When I heard that PBS was planning to repeat Ken Burns' "The Civil War" to mark the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States, I made a point of blocking out some time to sample the DVD box set I bought a few years ago.
Sample, schmample. Without planning to, I ended up watching the entire series over the course of a few evenings. And what I was quickly reminded of was how the 10-hour series had changed how documentaries are presented on TV. And how it's simply the best thing I've ever seen on PBS, and certainly the best long-form documentary ever made for American TV.
Before I get into that, let me take a few minutes to say that I think some of Burns' follow-up projects such as "Baseball," and "Thomas Jefferson," could have used some editing. The success of "The Civil War" has made him immune from such constraints, and he can go on and on.
But that critique does not apply to "The Civil War." From the achingly sad theme "Ashokan Farewell," to the wisdom of historian Shelby Foote, to the reading of historical reminiscences by familiar voices to the stark black-and-white historical photos, there isn't a misstep in the 10 hours.
It's all the more remarkable because it looks at a period before the invention of moving pictures.
All those techniques are now commonplace in other non-Burns documentaries, both on PBS and on cable outlets like the History Channel -- which weren't a factor when "The Civil War" first aired more than 20 years ago.
Yes, it's been more than two decades since we heard Foote, one of the stars of this documentary, quoting a soldier who watched a rabbit bolt from the battlefield, "Run, old hare. If I was an old hare, I'd run, too."
Milwaukee Public TV will begin the re-airing at 7 p.m. Sunday on Channel 10, continuing at 7 p.m. nightly through Thursday.
In the meantime, here's the haunting "Ashokan Farewell" to get you in the mood for "The Civil War."
If you're interested in karaoke: ABC is planning a summer TV version of the Karaoke World Championships, with its "America's Karaoke Challenged" scheduled to debut Aug. 8.
Wisconsin's path to the championships, and the TV show, will be karaoke competitions beginning next month in three different West Bend venues.
If you're dying to sing in front of a crowd, check out the Karaoke World Championships USA website for locations and contact information.
On TV: The Internet has passed TV as the main source of news for the under-30 crowd, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center. Some 65 percent say on-line news is their first choice, nearly double from three years ago.
- Starting this weekend, Chicago's long-time horror movie host Svengoolie, portrayed by Rich Koz, comes to Milwaukee from 9 to 11 p.m. Saturday on Me-TV, airing on Channel 49 over the air, and Channel 19 for Time Warner and Charter Cable subscribers. The scheduled movie: "The Brides of Dracula."
- If you're a fan of flash mobs, Fox follows tonight's "American Idol" results show with "Mobbed," a one-hour version of the concept hosted by Howie Mandel. It airs at 8 on Channel 6.
- The writers of CBS' "The Good Wife" have tweeted that Sarah Silverman will guest on the show later this spring.
- As TV gears up for the April 29 British royal wedding, TV Guide Network has announced "Kathy Griffin's Insightful and Hilarious Take on the Royal Wedding" to air the night of the nuptials at 7 p.m.
Everything's coming up Elton: From this week's "American Idol," to NBC's "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, you'll have plenty of chances to see Elton John, who just marked his 64th birthday.
Here are the promos for this weekend's "SNL":
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
