Pipeline Blog

OETA's fabulous local documentaries GALLERY and STATELINE are taking a break in December so that we can bring you more holiday programming.

Tonight's program is an exception. It's not holiday-themed, but it promises to be very colorful and interesting... CHIHULY: FIRE & LIGHT.

At once organic and otherworldly, pure and complicated, Dale Chihuly's glass works brilliantly combine the simplicity of the medium with the extraordinary innovation of the artist. From Chihuly's studio in Seattle to installation sites throughout San Francisco, CHIHULY FIRE & LIGHT observes the artist at work with his team as he conceives and creates his most ambitious exhibition to date, Chihuly at the de Young. This exhibition included 11 galleries of new and archival works representing the breadth and scope of the artist's creative vision during the last four decades. From the Mille Fiori (a 56-foot garden of glass) to the Saffron Tower (a 30-foot neon sculpture), Chihuly's exquisite sculptures challenge convention with bold color, dramatic forms and extraordinary composition. 

CHIHULY: FIRE AND LIGHT airs tonight at 8pm on OETA's main channel. It won't repeat on any of our channels for several months, so try to catch it or record it tonight.

I'll post more information about the upcoming holiday programming tomorrow. Stay tuned!  

Yes! The day has finally come! We finally have *new* LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE episodes for our loyal Britcom fans!

You've been telling us for years there are new episodes out there. And we believed you!! But we couldn't get the broadcast rights. Well, now we have them, and they'll begin airing tonight... 

Seasons 29 through 32 will air Monday through Thursday from now until sometime in March of next year. At that point, we'll start over again and air all of the LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE episodes in chronological order. 

The chronological order will be interrupted the week of Christmas so that we can air special holiday episodes.

On this Thanksgiving evening, I want to give a big THANK YOU to our Members who've contributed money to OETA for the purchase of these programs and many others. Without our Members, there would be no LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE or VICAR OF DIBLEY or FAWLTY TOWERS or DOCTOR WHO or AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN or RED GREEN SHOW or OETA MOVIE CLUB... I could go on and on, but you get the idea. You can become a Member and take some of the credit for OETA airing these programs by clicking here. 

Thursday, November 25

10a to 12p        The State Department of Education's "Instructional Television" (ITV) block goes on holiday break for the next couple of days. OETA has the opportunity to fill this two-hour time period with programming of our choice. In keeping with the holiday spirit, we've chosen programs with Thanksgiving in the storylines. MAYA & MIGUEL, ARTHUR and DRAGONFLYTV are all Thanksgiving-themed episodes. SONGS OF THANKSGIVING is a beautiful music program that will help set the mood while you're setting the table. It repeats again at dinnertime.

6:30pm             SONGS OF THANKSGIVING – Often the best opportunity to express genuine gratitude is through the kindness and service we give to others. In this program, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs inspiring music that captures the true spirit of Thanksgiving. For those of you who tuned in to see OKLAHOMA NEWS REPORT, there will not be a newscast tonight. It will return on Monday, November 29. (As a state agency on a reduced budget, we must remain closed on holidays.)

8pm                  GALLERY “The People’s Gallery” (#904) -- Judge Robert Henry leads us on a tour of the art pieces that hang in the State Capitol Building. (Original Broadcast Date -- 11/13/08)

8:30pm             STATELINE “Mr. Military Mom” (#1204) -- Follows two Oklahoma men taking care of their homes and kids while their wives are deployed overseas. (Original Broadcast Date -- 11/11/10)

10pm                DIERKS BENTLEY LIVE AT THE RYMAN     You've asked and we're answering. We're adding more country and bluegrass music to our schedule. Tonight's special is brand new out of Nashville. It replaces AUSTIN CITY LIMITS tonight only. ACL will return next week. 

11pm                LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE – This is the first episode of the “new” Seasons 29-32. We’ve never aired these episodes before. Loyal fans have been requesting them for years and they've just recently been made available to us. We will air these episodes in chronological order between now and March 2011, and then we’ll start over again from the beginning. Some viewers will like them. Some will say they're not as funny as the older ones. We can't please all of our viewers all of the time... but we will keep trying! 

Friday, November 26

6:30am             CURIOUS GEORGE: FOLLOW THAT MONKEY – This is a 90min special feeding from PBS a half hour earlier than the usual CURIOUS GEORGE feed. If you miss part of it, you can purchase it at many retail outlets. Unfortunately, it will not air again this year on OETA. 

8am                  A VERY MONKEY CHRISTMAS – This is a special NEW one-hour episode of  CURIOUS GEORGE. It will air again 12/23 at 10am, or you can purchase it from the Shop PBS online store. 

10a to 12p        As I mentioned in above, ITV is on holiday break. PRIMA PRINCESSA PRESENTS THE NUTCRACKER and CRICKET ON THE HEARTH are special holiday-themed children’s programs airing in place of the usual ITV programs. PRIMA PRINCESSA will air again on 12/24 at 10am, but CRICKET ON THE HEARTH won't be seen again until next year.

6:30pm             STATELINE “The People’s House” (#903) – Takes viewers inside the house and the history of the Governor’s mansion. As mentioned above, OKLAHOMA NEWS REPORT will return on Monday, November 29th. 

7:30pm             NEED TO KNOW – All segments in tonight's program are repeats, except for “Just Ask Peter Sagal” where he shares some tips on how to survive a holiday family gathering. I will definitely DVR this one. 

9pm                 LIVE FROM THE ARTISTS DEN “Dierks Bentley” – It’s a Dierks Bentley Thanksgiving weekend on OETA!

Saturday, November 27

5pm                  HISTORY DETECTIVES – This is the last HISTORY DETECTIVES we’re going to air for a while. We’ve shown every episode from Season 8 several times. Christmas programming will fill this timeslot in December. And then starting next year, the 5pm timeslot will be filled with a "best of” program from earlier in the week. Much of it will be PIONEERS OF TELEVISION. Good stuff.

9pm                  OETA MOVIE CLUB “A Fish Called Wanda”              I betcha never thought you’d see this one on the OETA MOVIE CLUB. Well, our movie supplier hasn’t given us as many “classic” movies as in previous years. As a public television station with a limited budget, we can’t call up MGM or Warner Brothers and ask for the broadcast rights to classic films. We are limited to the “movie packages” offered by distributors like American Public Television. They do a pretty good job of giving us hit movies. But those of you who are classic film purists might be disappointed by “A Fish Called Wanda.” Don’t blame BJ! He has nothing to do with the selection. He’s just there to enjoy the show with you. You can join BJ next week for “The Night They Raided Minsky’s.”

Sunday, November 28

Most PBS stations are starting their pledge drives today, November 28th. OETA is one of the few stations that does not hold a pledge drive in December. Since PBS isn't feeding any new programming this week, we can air some wonderful programs that have been requested by our viewers. I'll post more about those programs later. 

1pm                  TRICKS OF THE TRADE – OUTSMARTING INVESTMENT FRAUD – Reveals common persuasion tactics of con artists and the underlying psychologies of financial scams. OKLAHOMA FORUM and CLOSER TO TRUTH will return next week. No episodes will be skipped.

2:30pm             RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY – This is an encore episode. A new one was not produced because most PBS stations are in their pledge drives.

3pm                  OKLAHOMA HORIZON -- Travel to Medicine Park to learn the fascinating history and culture of the town.

8pm                  GREAT PERFORMANCES “Sondheim: The Birthday Concert” – PBS isn't feeding a new episode of MASTERPIECE tonight (or next week) while stations are in their pledge drives. Here's another chance to enjoy this incredible new GREAT PERFORMANCES episode. (A program much like this one aired twelve years ago and it caused something inside me to click. I realized that I belong in public television, not commercial. You'll never find something like this on commercial TV.) 

11:30pm           VICAR OF DIBLEY – Returns to the schedule. Like I said about LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE... Some viewers will be happy about this. Some will be upset. Viewers who want to see more FAWLTY TOWERS can enjoy all of the episodes again on the OKLA Channel starting December 11th, Saturdays at 10:30pm.

I'll be honest. I'm not much of a history buff. But I've always been fascinated by this story...

It was 1918. The world was at war. German Forces were continuing to decipher the Allied Forces’ radio codes. They'd tapped into phone lines and captured messenger runners. They anticipated many of the Allied movements and strategies.

Allied Forces were desperate to find a way to communicate without the enemy eavesdropping. They approached Choctaw soldiers, who were serving as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and asked them to use their native language to transmit messages. These brave men weren't even considered American citizens yet, but there they were... fighting on the battlefields and in the trenches, using a weapon that only they possessed... changing the course of world history. 

The Navajo Code Talkers got more press in later years for their code talking efforts in WWII, but it was the handful of brave and patriotic Choctaw soldiers who laid the foundation for all future battlefield code talkers. 

The new documentary CHOCTAW CODE TALKERS tells the whole story, with riveting historical reenactments, photographs and interviews from Choctaw leaders and historians. It airs Wednesday, November 17th at 10pm on OETA. Here's a clip... 

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