The TV Column

Touring Years, First Boys document Beatles, baseball

Ed Sullivan (center) stands with The Beatles during a Feb. 9, 1964, rehearsal for the British group’s first American appearance on his variety show. The Fab 4 are (from left) Ringo Starr, George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Ed Sullivan (center) stands with The Beatles during a Feb. 9, 1964, rehearsal for the British group’s first American appearance on his variety show. The Fab 4 are (from left) Ringo Starr, George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

One of the best things about pledge time at AETN is that we get to catch programs we missed the first time around. That's the case tonight with a couple of outstanding specials -- one a local treasure and another that'll take baby boomers back to the halcyon days of their youth.

Beatles: Eight Days a Week -- The Touring Years, 8:30-11 p.m. today.

Where were you at precisely 7:12 p.m. Feb. 9, 1964? If you were like me (and 73 million other Americans), you were camped out in front of the family TV that Sunday watching "these youngsters from Liverpool who call themselves The Beatles" perform on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS. It was one of those seminal moments that you recall where you were for the rest of your life.

That many viewers meant an astonishing 40 percent of the country -- the largest live TV audience to date -- was watching as The Beatles sang five songs. Bonus points if you can remember what they were.

The Fab 4 sang "All My Loving," "Till There Was You" and "She Loves You" in the first half of the show, then came back later with "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

Beatlemania had arrived. What isn't generally known is that the group was already a huge success in Europe and that's where the documentary from director Ron Howard begins.

From June 1962 to August 1966, when the band stopped touring, The Beatles performed 815 times in 15 different countries and 90 cities around the world. The special "tells the story of these exceptional touring years -- from the perspectives of the band, its orbit, the fans and their world."

The film, which was produced with the cooperation of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, draws from more than 100 hours of rare footage and includes interviews, along with 12 full and partial concert performances.

Brace yourselves: The film, which first aired Nov. 25, takes up two and a half hours on the AETN schedule. The documentary runs only 97 minutes. Do the math -- that's a lot of interstitial Beg-a-Thon time no matter how worthy the cause. One reader says he sends in his annual donation, then records the specials and fast forwards through the pitches.

The First Boys of Spring. Acclaimed filmmaker Larry Foley's loving, award-winning tribute to baseball and Hot Springs encores at 6:30 p.m. today on AETN.

Billy Bob Thornton narrates the saga of how, from 1886 to around 1925, "the best who ever played the game" came to Hot Springs to overcome "winters of sedentary indulgence" by "boiling out alcoholic microbes" in the mineral baths.

A photo of a chunky Babe Ruth soaking in a tub sticks out.

The prolific Foley, a former reporter for KATV and longtime staple at AETN, joined the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, in 1993. He is now the chairman of the School of Journalism and Strategic Media. His films have been nominated for 19 Mid-America Emmys, earning seven.

ABC's The Bachelorette will premiere. its 14th season at 7 p.m. May 28 and the lucky gal looking for true, lasting, happily-ever-after fairy-tale love will be none other than Becca Kufrin.

What? Wait. Wasn't Becca the girl who won the heart of Arie Luyendyk Jr. over 28 others (including Weiner's own Tia Booth) on the recently completed Bachelor?

Yes, indeed. But in case you missed the March 6 season finale, good ol' vacillating Arie had a change of heart after the final rose ceremony.

Arie broke up with "America's sweetheart" just weeks after proposing. It seems he still had feelings for runner-up Lauren Burnham. So, Arie dumped Becca and proposed to Lauren. She said, "Yes." What could go wrong with that?

Weeping copious crocodile tears, ABC gushed, "With the help of her family and friends, Becca was able to pick up the pieces and put the focus back on herself, moving forward with her life. She is willing to take another leap of faith to look for her soul mate, the love of her life, again. But this time, it will be on her terms and forever."

Sadly, millions of viewers will tune in come May to see if Becca can finally find true, lasting love among 25 to 30 suitors. If you plan to watch, just remember -- every hour you watch this manufactured piffle will be an hour of your life that you can never, ever get back again.

On My Block, a new coming-of-age comedy from Netflix set in Los Angeles' South Central neighborhood, downloads Friday. Season 1 has 10 episodes.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

[email protected]

Weekend on 03/15/2018

Upcoming Events