Pbs

Public television will launch a new weekly newsmagazine next fall, and it will be produced in part by ABC News' "Nightline," PBS announced yesterday. The working title for the magazine is "Life in Bold," and it will spotlight everyday people, according to Pat Mitchell, who has been promising more partnerships with commercial broadcasters and filmmakers since taking over as president at PBS earlier this year. "In a television environment that often confuses celebrities with heroes, `Life in Bold' will spotlight compelling stories of extraordinary achievement by ordinary people," Mitchell said.

A preview of "The War of 1812," a documentary scheduled to debut on PBS next month, will be held in Baltimore Monday night at Landmark Theatres Harbor East Cinema. The film, is produced by WNED-TV, a public television station in Buffalo, and Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc., in association with Washington's WETA. Monday's screening, which starts at 7 p.m., benefits Star Spangled 200, Inc., which describes itself as a non-profit fundraising affiliate of  of the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission.

Remember all the news stories a few months ago saying Big Bird could be headed for moth balls and the lights of small public television stations might be darkened forever -- all because of Newt Gingrich and his call for Congress to "zero out" federal funding for PBS?Well, the immediate threat of such dire developments has passed. While the public television community is not about to declare total victory, PBS president Ervin S. Duggan said yesterday it is winning the war to keep federal dollars flowing.

LOS ANGELES -- After more than two weeks of smoke and mirror shows from the four broadcast networks and a host of cable channels, the critics gathered here for the semi-annual press tour couldn't complain when the PBS presentation was cut from three days to two and filled with a more than usual amount of empty time.There was probably method behind this kindness.All across the board, public stations are feeling the brunt of a declining economy. Though they are not dependent on the advertising market that has grown so soft for the commercial networks, they are dependent on the largess of corporations for underwriting funds.

AMERICANS' perception of the Public Broadcasting System is that of benevolent uncle, bestowing upon us Big Bird and National Geographic specials. These days, however, PBS is behaving more like Big Brother.What has provoked the Jekyll/Hyde transformation is the success of non-PBS producers who are delivering needed educational programming to public schools across the U.S.Historically, PBS has been viewed as the "educational" channel. In this role it has been a producer of high-quality, high-dollar productions that are part entertainment and part education.

Did you know 40 million people in the United States can claim ancestry from the land of Erin? A lush, new PBS documentary tracing the Irish immigration experience reaches television tonight, after winning awards at numerous film festivals.* "Party for the Planet" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Jane Seymour, Chris Evert, Paula Poundstone, David Hasselhof, Jonathan Brandis and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are among the guests on a special from Sea World and Busch Gardens in Florida that celebrates what youngsters are doing to save the environment.

While the War of 1812 might be known as "America's Forgotten War" elsewhere, that's definitely not the case in Baltimore and Maryland. Our obsession with all things 1812 is one of the regional characteristics so pronounced that it is lampooned in "The Second City Does Baltimore" satire now running at Center Stage . And Monday night, area viewers will have the chance to feed that appetite with two hours of a carefully researched documentary about...

Well, he's not 64 yet, but Paul McCartney is moving in on the half-century mark. That happens next year. So, one supposes it's about time for a rock 'n' roller to turn his ear to the quieter strains of classical music.It seems like yesterday that Paul and the other Beatles were the ragged, long-haired hippies wandering amid the orchestra they had hired to play on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," encouraging these classically trained musicians to play with cacophony, without regular tempo, before joining for that haunting closing chord of "A Day in the Life."

LOS ANGELES -- Big Bird and Barney are the big story in public television this year.The two colorful favorites of the pre-school set were cited again and again yesterday by PBS brass who met with the press here to promote the PBS lineup for 1993."

PASADENA, Calif. -- Public television yesterday announced a campaign to help parents identify quality television programming. The initiative, which PBS is calling "Smart Parents," includes brochures, on-air messages, Internet content, a home-video series and a national advertising campaign."