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These listings cover television programs up to Friday, October 10th.
Greetings, TV viewers!
To participate in the media hour discussion this Wednesday, take a look at some of the the shows on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday -- about people who survived difficult and sometimes crazy travel experiences. Have you and your family had a 'rough trip' of your own recently? Come to the media hour and tell us about it.
For the Media Hour, watch the show(s)-of-the-week, jot down some ideas, then talk about them with me and other citizens (including other City Workers, if they're available) at the Greek Theater, over in City Hall. You'll find that the Theater makes discussions pretty easy, since City Workers are able to direct people's movement and behavior, when we need to, and it keeps everyone's chat bubbles from overlapping too much. We meet for MediaHour on Wednesdays from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Whyville Time (that's the same as Eastern Daylight Time).
Everyone is welcome to write to me about what you and your parents think:
Y-mail me, the MediaWiz of Whyville!
Friday, October 3
"More Than Human" (Discovery Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) The outer limits of
the human body make the basis for this documentary, studying people's
capabilities for feats of survival. The show follows a team of forensic
investigators using high-tech reconstructions of previously documented survival
episodes and modern recreations of life-or-death situations using a video
recordings.
"Indestructible" (Discovery Channel, 10-11 p.m. E/P) Learn what it takes
to design and build a bridge in one day -- and completely destroy it in the
next. This documentary shows a team-competition of "backyard engineers" who put
together a bridge and put it to the test -- real stress tests with thousands of
pounds of force.
Saturday, October 4
"Animal Blessings" (Animal Planet Channel, 7-8 p.m. E/P) The Blessing of
the Animals, in honor of St. Francis, is held annually this month in New York at
the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In this documentary, you'll find out
the stories behind the selection of the animals selected for the blessing. There
will also be a performance of an environmentally-themed "Earth Mass" composed by
Paul Winter in the Cathedral.
"SuperCroc" (National Geographic Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary
follows two scientists: Brady Barr, who loves crocodiles who wants to know more
about where and how his favorite creature it evolved; and paleontologist Paul
Sereno, who works in the desert unearthing an example of a huge, ancient
crocodile that went by the name of Sarcosuchus. Sereno's beast seems to have
weighed 4 tons and was the size of a big city bus.
Sunday, October 5
"Our Town" (PBS, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This is an exceptionally good TV
version of the acclaimed Broadway production of Thornton Wilder's masterpiece
play. It's about big stuff -- life, the universe and everything else -- set in
Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, circa 1900. As the "Stage Manager" onstage in
this play, actor Paul Newman introduces two ordinary small-town families whose
loves and tragedies grow larger than life. I urge you to check out the website
about this play and this telecast:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/ourotwn/index.html.
"Sherlock Holmes: The True Story" (Discovery Channel, 9-10 p.m. E/P) In
1886, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used the physical appearance and the diagnostic
genius of Dr. Joseph Bell to create Sherlock Holmes, the most famous
detective-story hero in history. His name has come to mean the same thing as
'detective'. Bell's methods and example changed police work forever.
"Robinson Crusoe: The True Story" (Discovery Channel, 10-11 p.m. E/P) In
1704, a young sailor named Alexander Selkirk was marooned on an uninhabited
Pacific island for over four years. Find out how this true story of solitude and
survival inspired Daniel Defoe's time-honored tale of Robinson Crusoe.
Monday, October 6
"Worlds Apart: Birmingham, Alabama Meets Ghana" (National Geographic Channel,
8-9 p.m. ET, 5-6 p.m. PT) An American family travels to a remote location
outside of the United States in this episode in a weekly documentary
series. The family has to forget the creature comforts of home and embrace
another way of life. In this show, the Russell family from Birmingham, AL --
Scott, a financial planner; his wife Lynne, a volunteer marathon director; and
their two kids (R.J., 15, and Alex, 12) -- are transported to the village of
Lungu in Ghana to live with the Bawa family. Abdulai Bawa Bukhara is currently
employed as a customs officer at the border of Ghana's neighboring country,
Burkina Faso. Abdulai's wife is a teacher. The Russells will help the Bawa
family and participate in the age-old customs and ceremonies of the Ashanti
kingdom and Frafra tribe. Lots of details about this family and the others shown
in the series:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0610_030610_worldsapart.html.
"Horatio's Drive" (PBS, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This is a documentary about a
fifty-dollar bet: 100 years ago, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson left San Francisco
in a Winton touring car, hoping to become the first person to cross the United
States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage." At the time, there were only 150
miles of paved roads in the entire country, all of them within city limits.
There were no gas stations and virtually no road maps as we know them today.
Traveling with his co-driver, Sewall K. Crocker, and a bulldog named Bud (who
wore goggles, just like his master, to keep the dust from his eyes), Jackson
encountered pioneers in wagon trains, cowboys who used their lariats to tow him
out of sand drifts, ranch wives who traded home cooked meals for a brief ride on
the "Go-Like-Hell Machine," and people who deliberately sent him miles out of
his way just so their relatives could get their first glimpse of an automobile.
Partway through his journey, Jackson learned that his trip had turned into a
race. A number of car companies dispatched their own autos from California in
the hopes of passing him and gaining the publicity of being first across the
nation. To find out who won, watch the show! Tom Hanks provides a
masterful narration. There's an accompanying website, including a contest
where you and your family can submit your own road trip movies:
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/films/horatio.html.
Tuesday, October 7
"California Connected -- Special Recall Election Edition" (special
web-coverage available all day via http://californiaconnected.org) For those of you interested in how well
Arnold is doing in California, and if this kind of highly publicized contest is
the only way I'm going to get you near a civics lesson, log onto this site.
You'll see how the Public Broadcasting stations in California are reporting the
election finale. The site also has information on the key issues in the election
and puts together the events leading up to the election with an interactive
activity.
"Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery -- Part 1" (PBS, 9-11
p.m. E/P) This is a very dramatic account, in a documentary by Ken Burns
("The Civil War"), of the expedition sent by President Thomas Jefferson to find
the fabled Northwest Passage across North America. Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark led the most important expedition in American history -- a voyage of
danger and discovery from St. Louis to the headwaters of the Missouri River,
over the Continental Divide to the Pacific. It was the United States' first
exploration of the West. The website is something you should tell your teachers
about -- it's cool enough to 'play' as if it was a game. Let me know what
you think of it: http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/.
Wednesday, October 8
This evening, tune in to the concluding part of the Lewis and Clark documentary,
which started on Tuesday.
Thursday, October 9
"Frontline: Truth, War, and Consequences" (PBS, 9-10:30 p.m. E/P) Trace
the roots of the Iraqi war back to the days immediately following the September
11th terrorist attacks. Examine the quest for peace in Iraq, learn how the
American government planned and sold the public on the war there, and think
about the questions currently facing the Bush administration. On the day of the
Twin Towers tragedy, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered the creation
of a special intelligence operation to quietly begin looking for evidence that
would justify the war. The intelligence reports soon became a part of a
continuing struggle between civilians in the Pentagon on one side and the CIA,
State Department, and uniformed military on the other -- a struggle that would
lead to inadequate planning for the aftermath of the war, continuing violence,
and mounting political problems for the president. Website with further
information at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/truth/.
Friday, October 10
"Kiss My Wheels" (PBS, 10-11 p.m. E/P) This is a documentary about the
talents and spirit of the Zia Hot Shots, a team of teen wheelchair basketball
players.
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