you can fight city hall...from your wheelchair!

In the struggle to bring basic rights to the disabled, Fred Fay's life proves that one man can change the world...even though he has to lie flat on his back just to stay alive. LIVES WORTH LIVING looks at Fay's struggle to survive after a spinal cord injury and the small group of dedicated activists who formed the Disability Rights Movement to drive the nation towards equal rights. INDEPENDENT LENS...9pm

The Beatles on Great Performances? Duhhh...

This documentary chronicles the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the lads whilst making the 1967 film "The Magical Mystery Tour". Think "The Monkees", only they're the BEATLES...GREAT PERFORMANCES, Friday at 8pm.

"Magical Mystery Tour" is the least known of the various films starring The Beatles and was never theatrically released or nationally broadcast on U.S. television, only receiving sporadic TV syndication in the 1980s. Receiving mixed reviews but arguably ahead of its time, the mostly improvised and loosely plotted script provides a charming comic showcase for The Fab Four, recounting a series of episodic misadventures of John, Paul, George and Ringo on a bus tour and  featuring classics such as "Magical Mystery Tour," "The Fool on the Hill," "I Am the Walrus" and "Hello, Goodbye." GREAT PERFORMANCES, Friday at 9pm. 

They are the beautiful killers that live in the shadows...

Leopards are the ultimate cat...the most feline, the most intelligent, the most dangerous, and, until recently, one of the least understood. Hunting from South Africa to Siberia and from Arabia to Sri Lanka, they're the most widespread predator of their size on land. This film puts together a psychological profile of this extraordinarily cunning cat, which rarely moves without a completely premeditated strategy. You'll not look the same at your kitty again. NATURE: REVEALING THE LEOPARD...7pm

"profound insight" into what some call the "dismal trade"...

In this film, FRONTLINE enters the world of Thomas Lynch, a poet and undertaker whose family has cared for the dead in a small Michigan town for three generations. Through the intimate stories of families coming to terms with grief, mortality, and a funeral's rituals, the film illuminates the heartbreak and beauty in the journey taken between the living and the dead when someone dies.
FRONTLINE: THE UNDERTAKING...9pm

The most troubling quote? "It's my fate"...

Filmed over four years, GARBAGE DREAMS follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo. It's a culture that pigeonholes it's people into life's station at birth...this film follows the boys on their journey to either escape their destinies - or accept their fate. INDEPENDENT LENS...9pm

That was one crowded table at the sidewalk cafe...

PARIS THE LUMINOUS YEARS tells the story of Paris from an unprecedented point of view, spotlighting now-famous key figures in the art world's first international avant-garde. Find out how Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Igor Stravinsky, Ernest Hemingway, Serge Diaghilev, Jean Cocteau, Gertrude Stein, Aaron Copland and others found themselves in Paris, and how being in Paris transformed them and their work...Friday night at 8pm

And of course, DOWNTON ABBEY SERIES 2 continues with episodes 3 and 4...Sunday at 8pm

Steve Miller does Abacadabra, Jet Airliner, and the Joker

and many more on tonight's AUSTIN CITY LIMITS. The second act is the Preservation Hall Jazz Band presenting classic New Orleans jazz with special guests the Del McCoury Band and Jim James of My Morning Jacket...AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...7pm

Do you remember December 8, 1980?

In October he would have turned 72-years old, and on December 8 he will have been dead for 32 years. Yet, his art still haunts us. It still matters deeply and it is still deeply relevant. It still speaks to millions of people. With unprecedented and exclusive cooperation from Yoko Ono, access to never-before-seen material from the Lennon archives and conversations with those closest to him -- Ono, Elton John, the photographer Bob Gruen, Ringo Starr -- AMERICAN MASTERS tells John Lennon's story as it has never been told before -- and as it will never be told again...JOHN LENNON: AMERICAN MASTERS...7pm

The real difference between a violin and a fiddle...

Host Mark Walberg travels to Baltimore to check out comic strip art and a rare violin made in 1798 by renowned French violinmaker Nicolas Lupot, accompanied by a bow crafted in the style of Dominique Peccatte, one of the most influential bow makers in history. Together, violin and bow make beautiful music, especially the violin at $140,000...7pm

The Cat in the Hat Knows Alot about EVERYTHING!

Our December Membership Drive is wrapping up, and tonight we feature a Family Night double-header - the Cat in the Hat and Curious George...and it's all about Christmas! 7pm

Saturday's line-up revisits our newest local program of Christmas music with tenor Eric Barry: Home for Christmas, followed by pianist John Bayless: Christmas Rhapsody...7pm 

And on Sunday a riveting special, DOWNTON ABBEY REVISITED has us savoring great moments from the series' first two seasons, along with cast interviews, rare behind-the-scenes footage and a sneak peek at what's in store for the Crawleys as they enter the Roaring Twenties..6:30pm

Then on Downton Abbey Series 2 we're 2 years into WWII and the estate is in turmoil, as Matthew and other young men go to war - or avoid it. The women also pitch in, and many couples see their romantic dreams dashed...Sunday at 8pm 

Known as "the people's favorite tenor..."

Perhaps best known recently for his role as Jean Valjean in the 25th Anniversary stage show of Les Miserables, Alfie Boe is filmed live in London performing from some of the best-loved musicals of all time, including Sunset Boulevard, Company, West Side Story and Moulin Rouge...and of course performing his own emotive interpretation of "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables, accompanied by Claude Michel Schonberg, one of the original writers of the score. ALFIE BOE: LIVE FROM THE ROYAL MUSIC HALL, LONDON...all part of our December Membership Drive...tonight at 8:30

If you're thinking "shimmy, shimmy, koko - bop"...

Cousin Brucie, along with Little Anthony and the Imperials will straighten you out during what's billed as the last "classic" doo wop special...featuring The Del Vikings, The Clovers, Jerry Butler, The Drifters, Larry Chance & The Earls, Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge, The Flamingos and many more...DOO WOP DISCOVERIES...tonight at 8:30 during our December Membership Drive. 

THE TENORS do Dylan's "Forever Young"...nice!

From Johannesburg to Shanghai, London to Los Angeles, they have inspired millions of music lovers with their rich harmonies, addictive charm and powerful songs. They have performed for world leaders and many celebrities, and this concert takes place in the breathtaking 2,050 seat Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center where The Tenors perform all new music from their newly released sophomore album Lead With Your Heart...as our December Membership Drive continues for a few more days...THE TENORS...7pm

Rod gets us ready for Christmas...

Our December Pledge Drive continues throughout the week, with special programming designed to attract new members and get us all in the mood for the holidays...
First up, legendary rocker Rod Stewart's first solo holiday special, with songs produced by "Hitman" David Foster, features 13 classic songs and duets with artists like Michael Buble, Cee-Lo Green, and even Ella Fitzgerald...ROD STEWART: MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY...tonight at 7pm

The Jackie Evancho teams up with GREAT PERFORMANCES as the little girl with the big voice puts her own unique stamp on such audience favorites as "My Heart Will Go On" (Titanic), "Some Enchanted Evening" (South Pacific), "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (The Lion King). That's JACKIE EVANCHO: MUSIC OF THE MOVIES...8:30pm

One of life's lessons...don't name your food!

Based on a true story and presented on Thanksgiving eve - NATURE: MY LIFE AS A TURKEY.  Deep in the wilds of Florida, writer and naturalist Joe Hutto was given the rare opportunity to raise wild turkeys from chicks. Hutto spent each day out and about as a "wild turkey" with his family of chicks until the day came when he had to let his children grow up and go off on their own. As it turned out, this was harder than he ever imagined...7pm

If you're still recalling the days of the Dust Bowl, KACV encores another local production featuring first hand recollections of area Dust Bowl survivors, sharing where they were, what they were doing and how they felt as they witnessed the black duster of April 14, 1935. MEMORIES OF BLACK SUNDAY...Thursday night at 8pm 

IN THE MIND OF A CHEF is dominating the Friday night schedule with a trip to the far east, where David Chang explores a street market in Tokyo and visits the three-star restaurant Kikuno in Kyoto.
Beginning Friday night at 8pm 

This weekend kicks off our December Membership Drive, beginning on Saturday with the premiere of our newest local production. ERIC BARRY: HOME FOR CHRISTMAS presents the world class tenor and West Texas native as he performs holiday music both sacred and sentimental from the Christmas songbook...Saturday at 4pm, followed by JOHN BAYLESS: CHRISTMAS RHAPSODY at 5:30. These 2 holiday music shows will repeat Sunday evening at 7pm, along with a variety of musical programs celebrating the season. Please check our schedule online for shows and times.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM KACV

Joni Mitchell, CSN, Jackson Browne...thank you David

David Geffen helped shape American popular culture for the past four decades. He launched the early successes of Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, Tom Cruise and Guns N' Roses; he co-founded DreamWorks, and produced "Cats" and "Dreamgirls";
David Geffen reveals himself for the first time in this unflinching portrait of a complex and compelling man in DAVID GEFFEN: AMERICAN MASTERS...7pm

A glimpse at our past...part 2

In the second episode of Ken Burn's DUST BOWL, experience the gradual relief as the families of the plains seek new lives in California and government conservation efforts - and a break in the drought in 1939 - eventually stabilize the soil and bring the farms back to life, but with dangers of another Dust Bowl facing future generations.

OMG...What a weekend!

Artists at the Cross Roads of Culture and Technology - the theme of tonight's episode of CRAFT IN AMERICA...8pm

If you missed last night's AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, here's your 2nd chance to record this outstanding  show featuring performances from the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, including Bonnie Raitt, Richard Thompson, Alabama Shakes and better yet, "unknown" talent that will knock you out...AUSTIN CITY LIMITS encore tonight at midnight 

Saturday night's ACL features Mumford and Sons at 10pm...then -
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney ("Taxi to the Dark Side," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room") presents his take on the gap between rich and poor Americans in "Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream." Gibney compares 740 Park in Manhattan, currently home to the highest concentration of billionaires in the country, to the South Bronx less than five miles away,  home to the poorest congressional district in the United States. Park Avenue runs through both areas. INDEPENDENT LENS presents PARK AVENUE: MONEY, POWER AND THE AMERICAN DREAM...Saturday at 11pm 

In the first episode of Ken Burns's THE DUST BOWL, feel the full force of the worst manmade environmental disaster in America's history as survivors recall the terror of the dust storms, the desperation of hungry families and how they managed to find hope even as the earth and heavens seemed to turn against them. Filmed extensively in this area over a number of years, this is truly our story as told by America's premiere film maker...THE DUST BOWL, PART 1...Sunday at 7pm 

I'm quacking up...seriously.

They come in all shapes and sizes and abilities - some are dabblers popping in and out of the surface of a glass lake and others swim with powerful webbed feet underwater. They fly through the air on short, stubby wings, traveling in large, energy-efficient formations over thousands of miles. Some are noisy and gregarious, others shy and elusive. The producer who brought us "Hummingbirds" is back, where she and NATURE feature another popular, beautiful and fascinating bird - the duck...7pm

It could be NASA's last chance to set wheels down on Mars until the end of the decade. This August  a rover named Curiosity touched down inside Mars' Gale Crater, carrying 10 new instruments that will advance the quest for signs that Mars might have once been suitable for life. Who knows what they'll find...NOVA: THE ULTIMATE MARS CHALLENGE...8pm

This land is your land, this land is my land...

Woody Guthrie, the nation's signature folk singer/song-writer, has had his music recorded by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to the Irish rock band U2. Hailing from Pampa, Texas and blowing out of the Dust Bowl in 1930s Depression Era America, he blended vernacular, rural music and populism to give voice to millions of downtrodden citizens. AMERICAN MASTERS looks at his life and music, and how he influenced generations...7pm

FRONTLINE explores the shadow world of assisted suicide, where the lines between legality and criminality are blurred as never before. With intimate access to decisions near the end of life, FRONTLINE takes viewers inside one of the most polarizing social issues of our time -- told not only by the people choosing to die, but also by their "assisters"...8:30pm

This weekend, it's the "best awards show in the world"...

With the producer help of quirky cooking personality Anthony Bourdain, IN THE MIND OF A CHEF is a rethinking of a "travel/cooking show" -- it feeds the gut and the mind. It's a series that dares to make connections between food and nature, science, music, art, sports, history, and pretty much anything else renowned chef David Chang can stir up...Friday night at 8 - 10pm

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS travels to Nashville to showcase Bonnie Raitt with John Hiatt, Booker T. Jones, Alabama Shakes, The Mavericks, Richard Thompson, Guy Clark and many more...tune in and see why the AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL has been called the "best awards show in the world"...Saturday at 10pm

Two bands, no percussion, mucho intensity...

The Civil Wars and the Punch Brothers perform new music tonight on AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...7pm 

The Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist and author of "The Worst Hard Time," a history of the Dust Bowl, is KACV-TV's studio guest. Tim Egan was interviewed by Ellen Robertson Green in front of a live audience, and offers intriguing insights into the writing process, and how he traveled the area interviewing folks who have a vivid memory of the rolling dust storms of Black Sunday.
A CONVERSATION WITH TIMOTHY EGAN...8pm

My dog's always thinking...about food!

Have you ever wondered what's going on inside an Animal's head? How do they see the world -- and us? Is your dog really feeling guilty when it gives you that famous "guilty look?" Do pigeon brains possess "superpowers" that allow them to find their way home across hundreds of unfamiliar miles? David Pogue meets -- and competes -- with a menagerie of smart critters that challenge preconceived notions about what makes "us" different from "them" expanding our understanding of how animals really think. NOVA SCIENCE NOW explains tonight at 9pm

You're wondering what's on tonight...really?

Finally...what seems like the longest campaign season ever will come to an end tonight with the YOU-KNOW-WHAT of the YOU-KNOW-WHO. Expect 4 solid hours of in-depth coverage by Gwen Ifill, Judy Woodruff, and the entire roster of PBS analysts...all beginning after the push-off by PBS NEWSHOUR at 6pm. Then tomorrow we can get started on the next one...

Of the worlds's 875 illiterate adults, two thirds are women...

Rafea is 30 years old with four children and a husband who is eager to take a third wife. She is a Bedouin woman living in a small Jordanian village close to the desert...and she has the desire to become more.Welcome to India's Barefoot College, founded to provide rural women living in poverty with an education that empowers them to make their communities self-reliant and sustainable. INDEPENDENT LENS takes us into their world and introduces us to women fighting unbelievable odds to learn, and in the process help their families and cultures...tonight 9pm

Politics and The Civil Wars...don't you just love it?

PBS is rerunning their excellent look at the candidates tonight...Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to tell their own stories, but in The Choice 2012, FRONTLINE goes far beyond the headlines on a journey deep into their worlds, among their friends and family, critics, and closest colleagues, to understand what drives these men.If you missed it before, be sure to catch it tonight...FRONTLINE: THE CHOICE 2012...9pm

ACL presents new American acoustic music with the Civil Wars and Punch Brothers. The Civil Wars play tunes from their Grammy-winning album Barton Hollow. Punch Brothers showcase their latest, Who's Feeling Young Now? AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...Saturday at 10pm

And of course, CALL THE MIDWIFE puts out it's season finale this weekend, along with the beginning of UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS SERIES 2...being across the pond is no longer an obstacle for first rate British drama...Sunday beginning at 7pm

One of the New 7 Wonders of the World...

NOVA joins a new generation of archeologists as they probe areas of Machu Picchu that haven't been touched since the time of the Incas...perched atop a mountain crest in Peru, mysteriously abandoned more than four centuries ago, the site is the most famous archeological ruin in the Western hemisphere and an iconic symbol of the power and engineering prowess of the Inca. NOVA: THE GHOSTS OF MACHU PICCHU...8pm

Isn't the voter...at least a little responsible for his vote?

We hear that big money influences elections. Probably some truth to that, but what's more troubling in the age of the internet is the willingness of people to believe what they see on the tube, and not do a little research. In a special investigation in collaboration with Marketplace, FRONTLINE travels to the remote epicenter of the campaign finance debate for a tale of money, politics, and intrigue. How have campaigns changed in America? Ask Montana, which is playing host to a bitter race that is awash in mysterious money and could decide control of the U.S. Senate. FRONTLINE: BIG SKY, BIG MONEY...at a special time - 8:30pm

Where wizards get their snail mail...

Nature explores the world of the snowy owl, a bird recently made popular by Hedwig, Harry Potter's faithful companion. Turning fantasy into reality, "Magic of the Snowy Owl" takes an intimate look at how these majestic birds survive in one of the most isolated and inhospitable places on the planet. From the same filmmakers that brought us "Jungle Eagle", viewers will discover that these strikingly beautiful Arctic owls - essentially eagles, falcons and owls rolled into one - have a magic of their own...NATURE...7pm

In October 1962, the world held its breath...

While politicians desperately sought a solution to the Cuban Missile stand-off, nobody was aware what was happening beneath the waves but the men on the Russian B-59 submarine, submerged off the coast of Florida and trapped by US destroyers. Unable to contact Moscow and fearing war had begun, they debated launching nuclear torpedoes. As the two sides inched perilously close to nuclear war—far closer than we ever knew before–just one man stood between the Russian Captain's launch order and mutually assured destruction.“The Man Who Saved the World” combines tense drama with eyewitness accounts and expert testimony about some of the most critical events in the Cold War. That's tonight's HISTORY DETECTIVES...immediately following THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS: THREE MEN GO TO WAR...8PM

The art of the pivot...

That's when the moderator asks a question, and you bend the answer to include the points you really want to get across...both candidates are pros at the pivot, and even though tonight's focus is on foreign policy, many pundits believe the real issue to get attention is still the economy. We'll see. President Obama and Mitt Romney face off for the third and final debate tonight...8pm 

Mac Thornberry, Four Price, Marty Rowley on the issues...

Thursday night's League of Women Voters Candidates Forum played to a packed house of mostly seniors, with good questions for the candidates during Q & A session. Interesting exchange between State Board of Education candidates Republican Marty Rowley and Democrat Stephen Schafersman. KACV was there and the full session can be seen on our website at http://kacv.org/lwv_forum

VOCES present a documentary profiling three-time felon, one-time Tony Award-winner Lemon Anderson, an acclaimed Puerto Rican American poet who broke out on Broadway in Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam. Lemon's life personalizes the anguish of men, clinging to the margins of society, but fighting for something more...LEMON...Friday at 9pm

Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples showcase classic R&B, blues and pop on this weeks's AUSTIN CITY LIMITS in a new show featuring Raitt's songs from her latest album Slipstream, while Staples performs songs from You Are Not Alone and Staple Singers classics...a good time to be had by all.
Saturday at 10pm

And it wouldn't be the weekend, apparently, without new episodes of CALL THE MIDWIFE and MASTERPIECE CLASSIC: UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS SERIES 2...Sunday starting at 7pm 

More tales of the Dust Bowl...

How did he get the idea for this book...how did he get folks to open up about their experiences...what separates us from the rest of the country regarding how we deal with adversity...Timothy Egan, author of the The Worst Hard Time sits down with Ellen Roberston Green tonight to discuss how he came upon the Dust Bowl story, and how it influenced Ken Burns' documentary...CONVERSATION WITH TIMOTHY EGAN...8pm

And we're not talking Hugh Jackman here...

Tonight on NATURE...we go after the wolverine. Legend paints it as a solitary, bloodthirsty killer that roams the icy heart of the frozen north, taking down prey as large as moose, crushing bones to powder with its powerful jaws. This film takes viewers into the secretive world of the largest and least known member of the weasel family - hard-wired to endure an environment of scarcity, the wolverine is one of the most efficient and resourceful carnivores on Earth. NATURE...7pm

"I am a man," Standing Bear said at his trial...

"Standing Bear's Footsteps" is the story of an Indian chief who went to court to prove he was a person...and in the process redefined what it means to be an American. The documentary traces one man's journey from his Nebraska homeland to the malaria- infested plains of Indian Territory and finally to a trial that made front page news across America.  The film weaves interviews, re-creations and present day scenes to tell a story about human rights, one that resonates powerfully in the present. "I am a man," Standing Bear said at his trial. "The same God made us both." Independent Lens continues in it's new time...9pm

Frankly my dear...I don't give a...#%*#@?

"Gone with the Wind" created two of the world's greatest lovers, Scarlett and Rhett, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1937 and has sold more than 30 million copies. Born into Atlanta's upper crust in 1900, author Margaret Mitchell struggled with the changing role of women and the liberation of African Americans but also suffered from lifelong bouts of depression, until a tragic accident lead to her death in 1949. This film examines the amazing endurance of "Gone with the Wind" and reveals the seminal events of Mitchell's life...AMERICAN MASTER: MARGARET MITCHELL...Fri at 8pm

As a tropical storm beats down on an island in the Philippines, two sisters leave work and never make it home. Paco Larranaga, a 19-year-old student, is sentenced to death for their rape and murder, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence. On this weeks POV, "GIVE UP TOMORROW" exposes shocking corruption within the judicial system of the Philippines and one of the most sensational trials in the country's history...Sat at 11pm

Hosted by Lisa Kudrow, ARTS AND THE MIND shares stories of how music, dance, painting, poetry and theater markedly improve well-being at both ends of life, and reveals the cutting-edge science that explains the powerful, positive impact of the arts on our brains...Sun at 2pm

And for your British tastes, don't forget the ongoing series CALL THE MIDWIFE and UPSTAIRS/DOWNSTAIRS continuing Sun beginning at 7pm

VP's are chosen, in part, to be the "attack dog"...

so when you get them together on stage, stand back and watch for fireworks. Tonight's debate, hosted by ABC's Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz promises to deliver...and while some say that historically VP's debating is inconsequential, no one will argue that in politics, context matters. Republican momentum built up since the 1st presidential debate has a chance to gain more strength...or be deflated in a dramatic fashion...depending in part on tonight's outcome.
PBS NEWSHOUR 2012 VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE...8pm 

He dug himself into an underground pit...and waited...

NATURE: SIBERIAN TIGER QUEST features the work of Korean cameraman Sooyong Park who literally hid in the hole for weeks at a time to get the shot...a very unique look at the Siberian Tiger living wild and free in Russia's far eastern forests...7pm

Tonight, as only they can, FRONTLINE goes really deep...

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to tell their own stories, but in The Choice 2012, FRONTLINE goes far beyond the headlines on a journey deep into their worlds, among their friends and family, critics, and closest colleagues, to understand what drives these men. Based on dozens of new interviews and hundreds of hours of research, FRONTLINE's authoritative profiles that emerge are also a portrait of America in an era of uncertainty and a guide to the choices that lie ahead...THE CHOICE 2012...8pm

But Congressman Ryan didn't make the final edit...

INDEPENDENT LENS begins playing to a bigger audience by moving to Monday night following ANTIQUES ROADSHOW and MARKET WARRIORS...and it begins tonight with a powerful story most can relate to. "As Goes Janesville" traces the impact of the economic crisis on a little town in Wisconsin...which also happens to be VP Candidate Paul Ryan's home town. The film records two years in the lives of laid-off workers, business leaders and elected officials all trying to reinvent their lives and their midwestern town amid the closure of their GM plant, and America's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. INDEPENDENT LENS...9pm

It bears repeating...they ride SIDE SADDLE!

SOUND TRACKS reporters bring you behind-the-scenes stories about the power of music to touch our hearts and shake things up. Explore the world. Embrace new artists. Connect through music. Segments include music by Wynton Marsalis, Youssou N'dour, and the outrageous group Of Monsters and Men. Four exceptional artists in live performances and revealing interviews show how music is changing the world...SOUND TRACKS... Friday at 8pm

Voces on PBS features a documentary about Mexican rodeo women competing in the National Charro Championships in Mexico...and they ride side saddle. ESCARAMUZA: RIDING FROM THE HEART...Friday at 9pm

Sunday's line-up includes the next episode of CALL THE MIDWIFE, life in WWII England amid the hardships of nurses and their patients...
UPSTAIRS/DOWNSTAIRS SERIES 2 begins anew, picking up the story of life at the estate on both ends of the dinner table...
and BROADWAY: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL chronicles the early history of the Great White Way, when the intersection of Broadway and 42nd was nobody's idea of "the crossroads of the world." But then came Ziegfeld, Irving Berlin, and George M. Cohan...all starting Sunday at 7pm

Each year, inaugurating a new season...since 1842!

Violin legend Itzhak Perlman joins the New York Philharmonic and music director Alan Gilbert for this season opening concert gala featuring works by Rimsky-Korsakoff, Massenet, Tchaikovsky, Sarasate, and music from John Williams' Schindler's List film score. At intermission taped segments with Perlman and family at home in Easthampton, New York and at the special music camp for gifted young musicians he and his wife, Toby, started nearly two decades ago...LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER: THE PHILHARMONIC OPENING GALA WITH ITZHAK PERLMAN...7pm

Cataclysmic meetings come in all sizes...

Kilauea, on Hawaii's Big Island is the world's most active volcano, erupting in 1983...and it hasn't stopped since...creating 544 acres of new land and consuming 200 homes. The most spectacular moment of creation is when lava pours into the ocean creating new land, the cataclysmic meeting of 2000 degree lava and 75 degree ocean water...NATURE: KILAUEA, MOUNTAIN OF FIRE...7pm

Speaking of cataclysmic meetings...the first presidential debate takes place in Denver tonight. President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney discuss the issues and differences in their campaigns with PBS's Jim Lehrer...must see TV. PBS NEWSHOUR DEBATES: SPECIAL REPORT...8pm 

I thought I had the first transistor radio...

HISTORY DETECTIVES delves into what could be a hand-drawn map of Valley Forge that George Washington used during the American Revolution...and talks to a Tucson man who has what could be one of the first transistor radios ever made. 7pm

And PBS continues with part 2 of HALF THE SKY: TURNING OPPRESSION INTO OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN WORLDWIDE...as Diane Lane and America Ferrera travel the world to shed light on the plight, as well as accomplishments of women fighting discrimination.
8pm

By survivng, these women can change the world...

In a typically brilliant move, PBS once again identifies a problem and then attacks it head on.
HALF THE SKY presents women and girls who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable -- and fighting bravely to change them. Their intimate, dramatic and immediate stories of struggle reflect viable and sustainable options for empowerment and offer an actionable blueprint for transformation. The series was filmed in 10 countries, from  Cambodia and Vietnam, to Kenya, India, and Pakistan. And even the United States.The 2 part film uses the star power of celebrities such as George Clooney, Meg Ryan and Olivia Wilde to shine a light on the issue. HALF THE SKY: TURNING OPPRESSION INTO OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN WORLDWIDE...8pm

What happens there can change their lives...

The most important moment in the life of a young pianist is when he or she walks out onto the stage of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Gut-wrenching drama, strung-out nerves and the joy of victory are the elements that make up this extraordinary film retrospective...tonight at 8pm

Part circus and part athletic contest, Mexican wrestling, famous for its masked competitors, provides a sense of "home" for new immigrants in the United States. Lucha libre is contributing a lasting cultural idiom to America's pop culture landscape...VOCES ON PBS: TALES OF MASKED MEN...tonight at 9pm  

Award-winning director Natalia Almada returns with a mesmerizing new film as she accompanies Martin, a guard who watches over the extravagant mausoleums of some of Mexico's most notorious drug lords. In the labyrinth of the cemetery, this film about violence without violence reminds us that, amid the turmoil of a drug war that has claimed more than 50,000 lives, ordinary existence persists in Mexico and quietly defies the dead...POV: EL VELADOR...Saturday at 11pm

PBS launches a new series about a newly qualified midwife, Jenny Lee as she arrives in the East End of London to begin her career. Nonnatus House is a convent where she quickly becomes immersed in her new life...CALL OF THE MIDWIFE...Sunday at 7pm

spoiler alert...blue dog is a werewolf!

Tonight is the premiere of artZONE 6, our ongoing and in-depth look at the art scene in the Panhandle. Cowboy poet Baxter Black tells some very funny stories about life on the ranch. Amarillo's first Anime, Comic, and Steam Punk convention is thoroughly analyzed, and we get an up close look at the work of artist George Rodrigue - and learn the origins of the blue dog...
artZONE 6...8pm

Animals making stuff, and people making stuff...

From a small depression in the sand to an elaborate, multi-chambered tunnel - animal structures can be simple or architectural marvels. In each case, the goal is the same - protection from predators and a nearby source of food. From master builders like termites and beavers, to master decorators like the bowerbird, which places colorful flowers at the entrance to its nest, "The Animal House"on NATURE...7pm


The New York Times' 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 CLEANER...8pm

Making Stuff Smarter - An army tanker truck that heals its own bullet wounds. An airplane wing that changes shape as it flies. Clothing that can monitor its wearer's heart rate, health and mood. Host David Pogue looks into the growing number of smart materials that can respond, change and even learn. NOVA: MAKING STUFF SMARTER...9pm

How to make Money and Medicine work for you...

MONEY AND MEDICINE tackles the medical, ethical and financial challenges of containing runaway health care spending. This documentary explores promising ways to reduce health care expenditures while improving the overall quality of medical care. It captures the painful end-of-life treatment choices made by patients and their families, ranging from very aggressive interventions in the ICU to palliative care at home. MONEY AND MEDICINE...7pm

What does it take to save a student? Every year, hundreds of thousands of teenagers in the United States quit high school without diplomas -- an epidemic so out of control that nobody knows the exact number. What is clear is that massive dropout rates cripple individual career prospects and cloud the country's future. FRONTLINE spent a semester immersed in Houston's Sharpstown school district to produce a portrait of four students in crisis and the teachers, counselors and principal waging a daily, personal struggle to get them to graduation. DROPOUT NATION...9pm

Remember "The fog comes on little cat feet..."

Carl Sandburg was a classic American tale of success -- a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, a biographer, a journalist, children's storyteller, folk song collector, novelist and autobiographer. He became one of the most successful writers in the English language, rising from impoverished beginnings on the prairie of Illinois to the halls of Congress to the Ed Sullivan Show, on the force of his free verse poetry. After his death in 1967 his star has dimmed a little...but it seems to be coming back. AMERICAN MASTERS: THE DAY CARL SANDBURG DIED...9pm

At the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City...

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW experts favorably judge such outstanding finds as a 1920s to 1930s-era folk art quilt depicting scenes from Mormon history; a valuable Utah landscape painting by 20th-century Swedish-American artist Birger Sandzen; and a mid-19th-century archive of materials documenting the career of Philip Margetts, considered the first prominent Mormon actor, brought in by his great-granddaughter and valued at $100,000 to $150,000...7pm

Don't know Dobro? Really? It's Jerry Douglas bro...

POV brings one of my favorite docs...in "Kings of Pastry," 16 chefs whip up the most gorgeous, delectable, gravity-defying concoctions and edge-of-your-seat drama...competing for international acclaim or professional humiliation. Real, real life drama...Saturday 11pm

13-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas has, frankly, re-invented the dobro with unprecedented speed and haunting lyricism...playing with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Eric Clapton, and from Paul Simon to Elvis Costello and James Taylor, all while working as one of Nashville's most in-demand session players. For me, his ongoing relationship with Alison Krauss & Union Station is the perfect blend of art and soul...don't miss him on BLUEGRASS UNDERGROUND...Sunday at 4pm


What happens when you take what's funny here, and find out it's not funny...in Russia? TV megahit Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal discusses the (not so) universal language of comedy in his hilarious documentary EXPORTING RAYMOND with KISS KISS BANG BANG writer/director Shane Black...ON STORY Sunday afternoon at 5:30pm 

The second episode of BROADWAY OR BUST is all about Boot Camp...fighting fatigue, the eager performers quickly see what a learn-by-immersion experience is all about - and get an eye-opening look at what life is like on Broadway. As the week moves along and the final auditions loom, the program closes with another round of uncertainty. Participants dig in and launch into last-minute preparations for their auditions. Did boot camp pay off or not? Find out Sunday at 7pm 

Is this a great country or what?

You can swing from Eddie Vedder and the boys of Pearl Jam tearing it up on AUSTIN CITY LIMITS at 7pm, to the incredible staging and performances of Part 4 of Wagner's Ring Cycle on GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET at 8pm...try to restrain yourselves!

It's been 50 years since we learned to love "Elsa"...

The story of "Born Free" -- a book and film that forever changed the way we think about wildlife. What has happened to lions since this story? And what has happened to the people featured in the film? NATURE...7pm

In the next episode of Wagner's Ring Cycle - Das Rheingold, the mysterious hero Siegmund finds shelter in the familiar arms of a lonely woman named Sieglinde...GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET...8pm

Where do you start to rebuild Ground Zero?

NOVA captures the behind-the-scenes struggle of architects and engineers in an epic story of  innovation, engineering and the perseverance of the human spirit. With extraordinary access granted by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, "Rebuilding Ground Zero" follows the five-year construction of the Freedom Tower and the World Trade Center Memorial...culminating with the topping off ceremony at the hallowed site. NOVA: REBUILDING GROUND ZERO...7pm

In a historic first for any major performing arts institution in this country or abroad, the Metropolitan Opera this season presents Wagner's THE RING CYCLE...beginning tonight at 8pm

Let the Ring Cycle begin...

A documentary by Susan Froemke, shot over five years, captures the unprecedented challenges of bringing Director Robert Lepage's electrifying production to life. The stakes could not be higher as the Metropolitan Opera tackle Wagner's Ring Cycle. An intimate look at the near impossible theatrical and musical task of staging opera's most monumental work, WAGNER'S DREAM chronicles the quest to fulfill Wagner's dream of the perfect Ring...8-pm 

Alas, McCartney joins the "standards" crowd...

GREAT PERFORMANCES joins Sir Paul for an intimate concert recorded at the historic Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, featuring performances of such standards as "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,"...really...Friday at 8pm

Meanwhile, Pearl Jam rocks it out on Austin City Limits, Saturday at 10pm                                                                       

POV follows the four-year journey of childhood friends who join the National Guard after graduating from high school. As it chronicles the young men's transformation from restless teenagers to soldiers looking for roadside bombs in Afghanistan, to 23-year-old combat veterans trying to start their lives again, the film offers an intimate look at the young Americans who fight our wars, the families and towns they come from -- WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM, Saturday at 11pm 

This weeks ON STORY features the creators behind the explosions of CON AIR, GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS, HULK, ZOMBIELAND and MACHETE...and debate what makes a great action movie. Sunday at 5:30

The REALLY BIG NEWS this weekend is BROADWAY OR BUST...cameras follow talented high school performers, the best in the country, to New York, where they meet their colleagues face-to-face and begin competition for a Broadway break. As day one unfolds, they learn a new opening number from director Van Kaplan and choreographer Kiesha Lalama, get one-on-one coaching in music, theater, dancing and acting from some of Broadway's top talent - including Leslie Odom, Jr. ("Smash"; Rent); Michael McElroy (Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for Big River; Rent, Miss Saigon); Liz Callaway (Tony Award nomination for Baby; Cats, Miss Saigon) - and prepare for their solos in front of an influential group of judges. The episode ends with students wondering, "Do I have what it takes to make it on Broadway?" Sunday night at 7pm 

there will be no balloon drop following his speech...

John Kerry, Joe Biden, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson round out the names of speakers who will appear...culminating with President Barak Obama's acceptance of the nomination...and PBS has the whole thing - gavel to gavel. Tonight starting at 6pm

Back in the fold, Mr. Clinton's at center stage...

It's Day 2 of the Democrat National Convention, covered gavel-to-gavel on PBS...
tonight featuring sexual-health activist Sandra Fluke, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
and the Democratic candidate battling Scott Brown for a Massachusetts Senate seat Elizabeth Warren...all leading up to Bill Clinton. Coverage begins during PBS Newshour at 6pm

Power Politics...Part Deux...

Tonight's Democrat National Convention, covered gavel-to-gavel on PBS, features San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro with the keynote, and First Lady Michelle Obama stepping us as a "character witness" for her husband, the president. Coverage begins during PBS Newshour at 6pm

Behind the scenes of "Seinfeld"...

Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld writer/producer Alec Berg and BRIDESMAIDS director and Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig pull back the curtain to show how they create comedy that resonates with us all.Followed by the hilarious short film SPIT by writer/director Benjamin Hayes. ON STORY...Sunday afternoon at 5:30

And on Masterpiece Mystery, Kevin Whately returns as Inspector Lewis for the fourth season of the detective series. Lewis and his young partner DS Hathaway (Laurence Fox) continue solving cases in the seemingly perfect academic haven of Oxford...INSPECTOR LEWIS SERIES 4...Sunday 8pm

Let's back up to Saturday...Rock superstars the Dave Matthews Band perform hits and songs from their latest album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King...AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...Saturday 10pm

And on POV, the story of Bradley Crowder and David McKay, boyhood friends from Midland, Texas, who were accused of intending to firebomb the 2008 Republican National Convention...
BETTER THIS WORLD...Saturday after ACL, 11pm

Newt Gingrich gets back to the big stage...

and he joins Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush to round out the 2012 Republican National Convention...and of course Mitt Romney is accepting the mantle of candidate for president, in tonight's 3rd and final night of coverage...for this week. Next week we hear from the Democrats. Coverage begins at 6pm

Tonight Paul Ryan lays it all out...

Gavel to gavel coverage in Tampa Bay...the Republican National Convention continues with commentary from Judy Woodruff, Gwen Ifill, and a host of PBS reporters and pundits...6pm

Everything you could possibly want in political coverage...

PBS' Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill join forces nightly for gavel to gavel coverage of the 2012 Republican National Convention from Tampa, FL through the 30th...and the Democratic National Convention from Charlotte, NC (September 4-6)...6 -10pm

You don't mess with Mother Nature...

In lieu of the Republican National Convention cancelling on tonight's activities, we're bringing back some good shows regularly seen on Mondays...
 ANTIQUES ROADSHOW goes to Mobile to discuss a lap desk given to Martha Washington's granddaughter by the Marquis de Lafayette; and a watch once belonging to baseball great Leroy "Satchel" Paige, bought at a pawnshop for $25, then on to Phoenix and a violin and bow  estimated to be worth between $72,000 and $94,000...7 & 9pm 

Real film makers talking about real movies...

Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack (OUT OF AFRICA, TOOTSIE,THE WAY WE WERE) and NYPD Blue and Deadwood creator David Milch discuss the inspiration behind creating classic film and television characters. Sidney Pollack was a director's director...and the movies he acted in, like Tootsie and Michael Clayton, had the added benefit of his talent on the other side of the camera. Followed by the suspenseful short film THE LAB by writer/director Ryan Scheer, about two young boys whose summer afternoon in the woods goes horribly awry...ON STORY...Sunday at 5:30pm

It's the cowboy way...

The rodeo takes place every June, luring working cowboys and cowgirls off area ranches like the High Card, the LX, Fryin' Pan, and the Bravo to ride bucking broncs, sort and trailer strays, and do some wild cow milking...competing for the traveling trophy, cash and prizes...and Braggin' Rights for the rest of the year. It's the cowboy way...8pm 

Ever wonder about that "odd" sound during takeoff?

FRONTLINE investigates the 2009 deadly crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Buffalo, New York, and discovers a dramatically changed airline industry, and many insiders are worried that now, more than 30 years after airline deregulation, the aviation system is being stretched beyond its capacity to deliver service that is both cheap and safe...FRONTLINE...9pm   


The Great Depression, the Federal Reserve and his monetary policy are turning points during the Hoover presidency and into the early years of FDR...HERBERT HOOVER: LANDSLIDE...7pm

HISTORY DETECTIVES helps country singer Clint Black authenticate his vintage wanted posters...HISTORY DETECTIVES...8pm

Now that the pledge drive is over...

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW wraps up its trip to Tucson, Arizona, where crowds brave the 104-degree heat to bring in some cool objects, including a rare collection of 1956 Olympics memorabilia saved by the owner's father, trainer for the gold medal-winning American basketball team that included Bill Russell...and a collection of original Charles Schulz "Peanuts" artwork, valued at $350,000.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW...7 & 9pm

From the kids to the grandparents...music for everyone!

The August Membership Drive winds down this weekend with music from all across the spectrum...
tonight, Il Volo, the Italian teen vocal group performs opera, pop and classic music of Italy...8:00pm

Saturday features The Big Band Years with songs of the '30's and 40"s at 5:30, followed by "Under the Streetlamp", classic hits from the cast of the Tony-Award winning musical Jersey Boys...7:30

And Sunday we re-broadcast Great Performances: Jackie Evancho - Music of the Movies...the little girl with the big voice singing great songs from the silver screen...7pm

Next week we're back to normal programming, anticipating the latest local production about local ranches competing for gold buckles at the Coors Cowboy Club Rodeo...Braggin' Rights...Thursday night at 8pm

His music's still "Walking the Line"...

No one represents American music more than Johnny Cash. In honor of what would have been his 80th birthday, Grammy winner Don Was (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt), put together such artists as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, and others for a musical tribute taped in Austin...Our August Membership Drive continues...7pm

PA'S FIDDLE is an intimate evening of music and songs performed by Randy Travis, Randy Scruggs and others, inspired from the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the beloved LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE books. This was the music that built America and it was the music that Mrs. Wilder heard as a child, played by her Pa on his fiddle, throughout her family's much celebrated adventures on America's vast prairies in the years just after the Civil War. PA'S FIDDLE...8:30

From the Milky Way to Istanbul's Grand Bazaar...

With the help of NASA and the British Museum of Science, this special features stunning images from the Hubble Telescope, along with archival space footage, used as a backdrop to classical pieces and songs inspired by the cosmos. The music is performed by Quest, an instrumental orchestra ensemble from Europe and "Fly Me to the Moon," "Rocket Man," "Space Oddity," and the theme from "2001 Space Odyssey," Don't miss this pledge special...8:30.

A visit to Greece, Turkey and Croatia highlights the ruins of Olympia and Istanbul's Grand Bazaar highlights RICK STEVES' MEDITERRANEAN MOSAIC...9:30.

Live from NY - The Beatles, Doors, Stones and The Who...

Ed Sullivan kicked it old school, back in the day...specifically 1966 thru '69 when he featured bands that shaped a generation. Mama's & Papas, The Turtles, Beach Boys, Van Morrison and The Lovin' Spoonful round out the program. Our August Membership Drive continues with ED SULLIVAN'S TOP PERFORMERS tonight at 9...right after BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY at 7

Jackie Evancho sings Rodgers & Hammerstein...

Our August Membership Drive continues through next Sunday evening, and we have a very compelling schedule for you... 

Twelve-year-old singing sensation Jackie Evancho returns with a new special showcasing the great songs from the silver screen. Recorded in the movie palace splendor of the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, Jackie puts her own unique stamp on such audience favorites as "My Heart Will Go On" (Titanic), "Some Enchanted Evening" (South Pacific), and many others...7pm

And later, KACV-TV spotlights Amarillo's premiere jazz combo, Polk Street Jazz, giving viewers a taste of what the quintet does in their rehearsals as well as a killer performance...8:30

After Ken Burns' THE WAR, hear how the Panhandle was involved...

KACV honors the memories of local residents who experienced the war, at home and on the front lines. This program features a selection of interviews, from the hundreds of stories gathered, that highlight the significant impact of the war on our area...WORLD WAR II: THE PANHANDLE PROJECT...8pm

Fresh and seasoned indie rock hits the AUSTIN CITY LIMITS stage with the Head and the Heart and Gomez...7pm

The death of Roosevelt, Hitler, and Hiroshima in 6 months...

In mid-April, Americans are shocked by news bulletins announcing that President Roosevelt is dead; many do not even know the name of their new president, Harry Truman. Meanwhile, in Europe, as Allied forces rapidly push across Germany from the east and west, American and British troops, discover for themselves the true horrors of the Nazis' industrialized barbarism - at Buchenwald, Ludwigslust, Dachau, Hadamar, Mauthausen and hundreds of other concentration camps. Finally, on May 8, with their country in ruins and their fuehrer dead by his own hand, the Nazis surrender. But as Eugene Sledge remembers, to the Marines and soldiers still fighting in the Pacific, "No one cared much. Nazi Germany might as well have been on the moon. Tonight's episode of THE WAR " A World Without War - (March 1945 - December 1945)...8pm

Nazi spies and prohibition bootleggers lead into the WAR...

HISTORY DETECTIVES looks at some toy soldiers that have haunted their owner with a question: Was the father of his childhood friend a Nazi spy? Then, a journal full of liquor recipes makes a man wonder if his uncle was a prohibition bootlegger...HISTORY DETECTIVES...7pm

The Ghost Front - (December 1944 - March 1945) in one month, Allied warplanes drop 163,864 tons of bombs on Germany - almost as much as they have dropped in the preceding three years combined. In the Pacific, the air strip on Iwo Jima, an inhospitable volcanic island halfway between Allied air bases on Tinian and the Japanese home islands, needs to be taken...The WAR on PBS...8pm

if you've ever wondered what FUBAR stands for...

The War continues on PBS...from September 1944 - December 1944, the Allies seem to be moving steadily toward victory in Europe. "Militarily," General Dwight Eisenhower's chief of staff tells the press, "this war is over." But in the coming months, on both sides of the world, a generation of young men will learn a lesson as old as war itself - that generals make plans, plans go wrong and soldiers die...THE WAR...8pm

Because of special programming, Market Warriors will present a new episode at 7pm in place of Antiques Roadshow.

She would be 80 now...the most photographed person ever!

There are the movie roles, but it is the still images - the iconic face, expressions and poses - that make up our collective memory of Marilyn. Her relationship with the camera produced an enduring body of work that still dazzles and moves us...These photographs are an ageless testament to her grace, guts and sexiness - her humor and vulnerability. She understood their power, and she exploited it...lips puckered to the lens, inviting us to kiss her back...AMERICAN MASTERS presents MARILYN MONROE: STILL LIFE...Sunday at 7pm

And INDEPENDENT LENS features Cheryl Haworth - the 300-pound U.S. Olympic weightlifter as she prepares for the Beijing 2008 Olympics...Saturday at 11pm

ON STORY goes behind the scenes with key production people behind Rambo, Lethal Weapon, and Braveheart...Sunday at 5:30

Marines set out to prove that any island can be taken...

Back home, the public is devastated by color newsreel footage of the furious battle and in the Pacific & grows more determined to do what's necessary to hasten the end of the war. Allied forces are stalled in the mountains south of Rome, unable to break through German lines, and the killing goes on all winter and spring as the enemy manages to fight off repeated Allied attacks. "A Deadly Calling" (November 1943 - June 1944) Ken Burns' epic THE WAR continues...8pm

"killing is a craft," as reporter Ernie Pyle explains...

On Canada's remote Ellesmere Island we study the enormous white gyr falcon, the largest and most powerful falcon in the world...NATURE...7pm 

In the second episode of Ken Burns' WWII epic, Americans have been at war for more than a year. The Germans still occupy most of Western Europe; the Allies can't agree on a plan or timetable to dislodge them. A look at the impenetrable force of the German war machine as it occupied most of Western Europe...THE WAR...8pm

War seemed far away...then Pearl Harbor happened...

THE WAR...the monumental, multi-part epic directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the history and horror of World War II from an American perspective by following the fortunes of so-called ordinary men and women who become caught up in one of the greatest cataclysms in human history. 
 Tonight's premiere episode - "A Necessary War", where inhabitants of four towns whose tranquil lives are shattered by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and America is thrust into the great conflagration. Follow their stories for the next week...THE WAR...8pm 

It's time to play ball in Philly...

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW's visit to Philadelphia features a trio of autographed baseballs featuring signatures from the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals, Ted Williams in his 1939 rookie season and an authenticated autograph from Babe Ruth himself in the late 1940s. Together, this triple play wins an auction estimate of $34,000 to $46,000...7pm

Then it's on to Denver where we see an heirloom collection of jewelry that includes a fabulous diamond ring, crafted by "Jeweler to the Stars" Paul Flato, and valued at $215,000 to $270, 000. 
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW...9pm

Dancing and smiling, just thinking about this music...

This music-documentary vibrates with the soul and energy of African-Cuban drummers, guajira guitarists and the pulsing melodies of celebrated Cuban musician Raul Paz. He brings together fellow musical stars Descemer Bueno, Kelvis Ochoa and David Torrens for a concert in Havana. All of them left Cuba years ago, and their decision to return has injected a new spirit into Cuban music. Mirroring Cuba's growing relationship with the world, HAVANA, HAVANA! - PBS ARTS highlights how the country's musical expression is evolving in the 21st century...Friday...8pm

M. Ward graduates from guest spots to his own headline ACL performance, highlighting his latest LP, Hold Time . Austin indie rock favorite Okkervil River follows...AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...Saturday at 10pm 

ON STORY features real professionals talking about the real world in film...this week the creative minds behind JARHEAD, THE COMPANY MEN, CAST AWAY and FALLING DOWN. Featuring John Wells, William Broyles, Jr., and Herschel Weingrod...Sunday at 5:30pm

It's hot outside...let's go to Alaska!

Chris Morgan is looking for bears, and he travels to the far north of Alaska, the tiny North Slope town of Kaktovik, where polar bears are waiting for the opportunity to hunt on sea ice, then on to the North Slope of the Brooks Range, where countless thousands of caribou cover the ground for miles. The grizzlies are waiting for them, as they have for thousands of years...NATURE...7pm

Bouncing from Clint Black to the B-25 bomber...

HISTORY DETECTIVES mixes it up tonight with a search for the owner of an engraved set of Civil War-era pistols, to sending Tukufu Zuberi to track down K.K.K. Records and their songs titled "The Bright Fiery Cross" and "The Jolly Old Klansman." Then there's Clint Black's turn-of-the-20th-century book of wanted posters, and a chunk of molten metal possibly from the B-25 Bomber that crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945...HISTORY DETECTIVES...7 & 8pm

Beware the very thin line between trash and treasure...

The hot new show on PBS - MARKET WARRIORS - travels to Philadelphia where the pickers comb the Philadelphia Flea Market for costume jewelry, with the goal of bringing big bucks when taken back to LA for auction...8pm

And how do you change a painting found at a church rummage sale into $80,000? ANTIQUES ROADSHOW has found a way...from Madison Wisconsin at 9pm

Honestly...I would do all I could to get here, too...

Tonight on PBS "Homeland" explores the contemporary story of immigration in America. The first of 3 parts, the in-depth doc realizes that while immigration is a national issue this election year, it plays out daily in the lives of people in communities across the country. It's a story of new immigrants who find themselves walking a fine line between access to and expulsion from the American dream. It's also a story of American citizens who wonder if legal and illegal immigrants threaten their way of life. It's a story of intertwined and complex issues that may have a significant effect on the choices people make when they go to the polls in November...HOMELAND: IMMIGRATION IN AMERICA...9pm 

Saturday night at 10pm, Austin City Limits encores Willie Nelson and Asleep At The Wheel as they run through their project Willie and the Wheel...

And on Sunday, suspenseful storytelling is discussed by the creative minds behind THE USUAL SUSPECTS, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE BIG EASY and LETHAL WEAPON. Featuring Shane Black, Ted Tally, Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Christopher McQuarrie. Real film makers discussing real films...ON STORY...5:30pm

Heard of the Pulitzer Prize? He has two...

Robert Caro has earned two Pulitzers for his work as a biographer, and he talks with Evan about the fourth volume in his biography of President Johnson, which includes a look at the Kennedy assassination and Johnson's first days as President. It's already a best seller, and there's at least one more to come...OVERHEARD WITH EVAN SMITH...8pm

And just before that show, country superstar Kenny Chesney leaves his boat long enough to rock the stage with a 14 piece band and a full line-up of hits spanning his 20 year career. These days they don't come much bigger than Kenny, but that's what AUSTIN CITY LIMITS is all about...7pm  

Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...Ti

Time. We waste it, save it, kill it, make it. The world runs on it. Yet, ask physicists what time actually is, and how much do we have left. They have no idea. Even more surprising, the deep sense we have of time passing from present to past may be nothing more than an illusion. Physicist Brian Greene will reveal a new way of thinking about time in which moments past, present and future exist all at once. You'll never look at your wristwatch the same way again...NOVA...8pm

The Strat heard 'round the world...

In the 10th season premiere the crew investigates rock's Holy Grail, the long-lost electric Fender Stratocaster Bob Dylan plugged in at the '65 Newport Folk Festival, changing rock 'n' roll forever. Also featured are some autographs allegedly signed in Miami Beach during the Beatles' legendary 1964 "British Invasion" tour, and a $5 thrift store find shows a little-known artistic side of musical iconoclast Frank Zappa...HISTORY DETECTIVES...7pm 

FRONTLINE investigates West Philadelphia High School, a public high school in a disadvantaged neighborhood defying expectations as they design and build super-hybrid cars for international competition and competing for $10 million dollars...FRONTLINE...9pm

It's like Antiques Roadshow on steroids...

It's the series premiere of MARKET WARRIORS...four pickers, Miller, John,Bob and Kevin, head to Pennsylvania and a large indoor/outdoor flea market - where they'll be challenged to find mid-century modern items amid the Pennsylvania Dutch antiques. Off-screen host Fred Willard injects quick wit and a collector's know-how as the pickers scour the market for key finds, which include an Eames chair, Moss floor lamp and a Tiffany? jelly jar. The winning picker is determined at A.N. Abell Auction Company in Los Angeles, California, where their chosen items go under the hammer...8pm

that's a whole lot of Fabio...

Every four seconds a romance novel published by Harlequin or its British counterpart, Mills & Boon, is sold somewhere in the world. Julie Moggan's "Guilty Pleasures" takes a look at this global phenomenon and the ironies uncovered in the contrasts between books' readers and the fantasy worlds that offer them escape. This film portrays five romance devotees who must, ultimately,find their dreams in the real world. POV...Saturday at 11pm 

John Leguizamo's Tales From A Ghetto Klown is a behind-the-scenes look at one of the industry's most versatile actors. This documentary profiles the actor/playwright's unorthodox rise to success while capturing his struggles to mount his latest one-man show. From his Colombian and "NuyoRican" roots to his high-profile career in Hollywood, Leguizamo bares his soul...Friday 8pm 

If you love movies - you'll love this show. Real film makers telling stories about making real movies...this episode delves into the films OFFICE SPACE, LONESOME DOVE, and EL MARIACHI with directors and writers Mike Judge, Bill Wittliff and Robert Rodriguez...
ON STORY...Sunday 5:30pm

Plus...he's married to Diana Krall

From 1977's "Watching the Detectives" to singing with Elmo on Sesame Street last year, and all the stops between, speak well of songwriting genius Elvis Costello as he returns to ACL to showcase songs from his latest, Americana-influenced record Secret, Profane and Sugarcane. Austin's rootsy songwriting collective the Band of Heathens follows...AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...7pm

And on OVERHEARD...Russell Banks is an award winning and best selling writer of novels, poetry and short stories. His work has been translated into twenty different languages several feature films.  Banks talks about his difficult subjects in a discussion of his newest novel, Lost Memory of Skin, which tells the story of a convicted sex offender...OVERHEARD WITH EVAN SMITH...8pm 

Why you need "special" bear insurance...

Chris Morgan sets up camp alongside the largest concentration of grizzlies in the world. One guy, middle of nowhere Alaska, surrounded by wild bears. Somebody's got to do it...biologist Morgan tracks the bears progress as they feast on the riches of the season and re-establish the complex hierarchal social dynamics of bear society. Along the way, he experiences close encounters with bears, observing brutal battles among males during mating season as well as tender moments between a grizzly mom and her cubs. NATURE:BEARS OF THE LAST FRONTIER...7pm

Someone in the U.S. gets HIV every 10 minutes...still.

Half of those are black. If Black America was a country unto itself, it would have the 16th worst epidemic in the world. "Endgame: AIDS in Black America" traces the history of the epidemic through the experiences of extraordinary individuals who tell their stories...like the 63-year-old grandmother, who married a deacon in her church and later found an HIV diagnosis tucked into his Bible...this special edition of FRONTLINE...8pm

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW's first visit to Hotlanta...

How about a collection of documents related to golf legend Bobby Jones, estimated current value of $20,000 to $25, 000, and an 1841 letter by Abraham Lincoln tagged at $80,000...7pm

Then the show moves to Madison, Wisconsin, and looks at an heirloom Art Deco charm bracelet with a possible connection to John D. Rockefeller; and an angry 1976 letter from Frank Sinatra to Chicago Daily News columnist Mike Royko...8pm

The inside scoop on Slumdog Millionaire...

Islamic art is beautifully photographed and discussed in MIRROR OF THE  
INVISIBLE WORLD...Friday at 8pm

Back by popular demand, Elvis Costello, along with Band of Heathens  
returns to AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...Saturday at 10pm

Directors Danny Boyle, Jason Reitman and Ed Burns take a seat in  
Austin for an examination of their films and philosophy as part of ON  
STORY...Sunday at 5:30

The Times does Texas...

Evan Smith sits down with Jill Abramson, Executive Editor of The New  
York Times...OVERHEARD...8pm

Ripped from the morning's headlines...

FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith (College, Inc., The Madoff Affair) reveals a trail of complex deals that have contributed to a European crisis that even today threatens to sink the global economy into another slump. Almost four years after the infamous Wall Street meltdown, FRONTLINE examines how regulators have tried to fix an industry steeped in conflicts of interest, excessive risk taking and incentives to cheat. New rules and regulations are being written, but can they prevent the next crisis? MONEY, POWER AND WALL STREET...a volatile mix...9pm

A menu from the Titanic is worth what? Good Lord!

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW visits Houston to give the menu owners the bad news, and Atlantic City for a 1934 team signed baseball from the New York Yanks...7 & 8pm

"The Queen and Us" tells the story of four party guests as they savor each moment of a once-in-a-lifetime occasion...a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. At the party, only a select few guests will be presented to the queen & attendants calm the jittery nerves of the lucky ones with a crash course in royal protocol...MONARCHY: THE ROYAL FAMILY AT WORK...9pm

A stunning mix of Mariachi, Talent, and Teenagers...

This documentary presents a year in the life of the champion mariachi ensemble at Zapata High School on the Rio Grande in South Texas. As they compete and perform with astonishing musical virtuosity, these teens, and the music they make, will inspire, surprise, and bring you to your feet.
MARIACHI HIGH...Friday at 8pm

A Guatemalan court recently charged former dictator Efrai-n Rios Montt with genocide for his brutal war against the country's Mayan people in the 1980s -- and Pamela Yates' 1983 documentary, "When the Mountains Tremble," provided key evidence for bringing the indictment. "Granito:How to Nail a Dictator" tells the story of how a film, aiding a new generation of human rights activists, became a granito -- a tiny grain of sand -- that helped tip the scales of justice...POV...Saturday at 11pm 

3, 2, 1 FIREWORKS takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Washington, D.C. July 4th celebration, featuring one of the largest and most colorful fireworks displays in the world. Shot in high-definition and opening in China, we see every step of fireworks production...Sunday at 4pm

Before Inspector Lewis, there was Inspector Morse, and before Inspector Morse, there was the rookie Constable Morse, fed up with police work and ready to nip his career in the bud by handing in his resignation. That is, until a murder turned up that only he could solve...MASTERPIECE MYSTERY presents ENDEAVOR....Sunday at 8pm

Roy Orbison thought his songwriting was on the right track...

Evan Smith sits down with Chris Isaak, who has built successful careers as both a musician and an actor, performing for more than 25 years. His most recent album, Beyond the Sun, pays tribute to a lifelong obsession: the artists and music of Sun Studios in Memphis. In tonight's conversation on OVERHEARD, Isaak talks - and sings - about acting, music and more...8pm

Who knew being a white stallion was so complicated...

The returning saga of Cloud, the wild, white stallion finds us back in the Arrowhead Mountains of Montana. As he rules the mountains, gathering mares and expanding his reign, the story turns to his two sons. Bolder and Flint, each following a different path, gathering mares or hanging with the bachelor stallions...young guns roaming the mountains. But a change is coming...who will rise to challenge the mighty Cloud? NATURE - CLOUD: CHALLENGE OF THE STALLIONS...7pm

In this miniseries conclusion, NOVA examines how a simple instrument, the telescope, has fundamentally changed our understanding of our place in the universe. Now a new generation of ever-larger telescopes is poised to reveal answers to longstanding questions...HUNTING THE EDGE OF SPACE: THE EVER EXPANDING UNIVERSE...8pm 

Then, Mark and Joy brave the baking desert to dissect a camel...INSIDE NATURE'S GIANTS...9pm

Dr. Livingstone, I presume...

By 1861, Britain is the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. David Livingstone's explorations of the African interior fascinate the British public. Disraeli and Gladstone battle for control of the British government and debate the course of the empire. The purchase of the Suez Canal solidifies British presence in the Middle East, then is threatened by a holy war in the Sudan. Diamond deposits in southern Africa bode well for British control in the region. However, as Victoria celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, the empire is on the verge of its darkest hours...Parts 3 & 4 of QUEEN VICTORIA'S EMPIRE...a fascinating look at a world long forgotten...7pm

2 carriages...1 for the Queen, and 1 for the Crown Jewels...

For the dramatic ritual that opens Parliament, the queen's coachmen don full livery, and two of her horse-drawn carriages parade through the streets. Tonight's episode of MONARCHY: THE ROYAL FAMILY AT WORK leads viewers through the elaborate state opening of Parliament...from the secret removal of the crown jewels from their Tower of London vault, to the moment when the House of Commons slams the door in the face of the queen's representative, to the eventual conclusion when the rowdy Commons stand before their queen..."HEADS OF STATE"...9pm

MAD MEN & THE WIRE...the heavy hitters speak in Austin...

Attention political junkies...the highly anticipated face off between former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst will be carried LIVE tonight at 8pm...beaming in from KERA in Dallas to PBS stations around the state and streamed live...Friday at 8pm

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS brings it home with Texan songwriters Lyle Lovett and Bob Schneider...Saturday at 10pm

This week's POV introduces us to Yeshi, recognized from birth as the reincarnation of a famed Buddhist master...following the story for 20 years, filmmaker Jennifer Fox distills a decades-long drama into a universal story about love, transformation and destiny...
MY REINCARNATION...Saturday at 11pm 

Historical and modern day relevance in television dramas is discussed by the creative minds behind the shows MAD MEN, THE WIRE, and TREME...David Simon and Matthew Weiner on the show about film from the Austin Film Festival...ON STORY...Sunday at 5pm

THE WAGES OF SPIN is a fascinating account of the evolution of AMERICAN BANDSTAND and the creation of a true mogul...Dick Clark. Pulling no punches, the documentary takes on the highly-controversial subject of payola scandals, and Clark's testimony before congress. Chubby Checker, Connie Francis, Fabian, and members of The Beach Boys remember the scene...Sunday 9:30pm 

How did LBJ get Jackie K. to smooth out the transition?

Historian Mark Updegrove sits down with Evan Smith to talk about his work, three books about the American presidency, including the recently-published Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency. His insights into the Johnson presidency are intriguing...including the events following JFK's assassination in Dallas and the changing of the guard with Jackie Kennedy aboard Air Force One.
OVERHEARD WITH EVAN SMITH...8pm  

Rosanne Cash and Brandi Carlile are featured on AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...7pm

"Sail, spear and a half ton of muscle flashing in the sun..."

Marlin, sailfish, spearfish and swordfish...some of the most sought after trophies in the world, are observed in high definition by Emmy award-winning filmmaker and biologist Rick Rosenthal as he studies their environment and behavior...all the while searching for an elusive thousand-pound "grander."  NATURE: SUPERFISH...7pm

Then NOVA examines how what began as a curiosity -- two spectacle lenses held a foot apart -- ultimately revolutionized human thought across science, philosophy and religion. The history of the telescope is explained, dramatizing the innovations in technology and science, leading up to today's colossal instruments housed in space-age cathedrals or orbiting high above the Earth...NOVA:HUNTING THE EDGE OF SPACE...8pm 

Remember when there wasn't the internet? Really?

This 4 part epic doc about the Queen's empire will answer all questions and satisfy all curiosities concerning the history of the Victorian Age...QUEEN VICTORIA'S EMPIRE...7pm


FRONTLINE producer Rachel Dretzin (Growing up Online) teams up with one of the leading thinkers of the digital age, Douglas Rushkoff (The Persuaders, Merchants of Cool), to continue to explore life on the virtual frontier...reporting on everything from love affairs blossoming in virtual worlds, to the thoroughly wired classrooms of the future, to military bases where the Air Force is fighting a new form of digital warfare...discover the critical ways that technology is transforming us, and what we may be learning about ourselves in the process...
FRONTLINE:DIGITAL NATION...9pm

Yes Virginia...there is an ANTIQUES ROADSHOW...

Get ready for some believe-it-or-not ROADSHOW moments, including the original 1897 "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," letter to the New York Sun, which was appraised at $20,000 to $30,000...see how it's increased in value...ANTIQUES ROADSHOW...7pm

"Headquarters" goes beyond the palace gates for a rare glimpse inside the 650 rooms of Buckingham Palace as they prepare for a state visit. The queen's guests will stay in Buckingham Palace's 11 royal suites, where meticulous footmen will valet for them, unpacking and pressing each item of clothing and attending to their every need. Look deep inside the nerve center of the British monarchy in this ongoing series MONARCH: THE ROYAL FAMILY AT WORK...9pm

We wanted Canada? Really?

Three-time Grammy Award-winner Harry Connick Jr. hits Broadway with a 20-piece swing band and a 10-piece string section, knocking out songs like "It Had to Be You," "Some Enchanted Evening," and "Sweet Georgia Brown"...GREAT PERFORMANCES...8pm

Roseanne Cash and Brandi Carlile take the Austin City Limits stage, and Independent Lens features a look at the early days of AIDS in San Francisco...beginning Saturday at 10pm

Sunday afternoon we rebroadcast the WAR OF 1812, an in-depth documentary about the war with our northern neighbor, a fascinating look at the times and how we're seeing the results of those events even to this day...Sunday at 2pm

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin', into the future...

Yeah baby - The Steve Miller Band is featured on Austin City Limits tonight...
time to fly like an eagle! ACL at 7pm

"Bernie" is at the theater, and the director Richard Linklater sits down with Evan Smith to talk about his  newest feature...Shirley MacLaine, Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey star in a dark comedy about a small-town mortician and a shocking true crime. Linklater talks about why he chooses to make one film rather than another, and he talks about the changes in the industry since he made Slacker. OVERHEARD WITH EVAN SMITH...8pm

Ninja ants and flying snakes...oh my!

MOMENT OF IMPACT...that's when animals of astounding ability connect with each other and the world around them...NATURE presents tonight's conclusion as we look at how "animals work"...

From ninja ants to flying snakes, our  cameras dive underwater, sail through trees and penetrate fur, feathers, skin and bone to reveal the science of some amazing animal engineering hidden deep in the jungle. NATURE presents MOMENT OF IMPACT: JUNGLE...7pm

Like father, like son...

In this FRONTLINE and ITVS joint production, journalist Dave Iverson sets off on a personal journey to explore the scientific, ethical, and political debate that surrounds Parkinson's, a disease affecting both his father and brother...a disease at the center of the ongoing controversy over embryonic stem cell research. Iverson talks to scientists on the cutting edge of new cures and therapies...and he has conversations with fellow Parkinson's sufferers like actor Michael J. Fox and writer Michael Kinsley.
FRONTLINE...9pm

Tell me a little more about Queen Elizabeth and her horse...

At the Pennsylvania Convention Center, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW experts orchestrate a symphony of appraisals, featuring a stunning collection of Camera Work magazines, published in the early 20th century by renowned American photographer Alfred Stieglitz to promote the idea of photography as art.
Who would have thought...ANTIQUES ROADSHOW...7pm

"The State Visit" follows the elaborate preparations for a visit from the queen. The White House hosts the first and only white-tie dinner of the administration and plans for every contingency, including canine misbehavior, and celebrity photographer Annie Liebovitz plans a formal photo shoot with the queen, although Liebovitz's request to seat Her Majesty on a horse inside the state apartments proves a bit too much. First Lady Laura Bush personally leads a private tour of the White House and the queen's press secretary reveals the challenges of keeping up with her boss. Behind the scenes and at her side from beginning to end, "The State Visit" shows what it takes to plan and execute an official visit from the queen...PART 1 8pm, PART 2 9pm 

The birth of international avant-garde? Paris, of course...

PARIS: THE LUMINOUS YEARS spotlights key figures in the art world's first international avant-garde, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Igor Stravinsky...along with Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Josephine Baker and Langston Hughes...and many more, as they recount their stories of why they came to Paris, whom they met, and how being in Paris transformed them and their work...and the world. Friday at 8pm

The influence of an art critic who didn't criticize...

Tonight our continuing series on local artists premieres the newest episode...artZONE:Volume 5 features classical selections from the West Texas A&M Showcase of Music, a gallery opening in honor of Hunter Ingalls at The Process Art House, and an art club that expands the world of Steam Punk...artZONE...8 pm.

Then TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE shows us camping for beginners...8:30 pm

What animal is born at 150 lbs & 6' tall?

From Africa's Serengeti to California's grasslands, some of nature's most dramatic moments with animals are caught...using the latest technologies, HD camera lenses and computer graphics...this two-part series will take us inside the animal to look at the bioengineering of "how animals work."
NATURE: MOMENT OF IMPACT...HUNTERS AND HERDS...7pm

This is the last installment in the groundbreaking NOVA series that began in 1987 and followed seven students starting out at Harvard Medical School. Over the last two decades, NOVA has documented these individuals' trials and tribulations as they struggled to become doctors and has continued to check in on the progress of their medical careers. From divorces, to death, dealing with patients and balancing time at work and at home, NOVA's cameras were there to follow each major milestone in these doctors' lives. Candid, in-depth interviews have given viewers a real sense of what each person has to deal with day in and day out since they made the decision to practice medicine. Now, we return one last time to get an update on the remaining six (one switched careers) and see what kind of doctors -- and people -- they have become...NOVA...8pm 

Globe Trekker braves the Cadillac Ranch...

The Globe Trekker lands in Austin, where he explores everything from rattlesnake hotdogs to bingo with chickens...then it's the Alamo, the border city of El Paso, and a road trip down Route 66 in a  1960s Mustang, with stops at Palo Duro Canyon and the Big Texan Steak Ranch...can't go through Amarillo without a steak-eating challenge...GLOBE TREKKER: WEST TEXAS...8pm

Shelter Me is a family-friendly film that celebrates the human-animal bond with positive, uplifting stories about shelter pets and their new homes...focusing on success stories like helping our returning War Veterans cope with debilitating injuries; and teaching inmates new life lessons...
SHELTER ME...9pm 

Nothing like the sway & wobble of a wooden coaster...

Remember theme parks before Disneyland? The US had many amusement parks where families gathered for a cool escape on a hot summer day. Parks like Playland in Rye, New York; Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana; and California's Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, where vacationers can still reach for the brass ring on the merry-go-round. This special visits them, and also checks out some old wooden roller coasters and other classic rides...GREAT OLD AMUSEMENT PARKS...tonight at 9pm

Considered at once works of art -- and working tools....

loopdiver: The Journey of a Dance explores the creation of an original performance. The half-hour documentary follows company members over a two year period as they struggle with the extreme physical and emotional demands of creating an experimental new work...Friday 9:30

ACL welcomes the cream of underground rock with The National, at they perform songs from their acclaimed record High Violet...Band of Horses highlights its latest LP Infinite Arms...Saturday 10pm 

In HELL AND BACK a soldier jumps back and forth between the fog of war and the realities of home in this stunning documentary, hailed as one of the year's best films...INDEPENDENT LENS, Saturday at 11pm

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEKEND:
VIOLIN MASTERS: TWO GENTLEMEN OF CREMONA...this film examines the amazing confluence of time and talent that occurred in the early years of the 17th century when the two greatest violin makers in history were working within steps of each other in the small Italian town of Cremona. One -- Antonio Stradivari -- is a household name; the other -- Guarneri del Gesu -- is considered a genius equal in every way to Stradivari, yet most outside of the music community have never heard of him. Why is that? Find out...Sunday night, 9:30pm 

Do not try any of this at home...serously...

Rearing up with its head four feet above the ground, the Black Mamba strikes with deadly precision. Without treatment the mortality rate is 100%, the highest among all venomous snakes in the world.
NATURE travels to Africa to pay the little guy a visit...tonight at 7pm

Then, NOVA reveals how snake venom causes the body to shut down, arteries to bleed uncontrollably and limbs to go black and die. But nature's most destructive and extreme poisons could contain the building blocks for a new generation of advanced drugs that could treat heart attack, stroke, diabetes, obesity and cancer. VENOM follows scientists as they track down & capture the planet's deadliest creatures, hoping to turn their lethal cocktails into medicine's brightest new hope...8pm 

In Florida's Everglades, we join reptile expert Jeanette Wyneken to dissect two pythons: a nine-foot male and a 14-foot female. The program explores the science of slithering, as well as the development of "infra-red goggles" that let the snakes hunt warm-blooded prey in the dark and a flexible jaw that allows them to stretch their mouths around huge prey, including alligators...INSIDE NATURE'S GIANTS...9pm

Once again, FRONTLINE goes deep...

Civilization: The West and the Rest continues tonight as historian historian Niall Ferguson explores philosophical and political developments that have enabled the Western hemisphere to dominate the globe for the past 500 years...7pm

FRONTLINE travels into the heart of Yemen's radical heartland to report how members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have taken advantage of turmoil in the country to impose their rule on areas of south Yemen. As the US expands its drone war to prevent terrorists from establishing a new safe haven, FRONTLINE shows how AQAP is taking control of towns and cities in an attempt to establish its own state. Also in this hour, the story of Al Qaeda operative Fahd al Quso -- killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen early this month - as told by former FBI agent Ali Soufan who first interrogated him before 9/11...tonight at 9pm

What exactly is the "Goat Rodeo"?...

World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, bluegrass fiddler Stuart Duncan, bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolin wizard Chris Thile come together for a most remarkable and organic cross-genre project...the fire and drive of the bluegrass world meets the clarity and class of the classical music world...GOAT RODEO LIVE: YO-YO MA, STUART DUNCAN, EDGAR MEYER...Friday 8pm

Saturday's AUSTIN CITY LIMITS features Mumford & Sons performing cuts from their hit album Sigh No More, as well as new tunes...10pm 

Comedy in film is discussed by the creative minds behind TO DIE FOR, THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION, and THE HANGOVER.Featuring Harold Ramis, Judd Apatow, Buck Henry, and Jon Lucas. Film: Sleep Study by Kerri Lendo and John Merriman and My Biggest Weakness by Bradley Jackson...ON STORY...Sunday afternoon at 5pm

On Memorial Day weekend PBS continues with an evening that has become an American tradition.
The NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT honors the service and sacrifice of the men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country. Broadcast live from the West Lawn of the US Capitol before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, to millions more at home and on the American Forces Network to troops serving around the world. The National Symphony Orchestra, co-hosted for the seventh time by Emmy Award- winner Gary Sinise and Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna, the event has become the nation's memorial service...THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT...Sunday at 7pm 

"I and Love and You" is the first song of the set...

Rising roots rock kings the Avett Brothers perform songs from their album, I and Love and You...then Ohio-to-Austin transplants Heartless Bastards follow with their classic rock 'n' roll....AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...7pm

Then Evan Smith interviews actor Bill Paxton, who spent the '80s playing small roles in a series of big movies...then his first big lead in One False Move led to such films as Apollo 13, Titanic, Tombstone and A Simple Plan. His current projects include the hit HBO series Big Love and the Steven Soderbergh movie Haywire, released in 2011. OVERHEARD WITH EVAN SMITH...8pm 

It's best to just get out of their way...

The Columbia River Basin once teemed with young salmon heading toward the ocean and mature salmon returning to their home rivers and streams to spawn. Now, many salmon species of the Pacific Northwest are extinct, and thirteen are currently endangered. This film investigates the parallel stories of collapsing Pacific salmon populations and how biologists and engineers are trying to shore up their numbers. Salmon are now conceived in laboratories, raised in tanks, driven in trucks and farmed in pens...NATURE seeks to explain why...7pm 

NOVA traces new clues to the historic sinking of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, where 1,177 crew members perished in 1941...the greatest loss of life in United States naval history. Could it have been a Japanese "midget sub" firing torpedoes, instead of bombers? NOVA...8pm

Tower safety...isn't there an app for that?

Tonight on CIVILIZATION, historian Niall Ferguson explores philosophical and political developments that have enabled the Western hemisphere to dominate the globe for the past 500 years...7pm

Then on FRONTLINE...while some tower climbers say they are under pressure to cut corners, layers of subcontracting make it difficult for safety inspectors to determine fault when a tower worker is killed or injured. Go behind the scenes of the smart phone industry...also this hour: Jon Corzine, former head of Goldman Sachs and political power broker, took over MF Global in the spring of 2010 with oversize ambition and a passion for risk. But after a massive bet on European debt turned sour, the firm lay in ruins, with more than a billion dollars of customer funds missing...FRONTLINE...9pm

Back when songs had melody and lyrics...that didn't get bleeped.

Burt Bacharach and Hal David, recipients of the 2012 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song bestowed by the Library of Congress, are featured in a PBS special taped this past Tuesday night. It's the first time the honor has been given to a songwriting team...penning hits like Alfie, The Look of Love, Walk on By, and my personal favorite...Always Something Left to Remind Me...those were the days! 8pm

I wish we carried baseball...

Just back from the PBS Annual Conference in Denver...lots of programming previews, intense learning sessions, networking, and the Colorado Rockies opening stand against the Arizona Diamondbacks. I'm back now refreshed, re-energized, and respectful of Rockie pitcher Jamie Moyer - at 49, baseball's oldest player...who actually beat out an infield single! What Ken Burns could do with that story...

And now for some programming highlights...tonight Great Performances at the Met presents "The Enchanted Island", a mash up of two of Shakespeare's most revered classics...8pm

The Avett Brothers return to Austin City Limits, and then we follow the lives of nomads living on the grasslands of Eastern Tibet in "Summer Pasture" on Independent Lens...Saturday night starting at 10pm

Then Sunday night the last of the new "Sherlock, Series 2' episodes premieres with The Reichenbach Fall as Sherlock locks horns with Moriarty...8pm

2000 kids singing in four part harmony...

Tonight on CRAFT IN AMERICA, we explore woven textiles and story quilts by artists across the country...8pm.

ONE VOICE tells the story of the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest through the eyes of the student song directors...2000 high school students compete in singing Hawaiian music in four-part harmony, and ONE VOICE shares the thrill of the competition via the personal stories of the student song directors...9pm

INDEPENDENT LENS features the story of the Ponce family's hardscrabble circus, surviving on the back roads of Mexico since the 19th century. "Circo" (Circus) intimately portrays the Ponce family circus as it struggles to make a living from its artistry, sweat and wit against the backdrop of Mexico's collapsing rural economy...INDEPENDENT LENS, Saturday 11pm

On the new series "ON STORY", the challenges of creating fantastical worlds and getting the audience to suspend their disbelief are discussed by the creative minds behind STAR TREK, TRANSFORMERS, EL MARIACHI, and WATCHMEN...Sunday at 5pm

And for the Sherlock Holmes fans, SHERLOCK: SERIES 2 on MASTERPIECE MYSTERY continues Sunday with the Hounds of the Baskerville... at 8 pm.

The DUDE plays music too...

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS features Miranda Lambert and Jeff Bridges, doing his best to hit all the artistic touchstones in his amazing career...actor, musician, producer, photographer, cartoonist, storyteller,  occasional vintner, and now progressive country picker...and pulls it off nicely...7pm

If only lions lived in the arctic...

NATURE presents the story of two remarkable and extremely rare white lion cubs born in May 2009...growing up on the savanna, they must not only overcome the same survival challenges that all young lion cubs must face, they must also overcome the threats their high visibility brings...NATURE 7 pm

Tonight's episode of NOVA looks at the science behind the April 2001 tornado outbreak, meeting those affected and the scientists trying to predict tornadoes and understand whether this outbreak relates to global climate change...NOVA 8 pm 

Behind the curtain at the Wall Street Journal...

This film explores the story of an American president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history...from draft dodging to the Dayton Accords, from Monica Lewinsky to a balanced budget, the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton is revisited tonight and next week on FRONTLINE...7 pm

Rupert Murdoch, the 80-year-old owner of the WSJ and FOX News Channel, is the fight of his life... with ongoing criminal investigations on both sides of the Atlantic. In a joint production with the CBC, FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman tells the story of the battle over the future of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's reputation and his family's fortunes...9 pm 

Who was that masked man? Why was he alone?

This special edition spotlights celebrities and big-shots including the first mask ever worn by Clayton Moore in 1951, as television's Lone Ranger...and a look at the progression from fourteen-year-old Norma Jean Baker to the ultimate screen siren - Marilyn Monroe...ANTIQUES ROADSHOW 7 & 8pm

An encore viewing of AMERICA REVEALED investigates the emerging notion that manufacturing itself is changing - from a system based on the movement and assembly of raw materials to a system in which ideas and information are the raw materials of a new economy. Yul Kwon explains at 9pm 

Sherlock in love? The Game is clearly afoot...

Tonight on the final Art in the Twenty First Century, artists Rackstraw Downes, Robert Mangold and Sarah Sze, create ordered and precise works that explore the gap between art and existence, challenge the distinction between seeing and knowing and, as if that's not enough, demonstrate that the pursuit of harmony can be a radical proposition...heady stuff...8pm

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner...teacher, historian environmentalist and above all, writer. Considered by many to be the "Dean" of western writers, this film by producer John Howe has captured the tremendous influence Stegner has been on the lives of generations of readers and students...WALLACE STEGNER...9pm 

Sunday the highly anticipated return of the modern day SHERLOCK, SERIES 2 from Masterpiece Mystery...Sherlock and Watson are plunged into a case of blackmail involving crafty dominatrix Irene Adler, whose motto is "know when you are beaten." Can she outsmart Sherlock at his own game?
And at a battle he is ill prepared to wage - love?  Find out at 8 pm.

Kay Bailey's got big shoes to fill...

All major United States Senate candidates – Democrat and Republican – vying to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison will take part in a two-hour live event – "Conversations with the Candidates" hosted by HoustonPBS and seen on PBS stations across the state...our program guide inadvertently lists the show starting at 8, but we're running it LIVE at 7pm.

Now you've got a computer...get ready for your robot!

Travel cross country with host Yul Kwon to look at traditional, and not-so-traditional types of manufacturing...meet the men and women who are reinventing the American auto industry, steelworkers who brave intense heat to accommodate radical new ideas about recycling, and engineers who are re-imagining the microchip...AMERICA REVEALED...9 PM

Adolp Hitler never saw him coming...

On April 2, 1936, The 22-year-old son of a sharecropper would channel his raw emotions into some of the most remarkable achievements in the history of athletics, winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics....JESSIE OWENS: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE...7pm

In a special investigation, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of the origins of the financial meltdown and the battle to save the global economy. FRONTLINE goes inside the White House to meet the key figures in the administration's game plan and follows those who said they had no choice but to rescue Wall Street. Did they choose the right course? MONEY, POWER & WALL STREET...8pm

The electric car is back...with a vengeance!

Filmmaker Chris Paine takes his crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. This new generation of car is America's future: fast, furious and cleaner than ever. Independent Lens follows the race among major car-makers to be the first, the best and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world...it's the future of the automobile itself. INDEPENDENT LENS...Saturday 11pm 

He can see Paradise by the dashboard light...

 His 1977 record Bat Out of Hell is one of the best-selling albums of all time...more than 43 million units sold worldwide. As an actor, everything from roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fight Club to episodes of House, M.D...He’s back in the spotlight this month with a brand-new album, Hell in a Handbasket, and is laying it all out for Evan Smith on tonight's OVERHEARD...8pm