What if PBS Staged a 'War' and Nobody Came?Desperate TV critics threw themselves at the feet of PBS suits and begged them not to debut Ken Burns' new 14-hour documentary "The War" during so-called Premiere Week -- when most of the series on the commercial broadcast networks would make their debuts -- because it was sure to get buried in the avalanche... Critics specifically warned that if "The War" debuted on Sept. 16, as planned, editors would not let them write about it as extensively as if it debuted one week earlier or later -- nor would they be allowed to put the project, on which Burns has worked five years, on the covers of their weekly TV supplements... Kerger and John Boland, PBS's chief content officer, listened patiently to the critics, and then Boland said "nuts to you" as nicely as he knew how. "We believe this will be the most important program on television in September," Boland said. It's like they live in Brigadoon or something, these PBS people. Have they heard of "Grey's Anatomy"? PBS, Boland said, smiling patiently as if explaining something to a much-loved but slow child, "cannot go into hibernation" just because it's Premiere Week.
by Lisa de Moraes
The Washington Post
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Well, it could be worse. At least the critics aren’t asking Ken Burns to show the gay contribution to the war effort.