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Mr. TV: Life at war from a different perspective
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A young man breaks down on camera as he recounts the fact that his carnival-travelling parents abandoned him one night when he was three. Another anguishes about returning home to his pregnant girlfriend. He wants to be a good father, but isn’t sure he really loves her. This is some pretty heady stuff. What makes it just a little different is these are two of more than 5,000 real people talking about their personal stories while living together sandwiched beneath the runway of a major airport and on the roof of a nuclear power plant otherwise known as the USS Nimitz.
In 2005, the Navy granted a 17-person PBS crew a high level of access to document daily life aboard the 24-story-high aircraft carrier while on full deployment in the Persian Gulf.
Kind of puts the “Big Brother” house in perspective.
That’s why I’m watching “Carrier,” a new 10-part documentary series beginning with the first two installments starting at 9 p.m. Sunday on WGCU. The series concludes on May 1.
Shooting 2,000 hours of high-definition footage over six months, the PBS team almost became a part of the crew. The result is a moving, character-driven, personally shared human experience as opposed to an impassive explanation of the workings of what’s described as “the most expensive waterfront property in the world.”
Whatever your opinion of the military or the Iraq war, “Carrier,” paints a human-faced patina over it. One that stares back at you.
Make a note
Four series make their post-strike return on Thursday with all new episodes. At 8 p.m., “Ugly Betty” is back on ABC with the first of five. At 9 p.m. the CW’s “Supernatural” has first of four new shows and “Grey’s Anatomy” returns to ABC. In this first of five new episodes, Amy Madigan stars in a recurring role as a hospital psychiatrist. Then at 10 p.m., “Lost” moves to its new time slot on ABC.
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Top 10 prime-time programs, locally
1. “American Idol” Tuesday, Fox
2. “American Idol” Wednesday, Fox
3. “CSI: NY,” CBS
4. “NCIS,” CBS
5. “CSI,” CBS
6. “Criminal Minds,” CBS
7. “Dancing With the Stars” Monday, ABC
8. “Survivor,” CBS
9. “CSI: Miami,” CBS
10. “Without a Trace,” CBS
Note: Wednesday’s highly watched Democratic debate on ABC tied at 11th place beating “Deal or No Deal” and “Law & Order SVU.”
Source: TV household local Nielsen Media Research data for week ending April 20 supplied by WINK-TV.
E-mail Mr. TV at mrtv@naplesnews.com.
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