A worldwide gross of over $5.6 billion? Must be good...

Our March Membership Drive is almost at an end...and tonight's Great Performances production is a classy way to go out! In celebration of its blockbuster 25th anniversary year, Andrew Lloyd Webber presented The Phantom of the Opera in a fully-staged, lavish production, set in London's Royal Albert Hall and backed by a complete cast and orchestra of more than 200...first opened in 1986, it has played to more than 130 million people and is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, Las Vegas, Kyoto, and tonight on your television...don't miss it - 8pm

What's wrong with plate spinners & dancing elephants?

Remember Sunday night on "The Ed Sullivan Show"? From the Beatles' American television debut to the Doors' infamous one-time-only appearance to the Rolling Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, the Mamas and the Papas and more, this special focuses exclusively on full-length music performances - no plate spinners or dancing elephants...Ed Sullivan's Rock & Roll Classics: The Sixties...9:30pm

Preceded by - Disco Inferno, Brickhouse, If You Don't Know Me By Now...Superstars of Seventies Soul Live is a trip back in time...exciting once-in-a-lifetime gathering with the legends of 1970's Motown, R&B, Soul and Disco artists -- all original performers, singing their greatest...7pm

A man so gentle he made Brando feel at ease...

BOB ROSS: THE HAPPY PAINTER presents a behind-the-scenes look at the public television personality's journey from humble beginnings to an American pop-culture icon. Interviewees recount his gentle, mild-mannered demeanor, disclose little-known facts about his hair, his fascination with fast cars, and iconic status among enthusiasts such as Phil Donahue and Jane Seymour...and great story about Marlon Brando looking for tips on technique...7pm

This is where we live...this is who we are...

Ali MacGraw celebrates the connection between horses and humans in Horses of the West: America's Love Story...segments include wild horses and the prisoners who train and love them; the horses of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary rescued from a grim fate; the exquisite grace of Arabians who may be the royalty of the horse world; working quarter horses on the ranch of author Thomas McGuane; the striking beauty of spotted Appaloosas and their Nez Perce heritage; and the heart-warming story of therapy horses at the National Ability Center and the children they have helped so dramatically...7pm

Chef Bud with food, Tony Bennett with Lady GaGa?

KACV's latest local production features Chef Bud Andersen showing us how simple ingredients combine to bring complex flavors in no time at all...Back To The Table with Chef Bud...7pm

At age 85, the legendary Tony Bennett is the oldest person to have reached the number one position on Billboard's Hot 200 chart with the release of another album of duets -- which, amazingly enough, also marks Bennett's first number one album. Yet another career triumph, Duets 2 teams Bennett with a diverse roster of contemporary stars including Queen Latifah, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Andrea Bocelli, and Michael Buble, performing more classics from the Great American Songbook, including "Body and Soul," "The Lady is a Tramp," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Speak Low," and "Stranger in Paradise."...8:30pm

Presenting Adele...before she was exhausted...

Our March Membership Drive Starts this weekend...highlights include Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Friday, Big Band crooners and music on Saturday, and a documentary on the making of Downton Abbey on Sunday. And don't miss performances by the super hot Adele, recorded just days after the release of her record-breaking sophomore album, 21, for a small group of lucky fans... on Sunday...check local listings for times.

Will the real Mary Katherine Gallagher, awkwardly stand up...

Actress & comedian Molly Shannon is best known for her six-year run as a Saturday Night Live cast member, creating many recurring characters...like the uncoordinated Mary Katherine pursuing her entertainment career. But she's also enjoyed success in films, on Broadway and in many other roles for television. Shannon's latest project is a children's book called Tilly the Trickster. She joins Evan to talk about SNL, becoming an author, and the tricky business of women in comedy...OVERHEARD at 8pm

He was almost convinced that he was standing on another planet...

NOVA teams up with National Geographic to do what they do so well...create a unique photo archive of melting glaciers in remote locations in the Arctic, Alaska and the Alps. Photojournalist James Balog and his team haul time-lapse cameras into the frozen wild to capture stunning images, all the while fighting sub-zero temperatures and 170 mph winds, in a landscape few have seen before...NOVA: Extreme Ice...8pm

Steve Jobs: One Last Thing is being re-broadcast tonight...a story well worth seeing, despite knowing how it ends...to me, it's the beginning that is most fascinating. 9pm

For two centuries, American whale oil lit the world...

From director Ric Burns (New York: A Documentary Film, Ansel Adams, The Donner Party) "Into the Deep: Whaling & America" explores the rise and fall of America's first global industry...8pm

FRONTLINE looks at the practice of vaccinating our kids...some 26 inoculations for 14 different diseases by age 6. Generation Rescue argues that vaccines are no longer a public health miracle but a scourge; responsible for alarming rises in certain disorders, including ADHD and autism. This is the vaccine war: pitting the public health establishment against a populist coalition of parents, celebrities, politicians and activists...and it's being fought on the Internet with the latest social media tools, includingFacebook and Twitter, to win the hearts and minds of the public...FRONTLINE at 9pm

Revenge of the nerds...

After the disappointing cancellation of tonight's Republican Presidential debate on PBS,
the network will alleviate the pain with massive doses of Antiques Roadshow at 7pm

To some he was a saint spreading information to the masses, to others he was a power mad Mephistopheles with a plan to take over the world...but no one can deny his genius.
Following the October 2011 death of probably the most inspirational computer designer and innovator of the 21st century, this film takes an in-depth look at the life, and work of Apple boss Steve Jobs...to examine how and why he revolutionized our world.
STEVE JOBS - ONE LAST THING...9pm

He explains to Howard why he was so "pretty"...

This film chronicles Cassius Clay's arrival in Miami in the fall of 1960 (fresh from earning a gold medal in the Rome Olympics), his life in Overtown -- a neighborhood that was considered "Harlem South" and a vibrant center of black entertainment and commerce -- and his affiliation with the famed Fifth Street Gym in Miami Beach. Clay evolved both professionally and politically, piling up victories in the ring and adopting the black separatist teachings of the Nation of Islam. As "MUHAMMAD ALI: MADE IN MIAMI" makes clear, it was in this period that Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali...7pm

Music really can change the world...

Film maker Leslie Woodhead first met the Beatles in 1962 when he worked on a film in the Liverpool Cavern Club...before the world had heard of the Fab Four. Twenty-five years later he became aware of how the Beatles legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of Soviet kids -- even though they were barred from playing "Back in the USSR." Now he has been on a journey to meet the Soviet Beatles generation and to discover how the Fab Four changed their lives. Featuring a bizarre collection of Beatles tribute bands, the film tracks down the stories of how the Cold War was won with music as much as with nuclear missiles...9pm

This weekend is jammin'...

We start off with Patti Smith: Dream of Life. Shot over 11 years, the film explores her many art forms and the friends and poets who inspired her -- William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Robert Mapplethorpe and Michael Stipe. The film featurs rare performance clips and is narrated by the artist herself. Friday at 8pm

Steve Earle pays tribute to his mentor, legendary Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt. Kris Kristofferson follows with tunes from his latest album on ACL, Saturday at 10pm

Memphis blues veteran Bobby "Blue" Bland jams with 17-year-old guitar wizard Will Tucker. The elder statesman schools the young Tucker in the finer points of the blues, before a scorching performance at the B.B. King nightclub on Memphis's famous Beale Street. We visit Sun Studios, where Elvis made his first recordings, and discover the Bluff City Backsliders, the band of the studio's current sound engineer. Young singer-songwriter Amy Lavere demonstrates the diversity of the contemporary Memphis music scene, and up-and-coming hip-hop stars Freesol, recently signed to Memphis-native Justin Timberlake's label, discuss the local urban sound. It's a packed Music Voyager on Sunday at 4pm

And tonight he brings it to Texas...

Deepak Chopra travels the world to share his message about mind-body connections, exploring the relationships between physical, emotional, social, spiritual and mental wellness. He has earned enormous popularity working as a physician, a bestselling author of more than 64 books, a columnist, a radio host and a sought-after lecturer who routinely makes lists of the world's most engaging public speakers...Overheard with Evan Smith...8pm

After the CRASH, behavioral economics to the rescue...

NOVA presents Mind Over Money...We'll see how the brains and bodies of Wall Street traders respond as they buy and sell stocks. We'll watch as an ingenious experiment reveals how too many spending choices and the way they're framed can overwhelm consumers' ability to make rational decisions. By delivering insights from leading analysts and powerful experiments, NOVA exposes the mysterious and surprising nature of the two most powerful forces on our planet: the human mind and money...8pm

Ain't no mountain high enough...

Among the challenges awaiting the Globe Trekkers include the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, Mount Rainier in Washington and the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Colorado...7pm.

A whole year after the disaster, FRONTLINE correspondent Miles O'Brien examines the implications of the Fukushima accident for U.S. nuclear safety, and asks how this disaster will affect the future of nuclear energy around the world. In particular, he visits one emerging battleground: The controversial re-licensing of the Indian Point nuclear plant, located only 38 miles from Manhattan. What lessons can be learned from the disaster in Japan?...tonight at 9pm.

It's been almost a year...

The facts and figures are astonishing...Japan's March 11th earthquake was the world's fourth largest earthquake since record keeping began in 1900 and the worst ever in that country.
The seismic shock wave released over 4,000 times the energy of the largest nuclear test ever conducted; it shifted the earth's axis by 6 inches and shortened the day by a few millionths of a second. The tsunami slammed Japan's coast with 30 feet-high waves that traveled 6 miles inland, obliterating entire towns in a matter of minutes. NOVA revisits the disaster tonight in JAPAN'S KILLER QUAKE with compelling eyewitness videos, explanatory graphics and exclusive helicopter footage...not to be missed...9pm

Singing Hi-Dee-Hi-Dee-Ho...

Friday night we feature the fascinating documentary on Cab Calloway and his popularity during the jazz/swing era...and his resurgence in the 80's...American Experience at 8pm.
Then Nathan Lane is master of ceremonies for a review of hit show tunes from some of Broadway's most beloved musicals...many Tony award nominees and winners, including Idina Menzel (Wicked, Glee)Audra McDonald, and Elaine Stritch performing numbers from Broadway's most popular and successful shows...In Performance at the White House at 9pm

The documentary series POV follows three young racers as they compete in the World Karting Association's National Pavement Series. Clocking speeds of up to 70 mph, these kids chase the National Championship title and dream of NASCAR...Racing Dreams, Saturday at 11pm

Two Feet from the Audience is a documentary that looks at the movement which brings
classical music to non-traditional venues, such as nightclubs and bars, in order to boost audiences...Sunday night at 10pm

His characters are often described as "morally complex"...

Russell Banks is an award winning and best selling writer of novels, poetry and short stories...including Continental Drift, Rule of the Bone, and Cloudsplitter. His work has been translated into twenty different languages, and two of his novels -- Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter -- have been made into feature films. Banks is known for writing with empathy about characters many might avoid...he talks about that in a discussion of his newest novel, Lost Memory of Skin, with Evan Smith...8pm