Thursday , March 28 2024
The creation of the Sword in the Stone ride takes a back seat to more important issues this week.

PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of November 2

Please be aware, I'm going to take a week off from the Sword in the Stone ride this week. We will not be discussing the ride's brilliance, my thoughts on it, or my love of it. Instead, we're going to talk about the presidential election. Let me be clear about this – I don't care who you vote for, but I do care if you vote. It's not just a right, it's a duty, and you need to carry it out.

Sunday, November 2

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nature – "The Cheetah Orphans.” After two cheetahs are orphaned a documentary filmmaker just happens to adopt them. He plans on returning them to the wild, but will he or will he grow too attached? Either way, he'll be able to make a film about it and pocket some change.

9:00 – 10:00PM

Masterpiece Theatre – "The Last Enemy (Part 5).” Imagine this – an expatriate return 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 fifth part of a five part series and looking forward to seeing what happens.

10:00 – 11:00PM

America at a Crossroads – "Dissonance and Harmony: Arabic Music Goes West." An "eclectic mix" of Arabic musicians have traveled to the United States to play music with folks here. Their goal is simple – to find some sort of common ground between their way of life and ours.

Monday, November 3:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Antiques Roadshow – "Politically Collect." What with the presidential elections being tomorrow, everyone is trying to get in on the act, including the Roadshow. They're going to be showing us some items that they've had brought to them that deal with election battles. I wonder if they have a "Dewey Defeats Truman" paper.

9:00 – 11:00PM

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.

Tuesday, November 4:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Nova – “Missing in MiG Alley." Does anyone even take the MiG seriously anymore? I don't think so. After Maverick did that inverted dive with the MiG at the beginning of Top Gun, that was pretty much the beginning of the end, wasn't it? If Tom Cruise can beat a MiG, I think we all can.

9:00PM – 12:00AM

The Newshour Election Night Coverage. This is it, the night we've all waited for. It's taken years and years for us to get to this point, and after tonight (barring any trips to the Supreme Court) we'll know how it all comes out. You better have voted. It's your duty to vote.

Wednesday, November 5:

8:00 – 9:00PM

Secrets of the Dead – “Dogfight Over Guadalcanal.” The World War II hits just keep on coming as this rebroadcast of a Secrets of the Dead episode focuses on the Battle of Guadalcanal and a dogfight between a Japanese and an American pilot in the summer of 1942.

9:00 – 10:30PM

Medal of Honor. How exactly, I ask you, did the Medal of Honor come about? At what point did it come into existence? Who has won it? Why? What's the deal with the Medal of Honor? Watch and learn, young one, watch and learn.

10:30 – 11:00PM

Air Group 16: We Came to Remember. A documentary on Air Group 16, who served on the Lexington in the Pacific Theater. This doc follows a reunion of veterans and their families. Not to fear though, there’s archival footage, too.

Thursday, November 6:

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 – "Politically Collect." What with the presidential elections being tomorrow, everyone is trying to get in on the act, including the Roadshow. They're going to be showing us some items that they've had brought to them that deal with election battles. I wonder if they have a "Dewey Defeats Truman" paper.

10:00 – 11:30PM

Independent Lens – “Knee Deep.” I just read the description of this and, well, it sounds incredibly, incredibly interesting. It's all about this man named Josh Osborne. He worked with lots of cow manure at his parents' dairy farm, knowing it would be his one day he slogged through it. His father died, his mom reneged, and he decided he ought to eliminate his one remaining parent.

Friday, November 7:

8:00 – 8:30PM

Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal #4818. 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 #444. 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 #1230. It’s Bill Moyers. It’s his 1,230th 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 – "The Queen of Sheba." Ah, the Queen of Sheba. Songs have been sung, poems composed, talks had, discussions occurred. She is much written about and thought of regularly. But, I ask you this (and the show tries to answer the question) – did she even exist?

Saturday, November 8:

9:00 – 10:00PM

Austin City Limits – "Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings/Carolyn Wonderland." Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, it seems, have a "modern take on classic soul and funk." Carolyn Wonderland has an "incendiary blend of rock, blues and soul." Modern takes? Incendiary blends? Is nothing traditional anymore?

You see, if you don't vote what's going to happen is that you're going to start complaining pretty soon about the way things in this country are going. You don't get to talk about it if you don't vote. You have a responsibility to take some time, consider whom you believe would do the best job running this country and exercise your right. There is little that you can do that counts quite as much. Take the time, do the right thing.

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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