PBS Announces Upcoming Programming at TCA Winter 2010 Press Tour

After a video presentation that emphasized “Where the Arts Live,” PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger opened the day to discuss the direction of the network. The three priorities are news and public affairs, children’s programming, and the arts. Without citing examples, she stated a concern about other networks being lax in regards to their education programming.

She also revealed changes at the network. PBS will be creating a greater integration with their online resources and will be expanding their involvement with the Nielsen ratings, weekly not overnight numbers, to get a better understanding of their audience’s demographic. Bill Moyers will be leaving his weekly series to go back to creating specials and newsmagazine Now is ending.

Shakespeare and PBS have had a long history together and that relationship continues as Great Performances will soon air two of the Bard’s plays, both starring the recently knighted Sir Patrick Stewart, who previously appeared with each company on stage. Macbeth is transported from its Scottish setting to a fictional country where it becomes an allegory about war. The Royal Shakespeare Company performs Hamlet with David Tennant in the lead role and Stewart playing two parts, Claudius and the Ghost. Stewart talked about what an advantage it was working with the casts so many times and spending so much time with the material. There are minimal changes from the stage performances, although there had been a lot of cuts to Hamlet.

Stewart also reflected on being an actor. He previously played Claudius 30 years ago and thinks this is likely his last chance because of his character’s age. He is disappointed he never got the chance to play Hamlet, but hopes to play Falstaff in the future. He is glad that his work on Star Trek brings new fans to the theatre and recently felt so dejected by a popular British reality program he jokingly revealed he would have been happy dying at that moment.

Frontline: Digital Nation examines life on the net and in the future as the technology brings more choices and more changes into our lives. Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff is one of the correspondents for the piece and he has a great understanding of the subject. The program will premiere on February 2, which one television writer teased them about since it was going up against the season premiere of Lost. Another Frontline future report is Law and Disorder, which examines questionable police shootings after Hurricane Katrina.

Nature, currently in its 28th season, spotlighted upcoming episode Invasion of Giant Python, which will premiere on February 10. The Florida Everglades are being overrun by the many snakes on the loose due to people dumping them there. Although not indigenous, the area is very similar to their Asian environment and the ecosystem has yet to recalibrate. The video of a python eating an alligator is sure to be a hit on the Internet.

Following up on African American Lives, Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. appears to be a fascinating series as it traces the genealogy of 12 famous people and reveals their history to them. The participants will include Meryl Streep, Stephen Colbert, Malcolm Gladwell, Eva Longoria, Elizabeth Alexander, Mario Batali, Queen Noor, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Nichols, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Louise Erdrich.

Coming in the fall is Baseball: The Tenth Inning. Ken Burns' brilliant documentary premiered in 1994 and covered the history of the sport up to 1993. The series will be re-broadcast and will conclude with this new installment that brings the series up to date, covering the highs and lows fans dealt with from the 1994 strike to the Red Sox winning the World Series.

American Masters focuses on creative American talents. Some of the subjects this season are Sam Cooke, I.M. Pei, Merle Haggard, and The Doors. The latter appear by way of Tom DiCillo's When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors, an intriguing look at the band presented solely through footage recorded during the band's existence.

The series Independent Lens is represented by the documentary DIRT! The Movie. Narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, the film examines the essential yet overlooked material that surrounds and affects our lives. This is the type of thing PBS does best: highlighting aspects of life rarely contemplated. It premieres April 20.

At the Masterpiece presentation, series executive producer Rebecca Eaton revealed there would be more mysteries with Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Kenneth Branagh's Wallender as well as more Foyle’s War. There will also be new productions of Jane Austen’s Emma and The Diary of Anne Frank, the latter of which leads a week of programming in commemoration of the Holocaust.

Tavis Smiley Reports finds the talk-show host moving out from the confines of his studio for four primetime specials. The focus of the programs will be on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is a year into her job; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech against the Vietnam War; life five years after Hurricane Katrina in association with director Jonathan Demme, and a subject to be named later.

The long-running science series Nova spotlighted The Pluto Files, which deals with the recent controversy that saw Pluto lose its planet designation. Astrophysicist and show host Neil deGrasse Tyson and Planetary Science Institute director Mark Sykes were on hand and each made compelling arguments for their position. It was refreshing to witness two men respectfully debating.

April 7 will see the premiere of The Buddha, a documentary by David Grubin.

In celebration of its 40th Anniversary, a concert was held and recorded in October 2009 at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House to honor Rounder Records. The program will be aired during March pledge drives and features roster artists such as Alison Krauss & Union Station, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bela Fleck, and Steve Martin.

The PBS presentation concluded with two entries in the documentary series POV. Food, Inc. examines corporate food production in the United States and The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers spotlights an American patriot who revealed the truth to the American people about what their leaders were up to regarding Vietnam.


PBS has a very diverse, engaging line-up of programming that presents the world's past, present, and future better than any other network. It truly has something for everyone no matter what your interests.

The Fugitive - Season Three, Volume One

The third season of The Fugitive continues the adventures of Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen), a man falsely charged with killing his wife. He roams the country, taking on different aliases and odd jobs in an effort to stay away from the law, particularly the dogged Lt. Gerard (Barry Morse), and in the hopes of finding the real murderer, the one-armed man.

"Volume One” is a four-disc set comprised of the first 15 episodes, which aired from September through December 1965. The third season won an Emmy for Outstanding Dramatic Series and was the last shot in black and white. While almost always well-written and engaging, the are a few standout episodes:

Kimble finds himself on a bus approaching a police roadblock on season opener “Wings of an Angel.” However, he’s not the fugitive the police are looking for and the target makes his presence known by taking a woman hostage. Kimble’s heroic nature gets the best of him and while rescuing her, he gets injured, resulting in his being taken to the nearest hospital, which happens to be at a prison. While there, an inmate who recognizes Kimble makes known he will give Kimble up if he doesn’t get him drugs.

Many people try to put Kimble’s identity to their advantage. In “Crack in the Crystal Ball,” a psychic wants to drum up business and thinks helping the police capture Kimble is just the ticket after seeing a wanted poster.

“Middle of the Heat Wave” finds Kimble reliving his fate as he is wrongly accused of attacking Laurel, a woman he has been dating. They were seen fighting earlier and Laurel doesn’t know who attacked her. Kimble must find out the assailant’s identity to clear his name before the police realize who he is.

There’s a break in the Kimble murder case in “ Trial by Fire” when a witness comes forward who can verify Kimble’s story about almost hitting the one-armed man with his car that fateful night. A judge is willing to reopen the case, but it means Kimble will have to turn himself in, which naturally doesn’t sit well with him.

While Lt. Gerard appears in a few episodes, the best is the two-part “Landscape With Running Figures.” While on vacation, Gerard drags his wife along in pursuit of Kimble. She is frustrated by what little attention she receives from her husband, and decides to skip town on a bus. The bus gets into an accident and she is temporarily blinded. A fellow passenger comes to her assistance and she discovers it is Kimble. She tries to get him to stay so the police will find him and she will get her husband back.

TV watchers will notice a bevy of guest stars: Greg Morris, Harold Gould, J. Pat O'Malley, Marion Ross, Richard Anderson, Edward Asner, Suzanne Pleshette, Kim Darby, Joseph Campanella, Clint Howard, Norman Fell, Earl Holliman, Bruce Dern. Before they all got full-time gigs with Star Trek the following year, fans can find William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and James Doohan.

Season three of The Fugitive continues the high quality of drama the series was known for. “Volume Two” will be released December 8, 2009 to complete the season set.

PBS Announces 2009 Programming at TCA Press Tour

PBS started off the television network’s winter presentation to the Television Critics Association with previews and discussions of their upcoming programming.

Blueprint America is a multi-platform project spearheaded by WNET.org, the new brand name of the New York PBS station that signifies the changing media landscape. The project focuses on the current state of the United States’ infrastructure, which drew the nation’s attention into sharp focus with the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minnesota. A number of different PBS series, such as The Newshour with Jim Lehrer and Bill Moyers Journal, as well as public radio programs take part in contributing stories.

Great Performances - King Lear
Premieres March 25

Sir Ian McKellen toured internationally with the Royal Shakespeare Company from April 2007 through January 2008 and this performance was recorded in a London studio at the end of the run. At the Tour, McKellen said that returning to the studio felt like returning back to rehearsal. He also spoke of his process as an actor and how he tries to do something different with each performance, so this recording will be unique.

One television critic, trying to be a bit of a wise guy, came off like a buffoon and revealed why he didn’t get the film critic job, when he asked if McKellen, while on tour with the production, was recognized by people on the street as King Lear “do they say Lord of the Flies?” McKellen quickly responded, “Well, if they say Lord of the Flies I put them right. They often say 'Hi, Dumbledore!' and I say 'No, no, that's Mike Gambon [from the Harry Potter films]. I play the real wizard -- the best wizard,” referring to Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. He continued, “Of course, there's a confusion because Ms. Rowling has announced that Dumbledore is gay, hasn't she? So maybe that's the confusion. Whether Gandalf is gay is another matter. His wife is never mentioned and he's 7,000 years old. He must have had some experience with sex.”

Another critic asked about whether McKellen would appear nude as he did in the play, almost as if the critic was unaware that it would be airing on broadcast television. While he would not be shown naked, executive producer David Horn assured that it was implied.

PBS Exec Session

Paula Kerger, President and CEO, talked about upcoming programming. There’s a revival of The Electric Company, and Dinosaur Train is a new CGI-animated series from The Jim Henson Company geared towards preschoolers with a focus on science. Fall 2009 will see the debut of Ken Burn’s new six-part The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. The footage presented was rough, but the program should be spectacular. In Spring 2010 Burns’ documentary Baseball is going to be rebroadcast and it will be joined by a new installment entitled “The Tenth Inning” which covers the past 15 years.

Kerger talked a lot about her concern regarding the crossover to digital television and the people who may be left behind. She said that she wants the deadline pushed back and more money devoted to coupons, but she offered no solutions that took into account the country’s current financial situation.

American Experience: We Shall Remain
Premiering Mondays April 13 – May 11

In association with Native American Public Telecommunications, this PBS series presents a five-part series dealing with the Native American experience, which producer Ric Burns made clear, is an American story, not just a Native American one. However, it is told from their perspective in front of and behind the camera. The episodes cover Massasoit and the English settlers, Tecumseh, the Trail of Tears, Geronimo, and Wounded Knee. The makers of the series found the stories slightly difficult to tell because the tribes aren’t completely in agreement.

One critic asked about the accuracy of the bias being put forth, and one of the Native American speakers pointed out it was about time their bias joined the record.

George Carlin: The Mark Twain Prize
Premieres February 4

The Kennedy Center posthumously presented Carlin its Mark Twain Prize for Humor, but Carlin was made aware that he was going to receive the honor shortly before his death. Carlin was also involved in selecting some of the participants. Carlin’s daughter, Kelly, said it was a great evening and her dad would have been proud. Lewis Black and Richard Belzer agreed that every comedian since Carlin owed a debt to the man.

One critic asked why clips used of Carlin were censored and why bother honoring the dirty-word guy if you aren’t going to let him use dirty words, a question that showed ignorance on two fronts by limiting Carlin’s work to just that of a “dirty-word guy” and by forgetting what medium the program is airing on, leading this spectator to wonder how it is professional television critics have a job without fully grasp the medium they are critical of. Richard Belzer pointed out the obvious, “If the philosophy of the network is to not offend people who they think might be offended, I don't think this hurts the show.”

When Belzer was later asked about his series Law & Order: SVU and the effects its move to 9pm might have, he stated how unfortunate he thought NBC’s decision was. Meaning no disrespect to Jay Leno, he pointed out the many people who would lose their jobs because of the network’s desperation.

Looking For Lincoln
Premieres February 11

One of the many things devoted to the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth is this program hosted and written by Henry Louis Gates Jr. with commentary by noted historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The two-hour special and accompanying book looks at the controversies, like emancipation, which still surround Lincoln and gives time to both his admirers and his critics.

Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America
Premieres January 14

Hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris, Make ‘Em Laugh is a six-part series with each episode focusing on certain character comedic types from nerds to breadwinners to wise guys. It is filled with many clips and interviews. Portions of a Web-only bonus episode that examines Internet humor were shown, but what we saw seemed to not fully grasp the subject. Rather than deal with humor created for the Internet like Will Farrell and his foul-mouth landlady Pearl, they show comedians riffing on YouTube sensations like the Numma Numma kid and the Star Wars kid as if they were on a VH1 countdown show. The producers seem to miss the point because the examples of humor are derived from people laughing at other people and not with them. Hopefully, the television program is better focused.

Masterpiece Mystery! - Wallander
Premieres May 10, 17 and 31

From author Henning Mankell’s international best-selling series, Kenneth Branagh stars as Swedish police inspector Kurt Wallander in three episodes. Wallander has to deal with some grisly crimes while dealing with turmoil in his own life from his recent divorce, his diabetes, and his Alzheimer’s-ridden father. There are seven other books in the series and after Branagh stated he would like to return to the character because of how much it intrigued him, Mystery! executive producer Rebecca Eaton announced the BBC has agreed to co-finance with WGBH Boston another three.

Masterpiece Classic - “The Tales of Dickens”
Oliver Twist - Premieres February 15 and 22
Little Dorrit - Premieres March 29 to April 26
The Curiosity Shop Premieres May 3
David Copperfield (A rebroadcast starring pre-Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe) - March 15 and 22

Masterpiece Classic showcases four Dickens tales this spring. Dickens is a writer, like many who continue to live on in the cultural consciousness well passed their time because, as Timothy Spall, who plays Fagin in Oliver Twist, suggested the themes they wrote about, such as the destructive power of money, are universal. Andrew Davies, the screenwriter of the successful Bleak House, which aired on Masterpiece, had always wanted to tell the story of Little Dorrit and is happy that his wish has been fulfilled.

Independent Lens
Tulia, Texas - Premieres February 10
Crips and Bloods: Made in America - Premieres May 12

The anthology series premieres with Tulia, Texas, a documentary that allows all sides to weigh in on the amazing story about how one of the largest drug busts in the state was corrupted by a narcotics agent who was wanted by the police. When 39 of the 46 arrested were revealed to be African American, racial divisions were heightened and were further tested when it was discovered the operation was tainted.

Director Stacy Peralta, who made the critically acclaimed Dogtown and Z-Boys about the 1970s skateboard culture, examines another Los Angeles story as he presents Crips and Bloods: Made in America about the decades-long civil war that has been raging on the streets of South Central Los Angeles.

Great Performances - Chess in Concert

Slated for the summer, Great Performances will be presenting Chess in Concert, a musical by Tim Rice and Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from ABBA. The show wasn’t successful on Broadway in its premiere but the songs have lived on, including “One Night in Bangkok” which hit the pop charts. Set in Iceland during the Cold Warm, it tells the story of a chess championship between a Russian (Josh Groban) and an American (Rent’s Adam Pascal) and the love triangle involving one of their managers (Wicked’s Idina Menzel). Rice stated this is the version he would like for people to remember.

For all the programs listed above, check local listings for the date and times in your area.

Best of The Flatt & Scruggs TV Show, Vol 3 & 4

In 1945, guitarist Lester Flatt and banjoist Earl Scruggs first worked together as members of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, the legendary band whose name was used to define the genre of music they played. Less than three years later, the two men ventured out and became stars in their own right. Their partnership lasted over twenty years before they parted ways in 1969. Their most well known songs are the instrumental “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” used in Bonnie and Clyde, and “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” the theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies.

During their tenure, they had a successful regional television program that aired from 1955 until 1969. Martha White Mills, who first sponsored the fellows on radio, continued that relationship into the relatively new medium. Pet Milk later joined them for a time. When Flatt & Scruggs first started the show, they would play live at stations in different cities. At some point, they began recording the programs to videotape.

These shows were thought lost until 1989 when one day in his garage, Bill Graham, who worked at Noble-Druy Advertising Agency, the firm that represented Martha White Mills, found a number of old films and videotapes, including 24 episodes of Flatt and Scruggs Grand Ole Opry. Four have already released titled Best of The Flatt & Scruggs TV Show, Volume 1 and 2 and four more are now available to the public on Volume 3 and 4.

The shows had the same basic rundown with slight variations. They opened with a couple of songs, usually an instrumental and a song sung by Flatt. Next up was a live commercial with announcer T. Tommy Cutrer and a female model showing a recipe using Martha White flour. Then three more songs, another Martha White commercial, another three songs, a Pet Milk commercial, then a number or two to close out the show.

All the band members got their moments to shine, whether Paul Warren leading on fiddle or a duet between John Graves on dobro and Jake Tullock on bass. The latter had a spot between the second and third commercial and included a comedy bit afterwards. Dedications were made to fans that wrote in, and Flatt always included a pitch for the Flatt and Scruggs a picture album song book filled with photos and song lyrics.

Vol. 3 contains an episode recorded in January 1959 that aired from November or December of 1961 and an episode from January 1962 where the band is joined by seven-year-old Ricky Skaggs for two numbers. He plays mandolin on “Foggy Mountain Special” sings the Osborne Brothers’ classic “Ruby.”

Vol. 4 opens with Show #18, date unknown, but the liner notes presume it was around June 1961. The second program aired March 1962 and the band was joined by Hylo Brown, who sang “To My Mansion In The Sky” and “How Could You Forget,” and Earl’s eight-year-old son, Randy Lynn, who plays Mother Maybelle Carter’s autoharp on “Wildwood Flower” and “I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Home.” The songs Randy appears on are performed on Vol. 3 as are “Cacklin’ Hen” and “Lord I’m Coming Home.”

Best of The Flatt & Scruggs TV Show is a great find, not only presenting the band in their prime, but is a great look back at early television. The liner notes are fantastic, providing in-depth information about the band, the television series, and the songs on the individual programs. Fans of bluegrass and early television should do themselves a favor and seek these DVDs out. Everyone else should do the world a favor and see what treasures are hidden in their garage.