The Australian outback is the driest place on the driest inhabited continent on the planet.

Once every 10 years, rains flood into dried-up river beds and head inland to create the largest lake in Australia, and 100,000 pelicans -- a third of all the pelicans in Australia -- arrive for the event. Leaving their homes on coasts and harbors, they come to feed on fish washed in on the floods and on billions of brine shrimp and other crustaceans which hatch and grow to adulthood in a few days in water twice as salty as the Dead Sea. The pelicans have come home to court and raise as many families as possible before the water and the food disappear once more...and NATURE shows us why...7pm

 

High school football has never had a higher profile...

...with nationally televised games, corporate sponsorships and minute-by-minute coverage on sports websites. In northwest Arkansas, FRONTLINE examines one ambitious high school team working its way towards national renown. With a superstar quarterback at the helm, tiny Shiloh Christian is striving to join the ranks of the country's best high school teams -- teams whose workout schedules, practices and styles of play increasingly imitate the pros. But as high school players grow bigger,faster and stronger, there are growing concerns about the health and safety of these young players -- with rising rates of concussions, career-ending injuries, even death.
FRONTLINE: FOOTBALL HIGH...9PM

It costs approximately $88,000 per year to send a kid to juvenile incarceration and nearly 70% of them are re-arrested after being released. Could there be an alternative to this broken system of kids cycling in and out of the grasp of the juvenile justice system? Now in an experiment, a group of innovators in Baltimore, on a quest to fix the broken system, turn to an island on the other side of the world for a possible solution. Could the restorative justice principles of the Maori people in New Zealand be applied to the mean streets of the United States? FIXING JUVIE JUSTICE...8pm

Is darkness becoming extinct?

When filmmaker Ian Cheney moves from rural Maine to New York City and discovers streets awash in light and skies devoid of stars, he embarks on a journey to America's brightest and darkest corners, asking astronomers, cancer researchers and ecologists what is lost in the glare of city lights. "The City Dark" provides a fascinating introduction to the science of the dark and an exploration of our relationship to the stars...on POV at 9pm

The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd...

It's the final weekend of our August Membership Drive...highlights coming up:

Why has the Broadway musical proven to be such fertile territory for Jewish artists of all kinds? Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, the Gershwin's, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim...the list goes on and on. A look at Jewish Genius on GREAT PERFORMANCES: BROADWAY MUSICALS - A JEWISH LEGACY...Friday 8pm

Saturday features CLASSIC GOSPEL SPECIAL - A TENT REVIVAL HOMECOMING...as well as the Irish Lawrence Welk DANIEL O'DONNELL: FROM THE HEARTLAND...beginning at 5pm

Sunday we repeat GREAT PERFORMANCES ANDREA BOCELLI:LOVE IN PORTOFINO...on of the most beautiful productions PBS has ever done...6pm

Sunday also brings more DOWNTON ABBEY REVISITED...8pm

How to "light" an entire Italian coastal village...

GREAT PERFORMANCES teams up international superstar Andrea Bocelli and trumpeter Chris Botti for a new concert special of classical favorites, pop standards and Brazilian jazz, this time from the breathtaking coastal setting of Portofino, Italy.
ANDREA BOCELLI: LOVE IN PORTOFINO...7pm 

What's New Pussycat? Find out tonight on PBS...

This first-time ever archival PBS special includes all the original artists performing Bacharach's hits with rare archival footage and clips from the 1960s-1970s. Bacharach teamed with lyricist Hal David for a stunning run of classic songs, many in tandem with songstress Dionne Warwick ("Walk On By," "Anyone Who Had A Heart," "I Say A Little Prayer," "I'll Never Fall In Love Again"). British-born Dusty Springfield enjoyed Bacharach hits with the wistful "Wishin' & Hopin'" and the seductive "The Look Of Love" while Tom Jones popularized the playful "What's New Pussycat?" The smashes continued in the seventies when The Carpenters reached #1 with "(They Long To Be) Close To You," following another chart-topper, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," the Oscar-winning tune sung by B.J. Thomas in the film Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.It's quite a stroll down memory lane...BURT BACHARACH'S BEST...8:30pm

More Downton Abbey topped off with 3 Italian teens with major vocal talent...

Continuing our August Membership Drive featuring the greatest moments from "Downton Abbey," Seasons 1, 2 and 3, along with behind-the-scenes interviews with the producers and your favorite cast members - both above and below stairs. Angela Lansbury hosts...7pm

The three young Italian tenors, Piero Barone (19), Ignazio Boschetto(18) and Gianluca Ginoble (17) of Il Volo return with their second PBS special. Il Volo We Are Love, filmed in Miami last March,  allows the boys to show off their multilingual prowess, as they sing in English, Spanish, French and Italian. The entire production is a stunner! IL VOLO: WE ARE LOVE...8:30