PBS - Remotely Connected

Place of Execution

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:58:43 -0500

Val McDermid, the author of 23 crime novels, is one of the U.K.'s greatest Crime Writers. Her latest Dr. Tony Hill and Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan novel, Fever of the Bone, is now out in the U.K. The Tony Hill/Carol Jordan Series has been adapted for TV as the Wire in the Blood Series. Her stand-alone novel, Place of Execution, will be shown in the U.S. on PBS, November 1 and November 8. Juliet Stevenson stars in the production, and just won a CWA Actress Dagger for her performance. Also starring are Lee Ingleby and Greg Wise who give hauntingly strong performances.

Place of Execution is a terrific production on so many levels, and one that will reverberate within you long after you've finished watching. Part of that is due to the excellent cast, and part of it is due to the brilliant novel by Val McDermid on which it's based. Told in two overlapping and interlocking plots, Place of Execution takes place in both the present day, as well as 1963 rural England with two different investigators exploring the disappearance of a 13 year old girl who vanished without a trace on a winter afternoon in 1963. This is not Miss Marple's English village. Place of Execution is a first rate thriller about the choices we make in our lives, the events that shape us and the hold of obsession over us. Don't miss it.

I caught up with Val to ask her a few questions about the production of Place of Execution.

Janet Rudolph: Your books have been adapted for TV before, is the adaptation of Place of Execution different from the previous adaptations?

Val McDermid: The main difference came from the split time frame in the original book. It meant that we had to have two actors for several of the key roles. And of course we had to get the period details spot-on because enough people have accurate memories of the 1960s to get on our case if we got it wrong!

Endgame

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:58:40 -0500

"Trust no one, confide in no one ..." This memorable line in Endgame, PBS's latest presentation from Masterpiece Contemporary, is the essence of a plot that includes secret talks and negotiations between Afrikaners and the African National Congress (ANC) that ended apartheid. If you missed the show or want to see it again, you can watch it online from October 26th - November 8th. For those who aren't familiar with the characters in this story or the story itself, I recommend that you read a short biography of the characters in this PBS link. Photographs of the historical people involved are placed next to the images of the actors who portray them.

Apartheid Timeline

Endgame is available for online viewing
October 26 - November 8, 2009, Eastern Time

Botany of Desire

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:55:38 -0500

I always think the universe does a neat trick when a person's name predicts the vocation he or she takes as an adult. For example, in my town we have a public garden named for its benefactor, Mrs. Park. And here we have a book and a fascinating two hours of bee-heavy television inspired by a man named Mr. Pollan. (Not "pollen," no, but in a game with no rules, homophones count.)

Michael Pollan does a neat trick in his book, "Botany of Desire" -- he writes a history of plant evolution from the point of view of the apples, tulips, cannabis plants, and potatoes that spread their seeds around the globe on the backs of an adaptable group of animals who never seem to stay put: human beings.

Humans turned out to be avid gardeners, easily made dependent on plants that look pretty, get us high, and taste great. Do you enjoy a good french fry? Join the party. Potatoes are an incredibly diverse and nutritious food that grow well in poor soil, and they were a godsend to places like nineteenth-century Ireland where the farming was a tremendous challenge. Unfortunately, Irish farmers all planted the same type of potato, known as "the lumper." No other strains existed in the entire island, so when disease struck the lumper they had nothing to fall back on, and one eighth of the population starved to death in the great potato famine.

You think, Oh, that couldn't happen today, we have so many ways to fight plant disease! And it's true, we have everything from ladybugs to Agent Orange to combat bugs and blight. But like the nineteenth-century Irish, we've also fallen in love with one type of potato -- the Russet Bermuda. It's the one responsible for all those long, slender fries you see poking out of McDonald's boxes in salty little bouquets. They're delicious, and today our farmers are going to unnatural lengths to (a) keep restaurants stocked with uniform potatoes, which means (b) preventing the Russet Bermudas from mutating as they naturally would over time to adapt themselves to the constant influx of new bugs, germs, and weeds, which means farmers have to (c) manage the potatoes' environment with pesticides, fertilizers, and genetic engineering. It's like having plastic surgery every month to try to keep yourself looking nineteen years old, the way farm are trying to stay viable by artificially propping up consumer demand for a five-inch french fry.

Apples, on the other hand, have had better luck breaking out of the monoculture trap. Apples were able to find their way out of central Asia and around the globe due to our hard-wired love of sweetness. In telling the true story of Johhny Appleseed, we learn that not only was the man a kind of wonderful kook, but that when you plant an apple seed, the tree that grows from it may not resemble the fruit it came from at all. That's because apple seeds carry the genes for all types of apples inside them, and the majority of apple trees grown from seeds produce fruit that's not a lot of fun to eat. It's quite bitter, actually (sweet apple trees are produced by grafting plants together), but it's good for one thing: cider. And when you make a lot of cider and store it in barrels to drink later, it becomes hard cider. So what Johnny Appleseed actually brought to American was the chance to get good and drunk. And for a culture that was terrified of water (not having a reliable system for purifying it), *everybody* drank cider.

I wonder why they don't tell you that in fifth grade.

There's a good deal more to this great two hours of television, the other half of which is devoted to the cultivation of broken tulips and promoting sexual frustration in cannabis plants.

(On a personal note I'd just like to add that it was someone's good idea to choose a woman named Eden to post about a show partially devoted to apple trees. I carry one with me wherever I go.)

Watch a Preview

Herb and Dorothy

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:45:30 -0500

Here are Herb and Dorothy Vogel:

Let's be honest: these people do not look like rock stars.

And yet: in the art world, Herb and Dorothy -- he, a retired postal worker, and she, a librarian -- are rock stars in the extreme. They are rock stars for amassing an incredible collection of Minimalist and Conceptual art (view the collection); they are stars, too, for donating said collection, worth millions of dollars, to the National Gallery of Art...and for refusing compensation. Let me say that again: they refused compensation. This is not like Madonna, or Bono, saying, "no, no, National Gallery, consider this art a gift." Herb and Dorothy are people of modest means. They live in a tiny New York City apartment, filled with their pets: cats, turtles, fish, and whatever art they haven't, at this point, given away. And yet, when the National Gallery finally convinced them to accept payment, did they splurge on a bigger apartment? Buy a fancy sports car? No. They bought more art - art which they plan to donate, eventually, to the National Gallery, so that members of the public can enjoy it for free.

This, apparently, is just how Herb and Dorothy roll.

So we learn in a documentary, aptly titled "Herb and Dorothy," that aired last night on one of my favorite series, Independent Lens (if you missed it, check here for reruns, or check for local screenings - unfortunately, you can't watch the film online, and there doesn't seem to be a DVD). The couple's compulsion to collect art is striking, as is their apparent disinterest in material wealth. But what's most interesting is this: an hour of television featuring two such unlikely (and, let's face it, not very pretty, superficially speaking) characters. Herb and Dorothy do not look the part of art world denizens -- where's the bleached hair, the sleek clothes? No casting director would ever hire them. On television, characters are so often symbols -- of a demographic, a profession; but Herb and Dorothy aren't symbols of art collectors....they're just people who collect art, as compulsively as bees collect pollen. Not pretty-flowers-in-a-vase art, mind you, but challenging art..."weird" art. The kind of art that some people point at and say, derisively, "Pfft! I could have done that." ("But," as my grandfather would have said,"you didn't.")

This plain-looking couple is edgier, it turns out, than most people who bear the trappings of edginess. As artist Chuck Close says in the film, Herb and Dorothy are drawn to the least decorative, most rigorous pieces an artist creates. Just as they do not symbolize art collectors, they do not treat art as symbolic -- of what's "in," or "hot," or "important." They're drawn most of all to artifacts of the artistic process ("souvenirs," as an artist in the film puts it), versus end products that represent an artist's fully realized vision. The reason for this is clear: Herb and Dorothy love artists. They esteem them. They celebrate the process of making and sharing art above all else.

This, of course, is completely antithetical to so much commercial television, which treats reality itself as a commodity to be packaged, marketed and consumed. As "Herb and Dorothy" shows, there is no greater artistic process than the process by which we build our lives.

Check out the Website and watch a Preview

We bought what we liked!

The Chandlers and Their Times

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:07:17 -0500

Watching the Chandlers And Their Times was jarring, comforting, educational, enlightening and a cautionary tale. As an Angelino I have an affinity to the Los Angeles Times. In my childhood it was the newspaper that my parents counted on for their daily news. I was weaned on column one and Steve Lopez, reading the Times became part of my mornings somewhere in my sixteenth year.

There were Chandlers in my life, quite a few of them, apparently they were from different branches of the extraordinary family. While immersed in the story of a family whose drama rivals any Shakespearean tragedy, I found myself pointing and saying to my husband, "That's how Robbie got into car racing!" or "I think that's Kristie." he would look at me, shake his head and say, "I don't know who you are talking about." Though less personal to him, we were both drawn into the story.

According to this documentary, The Chandler Family is responsible for the development of Los Angeles from San Pedro to the San Fernando Valley. They took the Los Angeles times from being a tool for real estate development to a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper.

Although the story of the Chandlers is a good one, The Chandlers And Their Times is magnificent. With heroes and villains, mental illness and bigotry, the storytelling is compelling and though the tragic tales are told mostly in still pictures, I found myself glued to the television, riveted.

As a friend, classmate and admirer of various Chandlers I could not possibly watch this with an objective eye. I sat wondering what my friends would think of this expose of their very private, incredibly wealthy family. I, like you, felt the odd combination of pride, curiosity and shame for peeking into the family photos of Los Angeles' most prominent family.

I'd never known of Dorothy "Buff" Chandler's difficulty being accepted into the family, though I did know that she'd been successful in uniting Downtown and Westside [read Protestant and Jewish] philanthropists in building the Music Center downtown. I knew before this viewing that her son Otis had been unceremoniously pushed out of his stewardship of the times.

As a blogger I couldn't help but watch the evolution of my newspaper with a psychic eye. Is this the destiny of the new media? What can we learn? The first years of the LA Times were lawless, profitable and existed only to feed other businesses ventures that were far more profitable. First standards were set, then huge journalistic milestones were hit, and in the blink of an eye there was fiscal ruin, and a loss of ownership.

What will we be left with? My city has Chandlers with their legacies and their fortunes, but we no longer have Their Times. I can't help but think that it's a paper without a soul, now that they have lost the family behind it.

Video Clips
Otis Chandler and His Family

A recorded phone conversation reveals former President Nixon's plan to investigate the Chandlers.

Unionists explode dynamite at the Times Headquarters during Harrison Gray Otis' reign as publisher.

Web Site

Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times

Ken Burns' National Parks: America's Best Idea

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:20:03 -0500

A variety of performers and musicians gathered in New York's Central Park in Sept. 2009 in celebration of the Ken Burns documentary series THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA's BEST IDEA.

Shelton Johnson, park ranger for Yosemite National Park talks about the importance of visiting national parks.

Adam Duritz of Counting Crows talks about his friend and hero Ken Burns

Check out all of the interviews with concert musicians and others associated with the film on PBS' YouTube Channel - YouTube playlist

And check out Concert & backstage photos

Lassen National Park: "A Mount-a Mount-a Burning Love"

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:38:37 -0500

Earlier this week, I promised to spill the details of my recent camping ~~ordeal~~ trip. That post is now up over at 50-Something Moms Blog and Los Angeles Moms Blog. (If you do mosey over to the read post, you must click on the photo taken by my niece... .)

photo by Russell Virgilio

The post is a pretty accurate description of our weekend in the mountains -- but it misses a key component: That aside from all that pesky nature, Lassen Volcanic National Park is a really cool place to visit... especially if you are a professional geologist, like my husband.

Just note the park's name: It's an active volcano, folks... the only one in the lower 48 states (aside from Mt. St. Helens) to have erupted in the last century.It was also one of the first areas to be designated in the legislation that created the National Park Service back in 1916 - while the volcano was still smoldering.

Scientists don't expect the mountain to erupt again any time soon, but the USGS keeps a close eye on it, just in case. There is still plenty of volcanic activity to observe among the park's hydrothermal areas, including one with the poetic name of Bumpass Hell (pronounced "bumpus" and named for a 19th century mountain guide who lost his leg after falling into the hot mud).

This particular volcano is the southernmost member of the Cascades range, which we became quite familiar with on our 2005 trek through the Pacific Northwest (including visits to Mt. St. Helens, Crater Lake, and a pass by Mt. Shasta).

Did I mention that this place was like heaven to my husband?

Read the full post here.

PBS Presstour

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:22:14 -0500

As part of PBS's coverage of the 2009 Television Critics Association Press Tour (Aug 1-2, 2009), we conducted interviews with a variety of people associated with upcoming PBS programs including actor and new host of MASTERPIECE CONTEMPORARY, David Tennant; Astranauts Michael Massimino and John Grunsfeld of "Hubble's Amazing Rescue" on NOVA; and singer, songwriter, poet Patti Smith who is the focus of Steven Sebrings new film "Patti Smith: Dream of Life" as well as many others. Click here to view the entire playlist.

MASTERPIECE "Endgame"

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:13:59 -0500

Laurie Viera Rigler is the author of RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT

and CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT

I had the good fortune to attend a PBS press event that showcased an exciting new film called ENDGAME, a political thriller about the secret, real-life negotiations that led to the end of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela.

I cannot wait to see this movie: It's all about reconciliation and has an irresistible message of hope and compassion. Here's a line from the film:

"Fear binds us all from seeing the humanity of the other."

That line was spoken by one of the stars of the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The high point of the day was when I was introduced to Chiwetel Ejiofor. Not only is he one of my favorite actors, but also I finally had the opportunity to tell him about an idea I've had ever since I saw him in the film TALK TO ME.

And this is where Jane Austen comes in. And she always does come in, even when I am watching clips of a film about South African reconciliation. Or 1960s American radio hosts.

Here's the idea: While I was watching TALK TO ME (which I loved so much I saw it twice), I kept thinking that Chiwetel Ejiofor's character, a buttoned-up radio program director who undergoes a fascinating transformation, was a great deal like Mr. Darcy. So much so that I began, right then, to envision a contemporary adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mr. Darcy.

And so, at last I was able to put that casting idea out there in the world. And most important, leave it with Mr. Darcy himself.

The rest is up to you, Hollywood.

Did I mention that I also got a smile and a hello from ENDGAME co-star Jonny Lee Miller, who just so happens to be playing Mr. Knightley in the new adaptation of EMMA?

Somehow, a film about South Africa had turned into Jane Austen heaven. But then again, as the Editrix of Austenblog puts it, "She's everywhere."

Especially in thrillers produced in England.

ENDGAME will air on PBS's Masterpiece Contemporary on Sunday, Oct. 25 and opens in movie theaters Oct. 30.

To watch a trailer for ENDGAME, click here.

Murder. Mayhem. Miss Marple. Masterpiece Mystery!

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:03:16 -0500

Retired policeman Luke Fitzwilliam and Miss Marple looking for clues

I've held off reviewing this excellent series showing on PBS Masterpiece Mystery! until I got a good sense of how well Julia McKenzie fares as the observant elderly sleuth, and I find that she plays the character true to form. Julia's Miss Marple reminds me of the smart but deferential women of my grandmother's generation who stand on the sidelines but whose power lay in maneuvering others into action or thinking their way. In PBS's new Miss Marple series, Julia's mousy character can easily disappear into the woodwork as she takes on the role of keen observer. She never oversteps her boundaries with the detectives who arrive on the scene to solve a case. And what fine detectives they are! This season we have Matthew MacFadyen as Inspector Neele, Benedict Cumberbatch as retired policeman Luke Fitzwilliam, Alex Jennings as Inspector Curry, and Warren Clarke as Commander Peters. While these men are quite capable, they lack Miss Marple's "insider" knowledge, as she has a knack for being at the right place at the wrong time, as it were. They also lack her female intuition, which prompts her to notice those tiny details that men often miss, such as a redhead not choosing to dye her hat red.

Wendy Richard as Mrs. Crump

If I lived in Great Britain and I saw Miss Marple heading towards my village, I'd get into my Bentley and run, for everywhere Miss Marple goes, murder follows. In Murder is Easy so many victims fell, that I wondered if the village would have to be abandoned for lack of inhabitants.

Read full post

What are moms saying about learning with SUPER WHY?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:39:23 -0500

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp -- Day 2

by Bonggamom

Today was Day 2 of the SSS (Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp), and it was Wonder Red day. 3Po and Jammy cut out their Wonder Red masks (surprisingly, no gender issues there, I'm happy that my boys are in touch with their feminine side) and happily settled down to watch the SUPER WHY 3 Little Pigs episode once again. Here's a video of them interacting with Wonder Red as she sounds out the words TALL and BALL:

Read entire post here:

Super Why! gets kids down to the letter
by L.A. Story

A couple of months ago, I was tapping away on the computer while my daughter was watching a show on PBS.

All of a sudden I heard her yelling out letters: E! I!

It was great, because we'd really started focusing on the alphabet, and I was eager to see which program was encouraging her to talk back to the screen -- in a good way.

I turned around and saw what I now consider to be the newest Fab Four: Alpha Pig, Wonder Red, Princess Presto and the front man, er, boy himself, Super Why!

So when PBS Kids organized a meet and greet for Los Angeles mom bloggers at its local outlet KCET, I was ready to jump in a Why Flyer with CC and make an afternoon of it.

Read the full post

Educationl Activities

By Stimey, Things. and. Stuff.

It is not a secret that I've always sort of credited Super Why with teaching Jack to read when he was four years old.

Part of his early reading, I think, has to do with the way his brain works, but his spontaneous (and untaught by me) reading coincided with rampant Super Why viewing. Jack is a very visual learner, and I think the show helped him "see" how to read. (I also don't think that all the reading and lap cuddling we did with him hurt.)

It turns out that I may not be so off base in my assertion about Super Why. It turns out that a couple of studies have shown that children reap tangible literacy benefits from Super Why. I'm not saying that you should park your kid in front of the TV and expect them to turn into brainiacs, but if your young child is going to watch TV, you could certainly do worse than this very fun show.

Read the full post here

The Cat Among the Pigeons

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:18:27 -0500

As the music started with the opening credits, I smiled in recognition of how much the Harry Potter movies have premeated into our culture. Here is a scene of children arriving for school term and the music is so similar to the whimsical children's choral piece that opens the Harry Potter movies that I laughed out loud and thought the producer a cheeky monkey for slipping in that subliminal message! I wondered what other things they might borrow to make Hercule Poirot into Harry Potter! Anyway, our super sleuth has been invited to Meadowbank Girls School by his friend the headmistress Miss Bulstrode, played by Harriet Walter, who Austenites will remember portrayed Fanny Dashwood in the 1996 movie adaptation Sense and Sensibility.

Read Laurel Ann's entire post

The Cat Among the Pigeons

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:03:03 -0500

The Cat Among the Pigeons, the new Hercule Poirot mystery on PBS's Mystery was as satisfying an Agatha Cristie mystery as I've seen in a long time.

Read the entire post here

Watch Online

Masterpiece Mystery continues with Six by Agatha - six adaptations of Agatha Christie novels featuring her famous sleuths, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, beginning on Sunday June 21 through July 26 on PBS .

Six by Agatha

What are moms saying about learning with SUPER WHY?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:53:28 -0500

PBS KIDS is hosting a series of discussions nationwide with bloggers about the role media plays in the lives of their families. Over the next several weeks we will add event photos and posts from the events.

We have just returned from two great events with Los Angeles Moms Blog and the Silicon Valley Moms. Read what some of the attendees had to say:

Learning with PBS Kids and SUPER WHY

by Bonggamom, Finding Bonggamom

I've always maintained that watching TV can be a positive, educational experience for children. Actually, make that: "watching PBS is a positive, educational experience for children". There's a lot of good quality programming on many kids' networks these days, but as far as I'm concerned, PBS sets the gold standard in educational TV. A lot of it has to do with my own experiences; I learned to read watching the two original PBS Kids programs: Sesame Street and The Electric Company. And because they're noncommercial, airing on nonprofit stations, I really get the sense that they put kids' interests first. I've put absolute trust in the PBS Kids brand: if it's a PBS show, I let my kids watch it.

The right to choose...what your kids watch on TV

by Stefania Pomponi Butler, CityMama

One of the things I have been thinking about since last night is PBS' attempt to keep the 6+ age group engaged in their programming. They recognize that they are experts on the preschool set and have programming (via their PBS Go brand) that speaks to younger elementary school kids, but increasingly it is hard to compete with other programming (Nick and Disney tween programming) as well as outside influences like what kids are exposed to at school. One of the they questions they posed to us (paraphrasing) was, "How do you keep your 6-to-8-year-old kids engaged in age-appropriate programs in light of all the media influences they are exposed to."

My family has been so busy!

by modmom

this week, i met the pbs kids executives + the creator of 'super why' at stanford + they explained how they make their programs + gave me some show DVDs + projects to try with mod*tot for feedback. we LOVE pbs kids shows + online games. mod*tot is in gymnastics camp + i'm skating along the bay trail across the street from her gym, updating my blog, planning giveaways + getting ready for the dwell on design conference next weekend at the los angeles convention center!!!

Brain Candy

by Emily

It was a small group of parent bloggers (OK, mothers) and a panel of three women who design children's programming for PBS. Joyce Campbell, the VP of Education and Children's Programming and producer of Sid, the Science Kid, didn't do a whole lot of talking, as she was clearly there just to hear what we had to say. The other two women on the panel, however, had some fascinating things to say.

Visit Super WHY! on PBS KIDS

PBS Parents Learning with Media

What are moms saying about learning with SUPER WHY?

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:58:27 -0500

PBS KIDS is hosting a series of discussions nationwide with bloggers about the role media plays in the lives of their families. Over the next several weeks we will add event photos and posts from the events.

The New York event was held at PBS station WNET.org

Liz Thompson - This Full House

"PBS PARENTS is a terrific resource for connecting families (like mine) and media together to form an open forum, which (hopefully) will prove to be a fruitful partnership in understanding the complexities of our children's development. Good and bad."

The D.C. event was held at PBS Headquarters

Leticia Barr - D.C. Metro Moms

"We could have stayed at PBS all day. Not only did I find the discussion to be fascinating from a parent and an educator perspective, but it reinforced why PBS has always been a part of my life."

Gayle Weiswasser - Everyday I Write the Book

"When I think back on some of the shows my girls have watched on other channels, it makes me appreciate the quality of PBS Kids programming even more. It's not enough, in my book, that a show hold their attention or be entertaining - it should be teaching them something. And a show that demonstrates the value of books and reading, and encourages kids to explore books - what could be better? I am adding SuperWhy to the DVR immediately."

Jessica McFadden - A Parent in Silver Spring

"Super Why was designed specifically to help kids age 3-6 with the critical skills that they need to learn to read. Each of the four characters on the show embodies one of the skills recommended by the National Reading Panel: Alpha Pig = alphabet skills, Wonder Red = word families, Princess Presto = spelling and Super Why = reading comprehension and vocabulary. (They're not simply cutie pies with capes.) Using interactive literacy games and problems preschoolers can relate to and help solve, Super Why grips the child viewer and shows her that reading is an empowering adventure."

Michelle Musson - Wife and Mommy

"Sure, I thought it was a great show that engaged my kids for 25 minutes while I get ready in the morning. But after hearing the how the show is very carefully crafted, I am really impressed with the teaching aspect of it. It's good television that I ~~don't mind~~ encourage my kids to watch!"