WLIW21 has programming all weekend to get you in the spirit: barbecue recipes, gorgeous fireworks, stellar performances, and films about the holiday’s true meaning, America’s liberty!
ALL-AMERICAN SALUTE TO FOOD
Marathon Saturday, July 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on WLIW21
From frosty favorites to fireside feasts, gear up for your Independence Day festivities with delicious recipes from your favorite public television cooking series. In Primal Grill with Steven Raichlen (11:30 a.m.), learn how to use a conventional grill to make some favorite Indian barbeque dishes like saffron chicken tikka kebabs and tandoori salmon. At 12 noon, the Everyday Food team demonstrates recipes for grilling outside during the summer or inside on the stovetop grill pan any time. In Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie (12:30 p.m.) Ruth Reichl travels to a 4th of July BBQ in Massachusetts to stay up all night as a great chef shows off an entire range of grilling traditions and techniques. Later, in the Gourmet kitchen, learn about the easiest thing you can grill in your own backyard. At 1 p.m., Christopher Kimball and his team get down to basics with lessons about cooking steak and potatoes in America’s Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated. The marathon continues at 1:30 p.m. with a look at favorite foods: discover the light-hearted history of ketchup as Ketchup: King of Condiments delves into little-known facts about the condiment’s origins, development and interesting uses; at 2 p.m. Rick Sebak presents An Ice Cream Show and at 3 p.m. A Hot Dog Program.
Watch an excerpt from An Ice Cream Show:
Preview A Hot Dog Program:
A CAPITOL FOURTH 2009
Saturday, July 3 at 4 p.m.
Get ready for this year’s event with last year’s show featuring Barry Manilow performing a medley of hits and patriotic classics, along with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the late Erich Kunzel and the Choral Arts Society of Washington. Other performers include “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, international pop sensation Natasha Bedingfield, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning cast of Jersey Boys, singer/pianist Michael Feinstein, and acclaimed classical pianist Andrew von Oeyen. As a special family treat, Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and others from the Sesame Street gang perform a musical medley to celebrate both America’s 233rd birthday and The Muppets 40 years on public television! A stunning fireworks display lights up the D.C. skyline, followed by the traditional audience favorite, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” featuring live cannons fired by the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery.
Host Jimmy Smits shares his thoughts on the annual event:
TEN CRUCIAL DAYS – THE ROAD TO LIBERTY
Saturday, July 3 at 5:30 p.m.
This half-hour film examines the significance of General George Washington’s Continental Army 1776 Christmas-night crossing of the Delaware River. The documentary recounts this dramatic escape — one immortalized in Emanuel Leutze’s epic painting — along with the three American victories at the Battle of Trenton, and the lesser-known Second Battle of Trenton and Battle of Princeton. The events of these 10 days forever altered the course of history and marked a major turning point in America’s battle for independence. Ten Crucial Days tells a story of survival and triumph on the banks of the Delaware River through quotes from letters and diaries, illustrations, paintings, maps, artifacts, military re-enactments and location footage. Nationally recognized historians provide background information, critical analysis of the events and colorful anecdotes about the Revolutionary War figures.
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
Saturday, July 3 at 9 p.m.
Ken Burns explores both the history of America’s premier symbol and the meaning of liberty itself in the compelling and provocative hour-long special. For more than 100 years, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of hope and refuge for generations of immigrants. Featuring rare archival photographs, paintings and drawings, readings from actual diaries, letters and newspapers of the day, the fascinating story of this universally admired monument is told.
3,2,1 FIREWORKS
Sunday, July 4 at 9 p.m.
Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Washington, D.C. July 4th celebration, featuring one of the largest and most colorful fireworks displays in the world. The program opens in China as the crew observes the making of fireworks and dazzling new pyrotechnic effects. Once the fireworks are shipped to America, an army of technicians undertake the delicate and dangerous task of setting up thousands of explosives-filled mortar tubes in preparation for the spectacular display.
A CAPITOL FOURTH 2010
Premieres Sunday, July 4 at 9:30 p.m. on WLIW21
This year’s multi-award-winning A Capitol Fourth celebration will be hosted by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jimmy Smits, with unrivaled performances by some of the country’s best-known musicians, including seven-time Grammy Award-winning music legend Gladys Knight; multiple Grammy, CMA and ACM Award-winning country music superstar Reba McEntire; country music sensation Darius Rucker; singer David Archuleta (American Idol); actor and singer John Schneider; and renowned classical pianist Lang Lang with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly. A Capitol Fourth is broadcast from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home and to our service members around the world on the American Forces Network. A Capitol Fourth can also be heard live in stereo over NPR member stations nationwide. Bringing viewers the most spectacular fireworks display anywhere in the nation, the 30th annual broadcast will capture the stunning pyrotechnics from every vantage point with 18 TV cameras stationed around the city — including the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, and across the Potomac River. In tribute to America’s 234th birthday, the show will be capped off with a rousing rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” complete with live cannon fire provided by the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery, an audience favorite and now A Capitol Fourth tradition.
Watch a preview
For more information on this year’s event, visit pbs.org/capitolfourth.
