DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
THE VIETNAM WAR
September 17, 2017  | By David Bianculli

PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

 

MINISERIES PREMIERE: I don’t think, in a decade of TV Worth Watching, we’ve ever blanketed coverage of a single program the way we are on The Vietnam War, the newest mega-documentary series from filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Most of that is due to how impressive, important and captivating this story, and this TV series, is – and the rest is due to the stellar taste, and inexhaustible commitment, of many of the TVWW contributors. Read, in particular, the various Vietnam dispatches by Alex Strachan, David Hinckley, Ed Bark, Roger Catlin, and Gary Edgerton to get you started, or listen to and read my review of The Vietnam War on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, by visiting the Fresh Air website. Tonight is Part 1 of 10, with installments of The Vietnam War running Sunday through Thursday. Each night, we will provide new coverage, so stay tuned. Tonight’s installment begins in 1858, and devotes itself to the Vietnam wars and invasions before the United States got involved, as well as the rise of Ho Chi Minh (pictured) and our country’s earliest incursions into that part of the world. By the way: Each episode of The Vietnam War ends with a classic rock song played from start to finish over the closing credits – a song with amazing resonance as placed in its time and context. I checked with the Burns folks, and that music indeed will be broadcast intact, without being interrupted for promos for other PBS shows. What a relief. Check local listings. 

 
 
 
 
 
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