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Check, Please! South Florida Returns with New Episodes and a New Look!

 

Tune in for all-new restaurant reviews…and a fresh new look on Check, Please! South Florida, beginning January 23^rd on WPBT2. This season, WPBT2’s popular restaurant review show will sport an updated graphic open, revamped logo, and even new theme music! 

Host Michelle Bernstein returns to the Emmy-nominated series, along with fifteen opinionated guest reviewers from all across South Florida.  Their dining picks run the gamut, from a colorful Colombian spot in South Miami to the chic and trendy Bistro Chez Jean-Pierre in Palm Beach.  Guest reviewers include a South Beach model, Hollywood golf caddy, and Palm Beach financial advisor.  One episode features local female impersonator, Miss Finesse, as one of the guest reviewers.  

The fun begins Monday, January 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.  Episodes repeat on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 5:30 p.m.

 

Season 7 is made possible by the generous support of Badia Spices, Whole Foods Market, Johnson & Wales University, and George & Helen Weaver.

 

 

SEASON 7 EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS:

Show #701- Premiere 1/23

Featuring La Brochette Bistro in Cooper City, Lifefood Gourmet in Miami, and Macita’s Colombian Restaurant in Miami.

Show #702- Premiere 1/30

Featuring 32 East in Delray Beach, Snapper’s Seafood & Wine Bar in Boynton Beach, and Taqueria Doña Raquel in Pompano Beach.

Show #703- Premiere 2/6

Featuring Hakkasan in Miami Beach, Ristorante Sapori in Boca Raton, and Candela Restaurant in Wilton Manors.

Show #704 – Premiere 2/13

Featuring Darbster in West Palm Beach, Bistro Chez Jean-Pierre in Palm Beach, and Geronimo’s Bar & Grill in Davie.

Show #705 – Premiere 2/20

Featuring Hy Vong in Miami, Café Seville in Ft. Lauderdale, and Lorna’s Caribbean & American Restaurant in Miami Gardens.

 

Downtown Abbey Returns!

One of the most phenomenally popular series in MASTERPIECE history and multiple emmy winner is back for an exciting second season: Downton Abbey: Season 2 resumes the story of aristocrats and servants of Downton Abbey during the tumultuous World War I era.

The international hit, written by Julian Fellowes, stars Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville, as well as a drawing room full of new actors, portraying the loves, feuds and sacrifices of a glittering culture thrown into crisis. Laura Linney hosts.

 Downton Abbey: Season 2 premieres Sunday, January 8 at 9:00 p.m.  and continues every Sunday through February 19 on WPBT2.

 

Flagler's Train: The Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad

 Flagler’s Train: The Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad premieres Thursday, January 12 at 8:00 p.m., exclusively on WPBT2.

Flagler’s Trainis a one hour documentary, produced by WPBT2, which chronicles the imagination and achievements of Henry Morrison Flagler, who spearheaded the development of the overseas railway connecting Key West to the existing Florida East Coast Railway.

Traveling on the Over-Sea Railroad was more like riding on a ship than a train, a departure from the mainland on a journey that went to sea across the turquoise waters between the Atlantic Ocean and the gulf of Mexico.  The destination was Key West, a jewel at the end of a far-flung chain of emerald islands known as the Florida Keys.  Here was the fulfillment of an extraordinary vision joined by the hopes of many, perfected in the sacrifices and labor of thousands at a time when Americans believed anything was possible in a country destined for greatness.

The program features archival photographs, personal correspondence, original drawings of the Over-Sea Railroad project and newspaper articles of the day, tracing daily reports of the human struggles and technological achievements needed to complete the Florida East Coast Railway.

“WPBT produced the documentary to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Henry Morrison Flagler’s arrival aboard the first passenger train to Key West on January 22, 1912. The much celebrated event marked the official opening of the Florida East Coast Railway’s Key West Extension connecting Key West to the mainland,” said Mark Baker, producer of Flagler’s Train: The Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad.

Much like Titanic, nature had the final say over the project and the remains of this great experiment still stand as a reminder of this feat of engineering and ingenuity a century later.

 

When Your Young At Art

Broward Cultural Division recently announced Young At Art (YAA) Museum as the eighth Cultural Institution in Broward County, as defined by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council.

This new designation will now include YAA in a group of Broward County’s largest cultural not-for-profit organizations. The other seven are: Bonnet House, Hollywood Art and Culture Center, Museum of Discovery and Science, NSU Museum of Art Division, Opera Guild of Fort Lauderdale, Symphony of Americas, Inc., and The Broward County Film Society.

To be considered for designation as a CI, a non-profit organization must meet very specific criteria, including carrying an annual operating budget of at least $1 million; have an uninterrupted ten-year history of providing services in Broward County in their established cultural disciplines; must be qualified and designated as Cultural Institution Program organization by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council.

Young At Art Museum has come a long way since its early days in 1986, when artists from the Museum Without Walls traveled South Florida, creating an awareness campaign and discovering a community need. The Broward Cultural Council made an investment through a Mini Grant, to a then, small not-for-profit organization located in the heart of Plantation. Young At Art was surrounded by families and lots of un-built space. Today, more than 25 years later, the community has grown and so has the need for their services, leading to $21 million in new construction, of a 55,000 square-foot, LEED certified Young At Art Museum in partnership with Broward County Library, along the I-595 corridor in Davie, and scheduled for completion in Spring 2012. The museum is geared to be the new epicenter of art, culture and education for families featuring four permanent galleries: GreenScapes, CultureScapes, WonderScapes and ArtScapes.

This recent CI designation follows another recognition, that of national accreditation earlier this year, by the American Association of Museums (AAM). Young At Art (YAA) Museum stands alone in the state of Florida as the only children’s museum to achieve this national accreditation by the AAM, and one of only six children’s museums in the nation to receive this accreditation; and of the 17,500 museums nationally, only 779 or 4.5 percent are accredited; and this elite group includes such well-known institutions as The Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Field Museum in Chicago and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles; and of the 779 accredited nationally, 49 are in the state of Florida. Young at Art is the fourth museum in Broward County to be accredited with this honor, following the Nova Southeastern University, Museum of Art|Fort Lauderdale, the Museum of Discovery and Science and Bonnet House Museum and Gardens.

Don't Miss the Lunar Eclipse!

WPBT2’s Star Gazers will host a Live Lunar Eclipse Event from Reno, Nevada on Saturday, December 10 from 4:00 a.m. – 7:00 am (PST) and 7:00 am  - 10:00 am (EST).To view the eclipse and join the conversation, visit www.wpbt2.org/lunareclipse

Star Gazers, a production of WPBT2, South Florida Public Media, is a new astronomy series built on the legacy of Jack Horkheimer’s award-winning series.

Star Gazers hosts Dean Regas, the outreach astronomer for the Cincinnati Observatory and Marlene Hidalgo, a science educator who represents the Miami Science Museum, will provide on-camera commentary and answer questions from WPBT2’s online audience as the lunar eclipse unfolds. Joining Dean and Marlene during the webcast will be Bill Dishong, series producer of Star Gazers and Star Gazer with Jack Horkheimer; and Dan Ruby, Associate Director of the Fleischmann Planetarium in Reno, Nevada.

Host Dean Regas is excited to explore the celestial sky with viewers, “I love the beauty and precision of an eclipse.  It’s a powerful moment when the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up just right to turn the Moon an eerie shade.  Each eclipse is a unique experience and I’m looking forward to sharing this rare celestial alignment.” 

While most of North American and Hawaii viewers may be able to see the moonset still in eclipse, viewers on the East Coast and in South America will not be able to see the eclipse.  Those along the west coast of the United States and Canada will see the beginning of totality just as the moon disappears below the western horizon.

“The WPBT2’s Star Gazers Live Event offers the opportunity for
 everyone to enjoy and discuss the entire lunar eclipse regardless of their location. I am so thrilled that I will be onsite to witness and cover the event from Reno, Nevada. I look forward to being able to share this experience with viewers, especially those in the Midwest and on the east coast, who will not be able to see the eclipse in it's entirety,”  stated Host Marlene Hildago. 

So, if you can’t make it to Reno, Nevada, you can watch the lunar eclipse on December 10th live on www.wpbt2.org/lunareclipse

 

 

WPBT2 will host two dinners with Jim Lehrer, PBS NewsHour Anchor and also moderator of eleven Presidential Debates, on Wednesday, February 22 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach and Thursday, February 23 at the Coral Gables Country Club.  Ticket information for the dinners is available at wpbt2.org/lehrer.

 Jim Lehrercame to PBS in 1972, teaming with Robert MacNeil in 1973 to cover the Senate Watergate hearings. They began in 1975 what became The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, and, in 1983, the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, the first 60-minute evening news program on television.  When MacNeil retired in 1995, the program was renamed The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

In the last six presidential elections, Lehrer moderated eleven of the nationally televised candidate debates.  His latest book, a non-fiction work about the presidential debates, titled Tension City,was published in September 2011. At the WPBT2 dinners, Lehrer will discuss his latest book and give attendees a ringside seat for some of the epic political battles or our time, shedding light on some of the critical turning points and theoretical faux pas that helped determine the outcome of America's presidential elections.  He will provide antedotes from his experiences as "the man in the middle seat."

During the Evenings with Jim Lehrer, WPBT2 will also present Lifetime Service Awards to William F. Koch, Jr. and Herbert A. Tobin for their commitment to public television WPBT2.

Tune in for this Music Special on Saturday, December 3 at 9pm on WPBT2, 60s POP, ROCK & SOUL: MY MUSIC. Beloved British Icons, The Monkees’ Davy Jones and Herman’s Hermits’ Peter Noone present an All-Star Lineup of Sixties Hits Peter Noone performs “I’m into Something Good," “I’m Henry the Eight, I Am” and “There’s a Kind of Hush” while Davy Jones sings the ever popular “Daydream Believer.”

Davy Jones, a South Florida resident himself asks all viewers to support public television and show you care about the station that brings all the specials and British classics to your living room each and every week. For more information, call 1-800-222-9728 or go online at www.wpbt2.org.


Posted by: WPBT2's "In-house Brit," Fiona Scott

 

Jim Leher at the Miami Book Fair

 
The Miami Book Fair International, the nations top literary fesitval, is off and running for its 28th year. 

Attendees will get a chance to see over 350 authors read and discuss their work during the Festival of Authors starting Friday, November 18, as well as over 250 publishers and booksellers exhibit and sell books.

This year Jim Leher, known as "the Dean of Moderators," will appear to give his insight on more than 40 years of televised presidential debates and tapping his own moderating experience from his book, "Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain."

Jim Leher will appear Sunday, November 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Chapman Conference Center (Building 3, second floor, room 3210.)

For ticketing information more information on the fair, visit www.miamibookfair.com.

What A Funny Guy Woody Is!

Known for movies such as "Annie Hall", "Husband and Wives", "The Mighty Aphrodite" and "Midnight in Paris", Woody Allen has been a pillar in the film community for decades.

Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Robert Weide follows the legendary writer, director, actor, comedian and musician for over a year and a half to document Allen's day to day life, something Allen has never let anyone do before. The documentary covers Allen's childhood and leads up to the writer/director he has become, averaging one film a year for more than 40 years.

The documentary includes interviews from actors, writers, friends and family such as Antonio Banderas, Owen Wilson, Diane Keaton, Chris Rock, Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson Woody, Martin Scorsese, Doug McGrath, Allen's manager Jack Rollins and Allen's sister Letty Aronson.

Woody Allen: A Documentary, a two party documentary, airs Sunday, November 20 from 9-11 p.m. and Monday, November 21 from 9-10:30 p.m. on WPBT2 as a part of the 25th Anniversary season of American Masters.

 

They Still Rock

Want to see who today's women in music look up to? Then you'll have to check out interviews from Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Mavis Staples, Bessie Smith, Mother Maybelle and more.

Hosten by Grammy Award-winning Cyndi Lauper, Women Who Rock takes a look at the influence of women in music starting from the 1920s and 30s and moving up to the present day women who dominate the pop music. The film shows how present female musicians were influenced by their predecessors.

As a part of PBS' Arts Fall Festival, Women Who Rock airs Friday, November 18 at 9 p.m. on WPBT2.