I'm seriously going to try to watch this, but I bet I'll be one of the very few, thanks to the short-sighted dissembling morons at our PUBLIC Broadcasting Service - PBS.
This film promises by all accounts to be Burns' masterpiece, and that's saying something. I watched both The Civil War and Baseball in their entireties, never felt bored, and at their conclusions, felt affirmatively enlightened.
How dare PBS first broadcast this series in the opening sweeps week? Think about it: this is going up against Heroes and all of the premieres - nobody under 65 is going to tune in against that kind of competition.
What the hell does PBS care about ratings? They're PUBLIC!
Had they aired it this week, the week prior to premiere week, this might've become a national sensation and perhaps sparked a national conversation, much needed in our troubled current times.
Instead, I bet everyone's just going to wait for DVD.
Anyhow, the hype from the PBS promo machine appears to be justified. Any article I've read praises the film deeply and profoundly.
I've pretty much cleared out my ur-Tivo; plenty of space now available.
For those of us intending to watch, we're going to need it:
- Sunday, September 23, 2007 / 8-10:30pm: "A Necessary War"
- Monday, September 24, 2007 / 8-10pm: "When Things Get Tough"
- Tuesday, September 25, 2007 / 8-10pm: "A Deadly Calling"
- Wednesday, September 26, 2007 / 8-10:30pm: "Pride of Our Nation"
- Sunday, September 30, 2007 / 8-10pm: "FUBAR"
- Monday, October 1, 2007 / 8-10pm: "The Ghost Front"
- Tuesday, October 2, 2007 / 8-10:30pm: "A World Without War"
Here's a really cool .pdf from PBS for those with interest -- a 15-page viewers guide.
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/downloads/thewarvgbroadcast0724.pdf
