Bird fever is sweeping the nation. During the very first, eagerly awaited presidential debate – and even now, some days after – the economy and healthcare are nowhere near as ubiquitous as Big Bird.

The avian giant was brought into the political crossfire on Wednesday, when Mitt Romney said to Jim Lehrer, “I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not going to — I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.”

Responses to this statement have ranged from the very humorous to the visceral. Sometimes both. Bright yellow memes have cropped up and spread faster than any flu. Most of these feature the image of some unemployed version of the eight-foot giant. When a presidential candidate threatens the future of a beloved childhood icon, it’s not impossible to predict where the conversation is going to go.

To date, it has been ongoing. The participants in this conversation have not just been teenagers fooling around on Photoshop: PBS had choice words for Mr. Romney in a statement released shortly after the debate. So did the creators of Sesame Street, as well as different voices in circulations such as the Times. What could only have been a spur-of-the-moment example has set off some type of debate across different media spheres.

Romney’s reasoning seems off the mark when the numbers are considered. According to the Huffington Post, only one fifteenth of the federal budget goes to public broadcasting. And that small part only makes up seven percent of the overall costs for the show. That’s a very small percent. The rest is covered by licensing and sponsorships. The “public” in public broadcasting does not seem all that public in the larger picture.

It was a dent in what was decided to be a surprisingly good performance on the part of Romney. A bad example completely overshadowed what was meant to be an entirely different statement. Our economic debt with China is going to be Goliath for whoever it is that will have to make our future executive decisions. It goes back to the core disagreement between the candidates: How much should government be involved? And to that extent, how much should it invest in its citizens?

Next time though, Sesame Street should be kept out of it.

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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TJL Productions announced today that SUPERSTARS OF ’70s SOUL LIVE, the very first installment of its acclaimed MY MUSIC series, will return to PBS stations nationwide in March 2012 by popular demand. Hosted by Grammy award winner Patti LaBelle, SUPERSTARS OF ’70s SOUL LIVE is a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of R&B legends performing some of the greatest hits of the decade.

This emotional concert special, captured live in Atlantic City in November 2003, features performances from some of the biggest names in R&B, soul, disco and funk. Highlights include two numbers from host Patti LaBelle, including her chart-topping smash “Lady Marmalade”; the Commodores’ hard-funk classic “Brick House”; the get-up-and-dance anthem “We Are Family” by Kathy and Joni Sledge of Sister Sledge;

“Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead – the duo’s last performance together, recorded months before Whitehead’s passing; and a historic reunion of the Chi-Lites with original lead singer Eugene Record, in what was to be the group’s last performance with Record before his passing in 2005.

“This special is a dream come true, to gather the original voices and talents that define the ’70s soul era,” says MY MUSIC executive producer TJ Lubinsky. “You may not remember all their names, but you know each and every one of their songs as the music that defined the soul of the ’70s.” Lubinsky spent two years tracking down the artists for the special, finding Yvonne Elliman (“If I Can’t Have You”) retired in Hawaii and convincing her to perform again in public for the first time in 27 years.

In addition, Lubinsky has produced a new CD collection exclusively for PBS titled MY MUSIC: POP SOUL MASTERS SERIES. The 7-disc set, available exclusively at PBS.org, represents the most comprehensive hits package of ’70s soul ever compiled, all mastered from first generation tapes and featuring many remixes plus New York and Philly club rarities from the era.

SUPERSTARS OF ’70s SOUL LIVE: MY MUSIC is part of special programming premiering on PBS stations beginning March 3, 2012. Check local listings for stations and times.

Image Courtesy of    http://www.flickr.com/photos/graffitiphoto/

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TJL Productions announced that BIG BAND VOCALISTS, the latest installment of the popular MY MUSIC series, will premiere on PBS stations nationwide March 3, 2012. Hosted by Nick Clooney (whose sister, Rosemary Clooney, is among those featured on the show) and Peter Marshall, BIG BAND VOCALISTS showcases the timeless “crooners and canaries” of the 1940s when they started their careers performing with orchestras and dance bands, before they became stars on their own.

Featuring rare archival film footage not seen in years, this nostalgic look back offers romantic favorites from an all-star roster of legendary artists including The Andrews Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Perry Como,Doris Day, Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Peggy Lee, Dinah Shore, Kate Smith, Jo Stafford & The Pied Pipers and many more.

Among the classic World War II era bands backing up these iconic voices are groups led by Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Harry James and Stan Kenton. ”This music has never gone away and these singers are the reason why,” says co-host Nick Clooney. ”They are the finest popular vocalists we’ve ever known.”

Highlights include Doris Day singing “It’s Magic” in her film debut, ‘Romance on the High Seas’, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song; the earliest known footage of Peggy Lee with a big band, singing “Why Don’t You Do Right”; and a rousing rendition of “God Bless America” delivered by Kate Smith.

As a companion to the television special, MY MUSIC executive producer TJ Lubinsky has also compiled a new CD collection of Big Band favorites exclusively for PBS. The 5-CD set, available exclusively at PBS.org, offers three volumes of the most popular singers from the era – original classics mastered from first generation tapes – plus two discs featuring new stereo orchestra recordings of timeless Big Band hits.

BIG BAND VOCALISTS: MY MUSIC premieres March 3, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. on PBS nationwide and airs throughout the March pledge period.  Check local listings for stations and times.

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Award-winning filmmaker Marshall Curry, whose first two documentaries for POV (Point of View) have been nominated for Oscars ( Street Fight in 2006; If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front , in 2012), returns to POV for a third time with Racing Dreams, a chronicle of two boys and a girl who do something extraordinary: They fearlessly race extreme go-karts at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour in pursuit of trophies and, just maybe, careers as NASCAR drivers.

And as the youngsters compete on the track, they also navigate the treacherous road from childhood to young adulthood. Racing Dreams, winner of the Best Documentary Feature Awards at the Tribeca, Nashville and Jacksonville Film Festivals and executive-produced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has its national broadcast premiere on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012 , at 9 p.m. on PBS’s POV series (check local listings) and will stream in its entirety on POV’s website www.pbs.org/pov/racingdreams Feb. 24 – March 24 .

American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, POV is the winner of a Special Emmy for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, two IDA Awards for Best Continuing Series and NALIP’s Corporate Commitment to Diversity Award. DreamWorks Studios is currently developing Racing Dreams into a dramatic feature film produced by the team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Cowboys & Aliens, Transformers).

Fondly described as “Talladega Nights meets Catcher in the Rye,” Racing Dreams is a dramatic, funny and sometimes heartbreaking look at the world of NASCAR culture as lived by three young aspirants to race-car glory and their families. The film follows Annabeth Barnes, Josh Hobson and Brandon Warren as they compete in the Pavement Series, a yearlong national championship of five races around the country organized by the World Karting Association (WKA).

The WKA’s races have been a breeding ground for NASCAR racers—Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick and others started out racing competitive go-karts—and Annabeth, Josh and Brandon dream of stepping up to the “big leagues,” too. In the film, Annabeth and Josh compete at the junior level, while Brandon is in his last season in the senior division.

For each of these young drivers, racing is more than just a hobby. Josh, who started racing when he was 5, grew up in car-country, not far from Flint, Mich. A well-spoken, straight-A student, he studies not only racing strategy, but also the political sensitivity it takes to be the kind of spokesman NASCAR and its sponsors favor.

Annabeth also has racing in her blood. Her Hiddenite, N.C. relatives have been racing cars “since back in the moonshine days,” she explains, and the sport has a particular significance for her: “When you’re racing you make your own decisions. . . . You’re totally independent.” She takes special pleasure in beating the boys in such a male-dominated sport, but as adolescence sets in, she feels torn between her love of racing, which requires her to travel nearly every weekend, and a desire to be a regular kid.

For Brandon, racing is in many ways an escape from a difficult home life in Creedmoor, N.C. ”If I’m not racing, I’m not happy,” he says. He lives with his grandparents in a double-wide trailer filled with racing memorabilia. Talented, funny and charismatic, Brandon also has a hot temper that sometimes gets him into trouble. He is aiming to win the championship that he lost the previous year when he was disqualified for rough driving.

As the tour unfolds, the three young racers step from the sheltered world of childhood into adolescence—discovering romance for the first time, questioning their relationships with their parents and glimpsing the serious obstacles that may threaten their ability to achieve their dreams.

“I think that pre-adolescence is probably the most important, poignant and under-explored stage in our lives,” says director-producer Curry. “It’s really when we are beginning to figure out who we are, how we relate to our parents, what romance feels like, and what we want to do.

“I hope that this movie will take people back to that age, and remind us of the dreams we had—to be President, or a baseball player, or wherever our imagination took us. Back before we knew about the importance of money or connections or how hard things were going to be, and we just dreamed.”

Racing Dreams is produced by Marshall Curry Productions, GOOD and White Buffalo Entertainment.

Photo Credit: Trujillo Paumier

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