Category Archives: Program Highlights

NATURE

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BIG BIRDS CAN’T FLY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17 @ 9:00PM

When most people think of birds, what common attributes typically come to mind? Many will cite a bird’s ability to fly, sing and use its feathered wings to take flight. So it may seem a bit strange that included in the more than 10,000 species of birds in the world today is a group that literally cannot fly or sing, and whose wings are more fluff than feather. These are the ratites: the ostrich, emu, rhea, kiwi and cassowary. How and why these birds abandoned flight has puzzled scientists since Darwin’s time, but as this Nature program shows, DNA and dedicated research are helping to solve these mysteries.


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GORONGOSA PARK

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REBIRTH OF PARADISE

BATTLE LINES/ROARING BACK

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6 @ 9:00PM

Experience the inspiring rebirth of an African wilderness through the eyes of Emmy Award-winning wildlife cameraman Bob Poole. Darting lions, wrestling crocs, facing down angry elephants – it’s all part of a day’s work as he joins the battle to re-wild a legendary national park.


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FRONTLINE

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MY BROTHER’S BOMBER

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6 @ 8:00PM

EPISODE 2

By the end of Episode 1of FRONTLINE’s special three-part series, My Brother’s Bomber, filmmaker and author Ken Dornstein had crossed several names off his list of potential suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Where will his search for answers into the attack that killed his brother and 269 others take him next? Tune in on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to see what happens.


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MASTERPIECE

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HOME FIRES

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

At the heart of a rural English village on the verge of the Second World War, a diverse group of women with personal struggles, conflicting views and a shared mission forge a community that will inspire their finest hour. Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Reckless, Cranford) head an ensemble cast in the moving wartime drama, Home Fires.

In August 1939, war with Germany is all but certain. While citizens of the isolated village of Great Paxford each face the prospect of war in their own way, all agree that they must do everything they can to hold their village—and their nation—together. But when the value of the largely social group, The Women’s Institute, is called into question, forward-thinking Frances Barden (Samantha Bond) and snobbish Joyce Cameron (Francesca Annis) clash over the fate of the Institute and the roles its members can play, far from the front.


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MASTERPIECE

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INDIAN SUMMERS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 @ 10:00PM

The fallout from opening night reverberates around Simla and a curfew is put in place to deal with the supposed terrorist threat. The arrival of a journalist causes trouble for Ralph when he attempts to uncover the truth behind the crime, and Ian is shocked to learn of his uncle’s financial situation. Meanwhile, Eugene Mathers and Cynthia conspire to push Madeleine and Ralph closer together. Bored wife Sarah becomes suspicious of Alice’s past and begins some detective work to uncover the real reasons behind her move to India.


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NATURE

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NATURE’S MIRACLE ORPHANS

WILD LESSONS

WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER 12 @ 6:00PM & 10:00PM

In episode two, Wild Lessons, Bev Brown devotes her time to helping fruit bat orphans in Melbourne, Australia, to survive the crucial first four months until they are weaned and able to be released. As surrogate mother, Brown tucks her bats in specially designed blankets to simulate how they would be wrapped up in their mother’s wings, bottle-feeds them milk and grooms them daily. In another segment, Stella Reid cares for 20 kangaroos at her compound, but knows the youngest, a baby eastern gray kangaroo named Harry, needs special attention if he’s ever to join the wild eastern grays that graze across the open grasslands and forests of Eastern Australia. Reid starts the process by having Harry observe other orphans in her care, giving him a chance to learn how to behave and socialize with them before introducing him to the wild kangaroos outside the compound.


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E.O. WILSON

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OF ANTS AND MEN

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 @ 9:00PM

EO Wilson – Of Ants and Men is a two-hour film about the life and extraordinary scientific odyssey of one of America’s greatest living thinkers, E.O Wilson. It is an exciting journey of ideas, but also an endearing portrait of a remarkable man; often dubbed “a Darwin for the modern day.” Starting with his unusual childhood in Alabama, it chronicles the lifelong love for the natural world that led him to Harvard and the studies that would establish him as the world’s foremost authority on ants.


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I’LL HAVE WHAT PHIL’S HAVING

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TOKYO

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 @ 8:00PM

Embark on an international culinary expedition with Phil Rosenthal, creator of the TV hit Everybody Loves Raymond, and one of Hollywood’s funniest producers. Join Phil as he explores six culinary capitals of the world in search for the best of a city’s specialty, or one of its most unusual dishes.

In Episode 1, Phil steps out of his comfort zone and dives into exotic dishes with a fellow comedian and Japanese television star Dave Spector, including barbecue eel and some of the hottest ramen in Japan.


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