JOHNNY CARSON

SATURDAY, MARCH 15 @ 9:00PM

Johnny Carson (10/23/1925 – 1/23/2005) was seen by more people on more occasions than anyone else in American history. Over the course of 30 years, 4,531 episodes and 23,000 guests, he became a fixture of national life and a part of the zeitgeist. In a 2007 TV Land/Entertainment Weekly poll, Americans voted Carson the greatest icon in the history of television. Two-time Emmy®-winning filmmaker Peter Jones explores his life, career, complexities, and contradictions in the two-hour documentary American Masters Johnny Carson: King of Late Night. 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of Carson taking over The Tonight Show from Jack Paar and the 20th anniversary of his retirement. (2 Hours)

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, MARCH 14 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

TONIGHT: RUSSIA-UKRAINE STANDOFF, FEINSTEIN VS CIA AND FLORIDA’S SPECIAL ELECTION REVIEW

The standoff between Russia and the Ukraine government over the disputed Crimea region continues to intensify. This weekend citizens of Crimea will vote on a referendum to decide if they should secede from Ukraine and become part of Russia.

The Justice Department is investigating the stunning charges by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein that the CIA conducted unauthorized searches of Senate computers. During a nearly 50-minute speech on the Senate floor, Feinstein accused the CIA of interfering with the congressional investigation into the agency’s possible use of torture.

In Florida, Republican David Jolly edged out Democrat Alex Sink to win a special House election to succeed the late Rep. Bill Young (R). The victory has energized the GOP because Jolly focused much of his campaign on the promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

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CRASH OF FLIGHT 447

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 @ 10:00PM

On June 1, 2009, Flight AF447, an Air France Airbus A330 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean with the loss of all 228 lives. How could a state-of-the-art airliner with elaborate electronic safety and navigation features and a faultless safety record simply fall out of the sky? NOVA assembles a team of seasoned pilots, engineers, and safety experts to examine the evidence that emerged in the weeks following this horrific disaster. What led Flight 447’s crew to fly straight into a towering thunderstorm? With expert testimony, satellite weather images, and messages transmitted by the doomed plane’s computer system, NOVA pieces together the fatal chain of events.

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SURVIVORS OF THE FIRESTORM

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

In February 2009, conditions were ripe for wildfires in the state of Victoria in southeast Australia. Relentless heat waves, seemingly endless drought, and arid winds sweeping in from the outback had left the countryside tinder dry and braced for the worst. Then, on Saturday, February 7, Victoria went up in flames; and raging fires engulfed everything in their path. By the time the fires subsided, 173 people had lost their lives, over one million acres of mountain ash forest had been destroyed, and countless animals had perished. The overwhelming firestorm was one of the worst in the country’s history, and came to be known as Black Saturday.

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THE REVOLUTIONARY OPTIMISTS

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 @ 11:00PM

Amlan Ganguly is a visionary. This lawyer-turned-community activist is not only changing a neighborhood, but also changing the way its youngest residents envision their lives. In this character-driven and highly cinematic documentary, acclaimed filmmakers Nicole Newnham (The Rape of Europa, Sentenced Home) and Maren Grainger-Monsen (Worlds Apart, The Vanishing Line) reveal Ganguly’s critical work in a Calcutta slum neighborhood. Filmed over the course of three and a half years, The Revolutionary Optimists follows Amlan and three of the children he works with through adolescence as they challenge the idea that marginalization is written into their destiny.

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OPENING NIGHT AT THE SMITH CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 @ 11:00PM

Neil Patrick Harris hosts the opening night concert at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas. From Dust to Dreams turns a spotlight on The Smith Center as it opens it doors after years of preparation, ushering Southern Nevada to its place on an international stage celebrating artistic excellence, education, and culture from around the world.

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, MARCH 7 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

THIS WEEK: TENSIONS ESCALATE IN UKRAINE AND REPUBLICANS GATHER AT CPAC

President Obama has ramped up pressure on Russia to de-escalate the growing tensions in Ukraine by signing an executive order that imposes visa restrictions and other sanctions against Moscow.  On Thursday the president also denounced a referendum by the Crimean parliament to break away from Ukraine to join the Russian Federation calling the move a violation of international law. The Crimea region has been at the center of a tense power struggle between the new Ukrainian government and Russian President Vladamir Putin since the fall of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last month.

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