Giles

sorry this is a day late, but I don't see that this has been noted as debuting on PBS this week:

The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan. Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska - The National Parks: America's Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background – rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy.


http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/

BDB

Added it to my DVR last night...

Tommy Ceez

Just scheduled from Tivo.com

Dr_Evil

I watched the first half hour last night and this looks like it will be a great series.

B.A.

I watched a few parts of last nights ep and enjoyed it quite a bit. I wish the replay was one hour later, then it would be perfect for people w/ a crowded DVR.

The picture was top notch.

BDB

replays for me are at 2am - perfect time!

Giles

you're telling me, I have so much on DVR already, for all the episodes to be sequential for the next following days is a bit overkill - I can't even record them in hidef, cause it will eat too much 'space'

milo bloom

Interesting stuff, kinda surprised (though I shouldn't have been) to learn that there's always a part of our government willing to sell off a part of ourselves for a profit.

Jim

I only saw a few minutes here and there, but what I did see didn't hold my interest. I'll try with a full episode tonight, but it just seemed awfully dry. The national parks have so much beauty and energy and this seemed lifeless in comparison with an abundance of still photos. Guess I'm just not a fan of Burns' style. Was there a lot of live footage of the parks that I missed?

FantasticVSDoom

The beginning was a bit slow, but once it got into it, was really good... I have to find room on the dvr (had to give up my 2nd one) to get the rest of this in. Or just wait for the hopeful BD of it.

Quatermass

I watched all of part 1. It was interesting and visually stunning, but I don't know if I can hang in for the remaining 10 hours. I can't imagine there would be enough material for that long. I guess we'll see. I'll probably record Big Bang Theory and watch part 2 tonight since there's nothing else on that I watch Mondays.

slop101

I'm just gonna pick up the blu-ray, which comes out next week.

Giles

question: is this series shot on hidef video, or actual film? I'm taping this in regular def so I can't visually tell.

dhmac

Last night's episode reminded me why Teddy Roosevelt is my favorite president. Every story about him is always entertaining.

dhmac

The already aired episodes are online at PBS

And, after they air, will remain online until Oct 9th.

zuffy

Saw an ad in the train for this show last month. My DVR is all set to record all the episodes.

Merkin Muffley

Not knowing anything about the Hetch Hetchy situation, I was horrified to see that they actually built the dam. It's like when you watch a nature documentary and the cute bunny rabbit is being chased by the wolf. You just know they wouldn't be so awful as to show the bunny die. Well, last night was one of those moments for me. The people who OK'd that thing should be resurrected just so they can be shot and killed again.

dhmac

Yeah, that story was so sad to watch unfold. And there are a lot of other places to build a reservoir that are closer to SF so it was completely unnecessary to ruin that place. But it does illustrate the main point of this series: when no one saves these special areas and they are destroyed by some sort of development project, they are gone forever and literally extinct for all future generations. It makes one really appreciate the few people who thought ahead and then fought the political battles to protect these areas that are now national parks.

Quatermass

That's absolutely true. I watched all of Part 2 (hours 3 & 4) but after watching the preview for Part 3, I couldn't bring myself to watch or record last night's offering. I think they've made that point abundantly clear and they are just reiterating it by telling the various stories about how each park came to be.