What exactly is a "Chatauqa"?

It is a true utopia, where the arts, philosophy, current events, religion and education synergize and thrive. "Chautauqua: An American Narrative" traces the institution's history and impact, and captures its contemporary essence and energy. This one hour documentary with interviews from a NASA engineer, a former U.S Supreme Court Justice, renowned authors, scholars and performers, we learn what makes Chautauqua one of the most distinctive destinations in America...9pm

For those enjoying the British experience through shows like Monarch of the Glen, we're starting a new program to our line-up. Sherlock Holmes premiers next Sunday at 6pm...It is now three years since Sherlock Holmes has died at Reichenbach Falls, and Dr Watson still mourns for his friend the master detective.Scotland Yard calls Watson in on a murder case. One day in his office, Watson finds himself face to face with the "deceased" Sherlock Holmes. Holmes and Watson are in great peril and Sherlock has returned to defeat their enemies...begins this Sunday at 6pm

"If I had a boat, I'd go out on the ocean...and if I had a pony,

I'd ride him on my boat". Only Lyle Lovett could bring together that lyric and melody for a truly classic sound. It'll be so worth it to watch this week's Austin City Limits where he'll perform with his Large Band..."...me upon my pony on my boat..."Saturday 10pm

He was a postal clerk, and she was a librarian. With their modest means, Herbert and Dorothy Vogel managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history. In "Herb & Dorothy," filmmaker Megumi Sasaki looks at a couple whose passion and disciplines defied stereotypes and redefined what it means to be an art collector...Independent Lens after ACL.

And on Sunday we have the conclusion to Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey, where the heir crisis takes a surprising turn...8pm

A special edition of ARTzone...

"Sonata for Clarinet" written by Mike Garson and performed by Doug Storey and James Gardner. The program was recorded before a live audience at St. Andrews Episcopal Church on September 26, 2010...7pm

Let's get small...really, really small...

From carbon nanotubes to artificial skin, our world is poised at the frontier of a revolution in materials science as far-reaching as the biotech breakthroughs of the last two decades. Here in the information age, smaller is better: transistors, microchips and the laptops and cell phone that they power are triumphs of tiny. Host David Pogue takes us to an even smaller world, as he profiles the latest in high-powered nano-circuits and micro-robots that may one day hold the key to saving lives and building materials from the ground up...NOVA...8pm

How many times did you do the "gunfight" at the start of Gunsmoke?

It was my favorite part of the show...known everywhere as the quintessential American cultural identity, Westerns filled small screens across the country night after night and were some of the most successful television shows in history. Fess Parker's portrayal of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett channeled the bravery, independence, honesty and rugged individualism of a young nation - and made Walt Disney enough money to build an empire. Westerns also gave viewers James Garner, who starred in the giant television hit "Maverick," where he developed the reluctant hero character that would cement his successful TV and film career. Parker and Garner tell their stories, and Linda Evans recalls how two strong female characters emerged with her onscreen interaction with Barbara Stanwyck in "The Big Valley." This episode also examines the success of Robert Conrad in "The Wild Wild West," the popularity of "Bonanza" and the creation of the classic series "Gunsmoke" with James Arness - one of the longest-running television series of all time....7pm

KACV is offering counter programming to the State of the Union speech tonight...Charlie Rose will go over details of the speech on his show at 10:30.

Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky...

Stormy Weather...tonight on Antiques Roadshow they inspect an original handwritten draft of the song, as well as other found treasures...7pm

On August 15th, 1914, the Panama Canal opened connecting the world's two largest oceans and signaling America's emergence as a global superpower. American ingenuity and innovation had succeeded where, just a few years earlier, the French had failed disastrously. But the U.S. paid a price for victory: an outlay of more than 350 million dollars -- the largest single federal expenditure in history to that time -- and the loss of more than 5,000 lives. Using an extraordinary archive of photographs and footage, Interviews with canal workers and first-hand accounts of life in the Canal zone, director Stephen Ives and producer Amanda Pollak (New Orleans, Roads to Memphis) unravel the story of one of the world's most significant technological achievements...Panama Canal: American Experience...8pm

Think origami is just paper planes and cranes?

Meet a determined group of theoretical scientists and fine artists who have abandoned careers and scoffed at graduate degrees to forge new lives as modern-day paper folders. Together they reinterpret the world in paper, creating a wild mix of sensibilities towards art, science, creativity and meaning...and watch with amazement while someone makes, by hand, paper with different colors on each side...Independent Lens Saturday 11pm.

Sunday brings a rebroadcast of 2 really outstanding shows you may have missed...and if you prefer Captain Kirk to quirky end zone dances, try Pioneers of Television: Science Fiction, and American Masters Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides...starting at 2pm

Did you invest in the Eiffel Tower? Yeah, me too...

Would you know the difference between a legitimate offer and a scam? Would your elderly loved ones, or college age kids know what to watch out for? Tune in tonight for a crash course in scamology from the experts.
KACV-TV premieres Tricks of the Trade, a new documentary that finally opens up the con criminal playbook and shows viewers how it’s done — and then shows them how to avoid becoming the criminal’s next easy mark. Featuring profiles of convicted criminals, fraud victims, academic experts and securities regulators, Tricks of the Trade unravels the mysteries of how these fraudsters psychologically manipulate their victims...7pm

Immediately following at 8 p.m. is Tricks of the Trade: A Panhandle Perspective. KACV has partnered with the Better Business Bureau to present a local look at this problem, featuring local experts with advice on how to combat investment fraud in the Panhandle...

NOVA ON WEDNESDAY! NOVA ON WEDNESDAY...

after umpteen years and probably many sleepless nights, PBS has bitten the bullet and moved one of it's strongest anchor shows to a new night...and to kick off the change they're premiering an intriguing and entertaining look at "Making Stuff".
From carbon nanotubes to artificial skin, our world is poised at the frontier of a revolution in materials science as far-reaching as the biotech breakthroughs of the last two decades. This series explores how materials changed history and are shaping the future, ranging from cost-effective fuel cells and solar panels to quantum computers and ultra-light automobiles. Technology correspondent and best-selling author David Pogue brings his trademark goofball humor and techie zeal to this exploration of the future of "stuff." Each episode explores the talent, luck and determination that can turn a wild idea into a cutting-edge material or high-tech breakthrough...NOVA: MAKING STUFF STRONGER...8pm

DANGER! DANGER! WILL ROBINSON...

Pioneers of Television begins a new season tonight, starting with space, the final frontier.
Storytellers Gene Roddenberry, Irwin Allen and Rod Serling created the storylines and characters behind the best-loved futuristic television of their time. But as Roddenberry's "Star Trek" competed for ratings with Allen's "Lost in Space," each show's creator aimed for a very different direction...and William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols and other science-fiction stars describe how they prepared to interact on-camera with a malevolent alien force ... or, perhaps, a giant radish...beam me up Scotty. Pioneers of Television...7pm

FRONTLINE launches its new monthly magazine program with three reports, led by "Are We Safer?" In this first story, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Dana Priest investigates the terrorism-industrial complex that grew up in the wake of 9/11...9pm

Austin City Limits welcomes the cream of underground rock...

with The National and Band of Horses. The National, featuring an intense indie sound that mixes haunting electric guitars with violins and horns, plays songs from its acclaimed record High Violet. Band of Horses follows with highlights from its latest LP Infinite Arms...great show...Saturday night at 10pm

The documentary series Independent Lens focuses on 3 teenage boys and their struggle to survive the streets of a major city in Haiti...just part of the thousands of wandering kids known as the "soulless" and forgotten by their own people, they do what they must to survive each day.
Children of Haiti...Saturday night at 11pm

On Sunday, the big show is part 2 of the new Masterpiece Classic series "Downton Abbey". Hailed as one of the best PBS productions, "Downton Abbey" depicts the lives of the noble Crawley family and the staff who serve them, set at their Edwardian country house in 1912...8pm

Sam Tanenhaus began editing The New York Times Book Review in 2004...

after holding several other positions at the Times and working as a contributing editor for Vanity Fair. His 1997 biography of Whittaker Chambers was a finalist for both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award. He is also the author of The Death of Conservatism: The Movement and Its Consequences. As a frequent contributor to morning talk shows like MSNBC's Morning Joe, he brings a quiet and stylish presence to the table, regardless of the discussion. He makes nice tonight with Evan Smith on OVERHEARD...8pm

The Dude abides, man...the Dude abides...

Called "the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived" Jeff Bridges has been plying his craft most of his life...Sea Hunt, The Last Picture Show in 1971 with a Best Supporting Actor nomination, Heaven's Gate, Starman, Jagged Edge, The Fisher King, Fearless, Wild Bill, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Big Lebowski, and his 2010 Oscar-winning best actor in Crazy Heart, not to mention the Coen brothers' True Grit. He is an exceptional musician, an artist, a photographer, an occasional vintner and a story teller extraordinaire. And tonight he's on display and "abiding" his own American Masters: Jeff Bridges...8pm

Haiti - one year later...

In 2010, the deadly earthquake in Haiti killed more than 200,000, reducing homes, hospitals, schools, and the presidential palace to rubble. In exclusive coverage, a NOVA camera crew follows a team of US geologists as they first enter Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy...7pm

Then FRONTLINE files a report on the rising crime wave caused by thousands of the country's worst criminals escaping from the National Penitentiary during the chaos of the earthquake.
One year later, the gang leaders are re-asserting control in the capital. With unique access to the police units trying to hunt down the gangsters -- and revealing encounters with the gangsters themselves -- FRONTLINE examines the uphill fight to rebuild Haiti in the face of deep-rooted corruption and intimidation...9pm

The greatest hero of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant was a brilliant military strategist...

who rose from obscurity to a rank held previously only by George Washington. However, the strength of the Confederate resistance forced Grant into a hard war that destroyed the South and led to his being labeled "a butcher." American Experience: U.S. Grant: Warrior...8pm

And at 7pm, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW highlights include an archive of correspondence and photos, marking the friendship between a cigar-loving Winston Churchill and the guest's Cuban great aunt and uncle; a stunning 1908 example of New Orleans' Newcomb College pottery; and an heirloom collection of vintage diamond rings and a necklace, estimated to be worth $80,000 to $100,000.

If you missed last night's Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Classic, you've another chance to make good tonight at 1am...you won't be sorry.

Think "The Full Monty" in the pool on Independent Lens...

Austin City Limits presents alternative rock supergroup Monsters of Folk, performing songs from its debut album. Saturday night at 10pm.

Independent Lens follows with "Men Who Swim", a look at a group of middle-aged men who have found unlikely success as members of Sweden's all-male synchronized swimming team. What begins as a weekly escape from the daily grind of work and family responsibilities gradually evolves into a more serious commitment. Inspired by Esther Williams's techniques from the 1950s, these train engineers and meat buyers, archivists and teachers soon become passionate exponents of a sport generally associated with women....11pm

And on Sunday it's the premiere of Masterpiece Classic "Downton Abbey". Created by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), it depicts the lives of the noble Crawley family and the staff who serve them, set at their Edwardian country house in 1912. Featuring Hugh Bonneville (MASTERPIECE CLASSIC "Miss Austen Regrets"), Dame Maggie Smith (Harry Potter) and Elizabeth McGovern. Laura Linney hosts...8pm

Look who came through Texas...

Howard Dean began his professional life as a physician, but was soon splitting his time between his medical practice and a seat in the Vermont legislature. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1986, and went on to six terms as governor before running for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Today, after four years as the chair of the DNC, Dean continues his political work through Democracy for America, his million-member PAC...
current affairs show OVERHEARD with EVAN SMITH...8PM

Opera aficionados rejoice!

Great Performances at the Met presents the sophisticated comedy "Don Pasquale" tonight at 8pm...

Coming soon...the venerable British costume drama—embodied in such classics as Upstairs, Downstairs, Brideshead Revisited, and Pride and Prejudice—gets an intelligent, cheeky reinvention with the addictive Downton Abbey, the brainchild of Julian Fellowes, who won a best original screenplay Oscar for 2001’s similarly themed Gosford Park. Downton Abbey, airing over the next four weeks in 90-minute episodes, launches this Sunday evening as part of PBS’ Masterpiece Classic’s landmark 40th season. Watch for it...

Yes people...Christmas break is over - back to the important daily business of TV.

Tonight marks the 15th season for one of PBS's iconic shows - ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
From Miami Beach, Florida, we scout for mid-century modern bargains at some of Miami's antiques and thrift shops. Highlights include a rare 1960 re-release movie poster for the iconic biker film The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando and a 1940s mobile by Alexander Calder - grabbing the number two spot in the list of all-time highest value ROADSHOW appraisals at $400,000 to $1,000, 000!...7pm

Nearly a century and a half after his death, Robert E. Lee, the leading Confederate general of the American Civil War, remains a source of fascination and, for some,veneration. This film examines the life and reputation of the general, whose military successes made him the scourge of the Union and the hero of the Confederacy, and who was elevated to almost god-like status by his admirers after his death...ROBERT E. LEE: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE...8pm