The former president of Pakistan is Pervez Musharraf. At the time he was president two filmmakers sat down with him to talk to him about Pakistan's past, present, and future. I wonder if Musharraf saw the future of the country without him in the driver's seat.
Wednesday, October 29:
8:00 – 9:00PM
A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway. Rick Sebak is back on PBS in a brand new special! That's right, Sebak is back and this time is traveling along the first transcontinental highway in the United States. If the movie Cars taught me anything, that highway signified the destruction of our country. I wonder if Sebak sees it the same way.
9:00 – 10:30PM
Great Performances – "Carnegie Hall Opening Night 2008". You know you want me to do it. You know you do. I've done it in the past. I've done it several times. However, I'm not going to give you the satisfaction this time around. I'm just not. All I'm going to say is Seinfeld. You know what I'm talking about. Seinfeld.
10:30 – 11:00PM
TBA
Thursday, October 30:
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.
9:00 – 10:00PM
Antiques Roadshow – " Jackpot!" This special looks at the various windfalls that people have gotten through the years, you know, buying a bubblegum wrapper for a quarter and it turning out that the bubblegum contained in the wrapper has a fleck of saliva from Gregory Peck and consequently the whole thing is worth 1.2 million dollars, except, of course, you can't sell it on eBay because eBay doesn't traffic in body parts.
10:00 – 11:30PM
American Masters – “Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens”. Annie Leibovitz’s younger sister turns the camera on Annie. Annie in turn explains who she is, where she has come from, and her artistic process. Should you not know who she is, Annie Leibovitz is a photographer, one of the more famous and influential photographers here in the U.S.
Friday, October 31:
8:00 – 8:30PM
Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4817. 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 #443. 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 #1229. It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,229th 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
A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway. Rick Sebak is back on PBS in a brand new special! That's right, Sebak is back and this time is traveling along the first transcontinental highway in the United States. If the movie Cars taught me anything, that highway signified the destruction of our country. I wonder if Sebak sees it the same way.
Saturday, November 1:
9:00 – 10:00PM
Austin City Limits – "My Morning Jacket". Oh, I am so happy! My Morning Jacket has been on the show before, but they had to split their time with Death Cab for Cutie. Don't get me wrong, I like Death Cab, but I'm happy to see My Morning Jacket with their own episode. Good for them. Bravo!
So, The Sword in the Stone ride. We've created it, we've talked about it ad nauseum, we've talked about it more, and I've decided that the ride is actually kind of a living, breathing entity. Even if the thing is never built, it lives in my mind. I'm convinced it's a good idea (maybe not in the specific way I've constructed it, but in the broad outlines). And that, my friends, is why it'll never die.
