Tuesday, January 31, 2012

He met what was perhaps the most fitting end...

Jesse James himself was an unarmed man when he was shot in the back.
His story remains one of America's most cherished myths and one of its most wrong-headed. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE looks at the life and times, and the legend of Jesse James, as well as the woman Will Rogers described as "the greatest woman rifle shot the world has ever produced." Her fame and fortune came from her skill with guns, yet she was a Quaker. This film is the story of five-foot-tall sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who pulled herself out of the depths of poverty to become known the world over as a symbol of the Wild West...Back to back stories from American Experience...7 & 8 pm

Monday, January 30, 2012

Antiques Roadshow goes to Houston...

for a tour of the extraordinary museum and gardens that once were home to famed philanthropist and antiques collector Ima Hogg. Modern-day collectors arrive at the Reliant Center with everything from an early 19th-century box desk made by a renowned supplier to the British royal family, to a 1959 replica of artist Edith Parson's early 19th-century Turtle Baby bronze sculpture, valued at $35,000 to $40,000...8pm

Then Secrets of the Dead investigates the disappearance of the Minoans...the first Europeans to use writing, becoming the setting for famous Greek myths about Theseus, Icarus and the Minotaur. 5000 years ago the Minoans were wiped from the pages of history. Was it from a massive volcano that buried them in ash or Greek invaders who conquered and killed them? Drawing from the archaeological records, new revelations about Minoan language and religion, and shocking new geological discoveries, the film connects fact with fiction, and reveals the truth behind the reign and fall of the great Minoan civilization...9pm

Friday, January 27, 2012

How the West Was Won in an afternoon...

Tony Bennett sings tonight with Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga on Great Performances...8pm

One of the great architects of our time is examined in "Architect Robert A.M. Stern: Presence of the Past"...exploring how Stern bridges the very divide in modern architecture that he has to define -- that between the modernists and the traditionalists...tonight 9:30

On Sunday we catch up with the American Experience western series and the episode that was missed due to political programming last Tuesday...the episode focusing on Wyatt Earp and his emergence as a folk hero of the west...2pm

And don't miss more of of our western heritage with Annie Oakley and Quanah Parker following Wyatt Earp...3 & 4pm

Thursday, January 26, 2012

All those triumphs have led to this...

She starred in the 1992 Olympics by winning more medals than any other US athlete, then in '96 she led the Magnificent Seven to the US Women's first ever team gold. Shannon became the first American gymnast to capture the gold on the balance beam, a law degree from Boston College, has her own radio show, a series of fitness books and some DVDs about how to stay fit during pregnancy...and now, as a wife and mother, Shannon Miller has taken on another challenge...fighting ovarian cancer. She talks with Ellen Robertson Green about her magnificent past and promising future this week on Face to Face...8pm

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Should have been on Antiques Roadshow...

A striking portrait of a young woman in Renaissance dress originally sold in 2007 for around $20,000...fast forward to the present and the portrait is now thought to be an undiscovered masterwork by Leonardo da Vinci worth - wait for it - more than $100 million. NOVA meets a new breed of experts who are approaching "cold case" art mysteries as if they were crime scenes, and follows art sleuths as they deploy new techniques to combat the multi-billion dollar criminal market in stolen and fraudulent art...Nova...8pm

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Just before the State of the Union...

Tonight we pre-empt American Masters with an encore episode of MOYERS & COMPANY, a new weekly hour of compelling and vital conversation about life and the state of American democracy, featuring some of the best thinkers of our time...7pm

...and no spittin' on the sidewalk...

Wyatt Earp's Tombstone was one tough town...and he's been portrayed in countless movies and television shows by some of Hollywood's greatest actors, including Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Kevin Costner, and Kurt Russell...as a man whose life is a lens on politics, justice and economic opportunity in the American frontier. As a young man, Wyatt Earp was a caricature of the Western lawman and gained notoriety in the shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Tonight American Experience presents the real tale of Wyatt Earp...7pm

Thursday, January 19, 2012

From the panhandle to singing for princes & presidents...

The recent PBS documentary, Young Opera, called him "the next big thing in the tenor world." But Eric Barry says he basically tripped into an offer for voice lessons while studying business at West Texas A&M University. In seven years that voice lesson catapulted Barry from WT to the State University of New York to Yale and now on international tour as a full-fledged Opera star. Ellen talks to Barry about life on the operatic road, Face to Face...8pm

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Squids have beaks? I did not know that...

Veterinary scientist Mark Evans and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg dissect a sperm whale's enormous organs to reveal the secrets of this 45-foot deep-sea giant, found stranded and dead in England. As the team ventures inside the whale, biologist Simon Watt tracks whales in the Azores with a modern-day Jonah, Malcolm Clarke, who shows him the huge number of squid beaks in a whale's stomach. And evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins marvels at the gigantic teeth that have evolved in the lower jaw of a sperm whale...this talk of stomachs and teeth is making me hungry...Inside Nature's Giants: Sperm Whale...9pm

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

By days end, Custer and nearly a third of his army were dead...

This biography of one of the most charismatic and contradictory American leaders of the 19th century takes viewers on a journey from Custer's memorable, wild charge at Gettysburg that turned the tide of the battle, to his lonely, untimely death on the windswept plains of the west. General George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, and the battle of the Little Big Horn...one of the most iconic events in American history...American Experience...7pm

Friday, January 13, 2012

This television weekend has to be Movies & Moyers...

The subject of movies and their historical and cultural significance is the focus of the National Film Registry, and the cinematic treasures it strives to save, from Hollywood blockbusters to avant-garde gems, and from the earliest days of film to today. Ted Turner's quest to colorize everything he could get his hands on, in the hopes securing even greater wealth, forced Hollywood and Washington to come to recognize the value of classic film.
Watch Independent Lens, Saturday at 11pm for a walk down movie memory lane...

And Bill Moyers returns to television with Moyers & Company, a weekly series of smart talk and new ideas aimed at helping viewers make sense of our tumultuous times through the insight of America’s strongest thinkers. Welcome back, Bill...Sunday night at 10:30...

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Best selling authors come from the strangest places...

Fresh and seasoned indie rock hits the AUSTIN CITY LIMITS stage with the Head and the Heart and Gomez. Seattle's the Head and the Heart performs tunes from its self-titled debut LP. British veterans Gomez follow with their eclectic modern rock...7pm

Face to Face with Ellen Robertson Green looks at the new book by Dr. Harry Haines, the WT music professor turned best selling author and his new book "Cover Up in Ann Arbor"...a big plus in the show is the detailed info about what it takes to becone a published author. Dr. Haines has some great insights into the process...8pm

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

And you complained there are too many cats...

Street Smart kangaroos have moved into Canberra. Over the course of one drought-stricken year we follow a kangaroo mob leader and his family through the streets of Australia's capital city, and document the obstacles they face to survive. Here is a look at what happens when human development encroaches on wildlife habitat and two very different species are forced to co-exist.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

He had the perfect cover: he was an American citizen.

On the night of November 26, 2008, 10 men armed with guns and grenades launched an assault on Mumbai with a military precision that killed 166...a Pakistani militant group associated with Pakistan's ISI was responsible. And American citizen David Coleman Headley had been casing the city for two years, developing a blueprint for terror. FRONTLINE and ProPublica reporter Sebastian Rotella team up to investigate the mysterious circumstances behind Headley's rise from heroin dealer and U.S. government informant to master plotter of the 2008 attack on Mumbai...9pm

Friday, January 6, 2012

I always think of Woody Allen's "Manhattan"...

GREAT PERFORMANCES and music director Gustavo Dudamel present an all-Gershwin repertoire including "An American in Paris," "Rhapsody in Blue" and a solo performance of "Someone to Watch Over Me," spotlighting the jazz piano of Herbie Hancock...tonight at 8

INDEPENDENT LENS presents the fascinating "The Woodmans"...a documentary looking at an entire family of artists, and the heavy price they pay for the privelege...Saturday at 10

And Sunday there's much, much more DOWNTON ABBEY...beginning at 6:30

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Mylo Zyloto on KACV!

Coldplay’s stunning performance on the ACL stage is their second appearance on the show, and the first in the new studio...and only Austin City Limits could handle the band’s unique production. If you missed this show on New Year's Eve, here's your chance to catch it and record it...Austin City Limits, 7pm

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Birds of a pretty feather...

When Europeans first saw the plumes of these fabulous creatures in the 16th century, they believed they must be from heaven and called them Birds of Paradise. The people of New Guinea make even greater claims. They say the birds possess supernatural powers and magic. David Attenborough introduces a team of scientists on a grueling expedition to find and film these Birds of Paradise; the holy grail of wildlife filmmakers.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Recharged and rarin' to go...

Just got back from Christmas Break...my favorite time of the work year! Alot has been on the tube, and 2012 promises to be an even better year for PBS...

Egypt had been through very hard times, but one family was determined to revive it -- the king of Thebes and his two young sons Ahmose and Kamose, who became f reedom fighters, liberators of Egypt. Through enormous struggle, hardships and personal tragedy, the enemy Hykos was expelled, and Egypt was finally reunited. This is the beginning of royal intrigue that makes Game of Thrones look like Tiddly Winks. Watch the multi-part EGYPT'S GOLDEN EMPIRE tonight beginning at 7pm

Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's illicit opium. Opium farmers have long borrowed money from drug gangs, some with links to the Taliban, to subsidize their crops. Now, as the Afghan government destroys their livelihood in an eradication program,the farmers find themselves in a horrifying situation: repay their debts or give their daughters to drug-traffickers, often to be used for sex. Award-winning Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi reports on the harrowing story of families torn apart and the collateral damage of the counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan...FRONTLINE...9pm