Pipeline Blog
Hello. My name is Holly. I'm part of a team of people who assemble the programming schedule for OETA.
We look at the PBS national schedule, local programs and programs from other stations and distributors. We take in all that information and combine it with Member ballot feedback and viewer suggestions, and at the end of the month, I type a schedule for each of our four channels.
The following are some notes about upcoming programs, preemptions and other points of interest that viewers might not hear otherwise. I hope you'll find it useful!
Doctor Who "Specials"
Written by Holly today
Last Friday, we saw the end of Series 4 with "Journey's End."
Tonight, we begin the next phase of DOCTOR WHO... The "Specials" that make up the gap in time between Series 4, which premiered on BBC1 in the summer of July, and Series 5, which premiered on BBC1 just this last April.
The first of the specials is from Christmas 2008 and is titled "The Next Doctor."
The Doctor arrives in London on Christmas Eve 1851. When a woman in distress calls for him to help her, he arrives to find someone else answering her call and calling himself the doctor. The alternate Doctor seems to know more than he should, dresses like the real Doctor and even has a Tardis - though in his version, it's actually a hot air balloon. While The Doctor sorts out just who this impostor is and why they find themselves in the same time and place, Mercy Hartigan and the Cybermen are kidnapping children to work in building their weapon that will allow them to crown their King.
There are five specials in all. We'll air them in consecutive order for the next several weeks, but we won't have broadcast rights for Series 5 until next year. So, starting October 7th, we'll have to start over again with Series 4.
If you're anything like my husband, you'll agree that these episodes are too good to watch just once. You'll want to see them a few times to soak up the story line, the wise cracks and the special effects. If you're like me, you'll want to watch them several times to understand what they're saying through those thick accents.
Dragon Tales
Written by Holly on Wednesday September 1, 2010
DRAGON TALES will no longer be part of the OETA KIDS line up starting today. The broadcast and web rights for the series have expired for OETA and all other PBS stations. Domestic distribution rights for the series now belong to Sony.
Since its premiere on PBS in 1999, DRAGON TALES has helped build children’s social emotional skills, as well as supporting a music and cultural diversity curriculum.
BARNEY & FRIENDS will replace DRAGON TALES it in the OETA KIDS schedule weekdays at 11:30am. (OETA KIDS is available on Cox Digital Cable channel 114. For more information, click here.)
Stay tuned for more changes to the children's programming schedule coming next week.
The President vs. NOVA
Written by Holly on Tuesday August 31, 2010
When President Obama goes up against NOVA, the President wins.
His speech from the Oval Office tonight will preempt the first 20 minutes or so of NOVA "Becoming Human: First Steps." We'll join the program already in progress at the conclusion of the PBS NEWSHOUR's coverage of the address.
You can see the full hour of NOVA tonight at 1am, Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 11am.
Dove Hunting on Outdoor Oklahoma
Written by Holly on Saturday August 28, 2010
This week on OUTDOOR OKLAHOMA, we follow Damon Springer and his trusty hunting partner Candy, a black lab, as they go hunting at Oklahoma's prime dove spot, Hackberry Flat.
Programming Notes -- Week of August 23rd
Written by Holly on Monday August 23, 2010
Monday, August 23
9pm CITIZEN ARCHITECT: SAMUEL MOCKBEE AND THE SPIRIT OF THE RURAL STUDIO -- A group of students create striking architecture for impoverished communities in rural Alabama.
Tuesday, August 24
8am DINOSAUR TRAIN: UNDER THE SEA – This is a one-hour episode that will preempt SUPER WHY.
9pm THE GLENN POOL STORY -- On a chilly November day in 1905, Robert Galbreath struck oil on the Glenn farm south of Tulsa. Soon, there were hundreds of oil wells producing so much crude that the land was called the "Glenn Pool" - at the time the greatest oilfield in the nation. Black gold from this field helped fuel the nation, and brought thousands of people and a new prosperity to Oklahoma. Using archival photos and rare film clips, this video tells the compelling story of the Glenn Pool's impact on America and how, a century later, the petroleum industry still benefits Oklahoma.
9:30pm POV “The Edge of Dreaming” -- Scottish filmmaker Amy Hardie has built a career making science documentaries that reflect her rational temperament. When she dreamed one night that her horse was dying, only to wake and find the horse dead, she dismissed the incident as coincidental. Then she dreamed she would die at age 48 -- the next year. When Hardie does get ill, just as the dream predicted, her search takes her to neuroscience experts and finally a shaman.
Wednesday, August 25
8pm FRONTLINE “Law & Disorder” -- Behind the enduring images of heroic rescues undertaken by the New Orleans Police Department in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there is another story of law enforcement in crisis, even out of control. "Law & Disorder," a year-long, ongoing collaboration among FRONTLINE, ProPublica and the New Orleans Times-Picayune, investigates charges that NOPD officers inappropriately used lethal force against New Orleans citizens and then tried to cover up their actions. Airing days before the fifth anniversary of one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history and drawing from reports published in a real-time online investigation, FRONTLINE takes a fresh look at how the NOPD performed when the rules of civilized society collapsed.
9pm WASHING AWAY: AFTER THE STORMS -- Five years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana's recovery is far from over. In this new program, a follow-up to 2006's "Washing Away: Losing Louisiana," which revealed the causes and consequences of coastal land lost through the eyes of six individuals living through it, the same six reveal both successes and setbacks as their coastline and culture continue to give way to the Gulf.
Thursday, August 26
8pm GALLERY #806 -- Michi Susan: East Meets West, Wagon Maker: Bill Duncan is an original antique cowboy. (Original Broadcast Date 4/08/08)
8:30pm STATELINE #806 “Let Me Live” – Organ, tissue and cell donation and transplantation issues in Oklahoma. The state is home to at least 525 souls per day waiting for donations. (Original Broadcast Date 2/06/07)
Friday, August 27
10:30pm DOCTOR WHO “The Journey’s End” – This is the final episode in the fourth series. Every universe is in danger as the Daleks activate their master plan to destroy reality itself. The Doctor is helpless, and even his TARDIS faces destruction. The only hope lies with the Doctor's secret army of companions – but as they join forces to battle Davros himself, the prophecy declares that one of them will die. (We will begin airing the “specials” next week that were produced after the fourth series.)
Saturday, August 28
9pm OETA MOVIE CLUB – Tonight, BJ will introduce the final two installments of AMERICAN MASTERS’ story of the Warner Brothers, followed by a late-night rebroadcast of Sunday’s MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!
Sunday, August 29
8pm MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! “Inspector Lewis, Series III: Counter Culture Blues” -- We return to new episodes of MASTERPIECE tonight... While on a routine disturbance call, Lewis is shocked to encounter a rock star he once idolized, who was believed to have died years ago. Could her sudden reappearance and attempt at a comeback album have any connection to the murder of a young orphan nearby? Joanna Lumley (from “Absolutely Fabulous”) guest stars.
