PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of July 13
Published July 11, 2008
I tell you, I'm really excited about this proposed new The Sword in the Stone ride (the ride I would create were I an Imagineer and given the chance). I think it could be something really special. In past intros and closings we've discussed the conveyances and the first two areas patrons would visit. Up this week – the third area, the shape-shifting area, you know with all the different animal bits from the movie.
Sunday, July 13:
8:00 - 9:00PM
Nature - “Encountering Sea Monsters”. Is Nature beyond the point where they feel like they need to come up with, you know, nature stories? Sea monsters? Really? It sounds like a stunt for sweeps. But it’s now only the July sweep, which hardly counts. Weird.
9:00PM – 10:30PM
Masterpiece Mystery! – "Foyle's War, Series V – Plan of Attack". This is it for our good friend Christopher Foyle, at least the bits that relate to World War II. Series V of Foyle's War feature the end of the war and, only very briefly, the start of the peace. But, will Foyle finally find peace? Watch and see.
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.
Monday, July 14:
8:00 - 9:00PM
Antiques Roadshow – "Bismarck (Hour One)". I'm going to level with you, I know very little about Bismarck, North Dakota. I know very little about the Dakotas in general. I've driven across the country twice, once down south and once more middle/northish, but I never made it to either Dakota. I wanted to, what with Mt. Rushmore being in one of the Dakotas, but I never got there. The Antiques Roadshow, however, did.
9:00 – 10:00PM
History Detectives. This show may be the most fascinating show ever, it really may, but its title leave a lot to be desired, not like the next show. The next show has the single greatest title for a show that I’ve ever heard (other than “Josh Lasser, You’ve Been Hired as an Imagineer” of course)
10:00 – 11:00PM
- PBS Primetime Programming for the Week of July 13
- Published: July 11, 2008
- Type: News
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: News, Video: Television
- Part of a feature: PBS in Primetime
- Writer: Josh Lasser
- Josh Lasser's BC Writer page
- Josh Lasser's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/78693)
These reviews waste too much time trying to make the author look cute and cutting, but in the end they are just wasteful diversions.
Most people will be interested in a reviewers opinion only after he has told the reader what the program is about. And Lasher never does.
For example, the "As The Wrench Turns" animation tries to recreate the chummy repartee of the famous radio show into a new fictional structure that gives the brothers some pretend situations and plots that go beyond simple automobile troubleshooting. It seems to capitalize on the frequent diversions that C&C make into callers personal lives. That seems like a promising takeoff because the world of car repair can be rather narrow, sortof dehumanized and only of interest to a very few nerds. But the C&C radio style seems to work very well as there are a number of women who tell me they listen to the program and enjoy it immensely.
But of course the radio format doesn't translate well to TV because who wants to watch a couple of guys sit around trying to figure out what's wrong with a 97 Escort while trading jibes with each other?
We'll never know, because the producers chose to go another direction and create an animation based loosely on the fictional characters that C&C have invented to deal with automobile problems, but involved with worldly affairs that don't take place in the garage. For example, they did a skit about "outsourcing" by having C&C hire two guys in India to imitate them. It was actually fun because they managed to lampoon themselves and their patent comedy very adroitly.
I'd say that "As The wrench..." is worth seeing for some moments that reflect their antic humor, but you have to survive some familiar cooky-cutter plot points.