On March 27, USA TODAY and National Geographic Channel kick off an editorial partnership with a series of jointly-produced reports to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. A cover story in USA TODAY looks at why we are still obsessed with Titanic, 100 years later.

A special USA TODAY/National Geographic Channel tabloid edition, ‘Titanic – 100 Years Later’, hit newsstands Monday. The special edition can also be ordered online at http://service.usatoday.com/specialeditions. The tabloid edition includes:

• Our Titanic obsession – Little stories from the sinking of the world’s largest ship 100 years ago make up the grand legend that continues to hold interest for the public today.
• Remembering April 15, 1912 – From museum exhibits to re-creations of the last meal served onboard to commemorative teddy bears based on one that survived, the Titanic anniversary will be marked in many ways.
• Titanic timeline – A graphic look at Titanic’s only voyage, its shortage of lifeboats, and treasures that were recovered from its final resting place.
• How Titanic became an epic – A look at the 1997 movie, being re-released in 3-D on April 4th, including stories on the stars of the movie and its signature song, My Heart Will Go On.
• Plotting the wreck’s future – National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Robert Ballard, who found Titanic’s resting place, is calling for efforts to preserve not only Titanic but other historic areas.

Additional USA TODAY coverage the week of April 2nd will include:

• A Life section cover story on Titanic in 3-D, featuring an interview with director James Cameron. A trailer of the movie will accompany the story on USATODAY.com.
• A cover story that looks at whether we should raise the Titanic, featuring an interview with Robert Ballard. A video interview will accompany the story on USATODAY.com.
• An interactive graphic on USATODAY.com that will poll readers on whether the Titanic and its contents should remain at the bottom of the ocean or be raised and salvaged for museum collections.

National Geographic Channel marks the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with a two-night world premiere event April 8-9. Details below:

• In ‘Titanic: The Final Word’ with James Cameron, premiering Sunday, April 8, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, the Oscar-winning filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-In-Residence leads the ultimate cold-case investigation into the tragedy. In 1997, Cameron brought the iconic ship to life in his blockbuster feature film “Titanic,” which fueled not only the world’s fascination with the shipwreck, but also his own:  ”I wanted to dive the wreck more than I wanted to make the movie,” he explains. ”Diving the wreck was my way into the story.”
• Then, the next night, on Monday, April 9, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, the man who discovered the ship’s final resting place more than 25 years ago is on a new quest: protect Titanic’s massive underwater graveyard. In ‘Save the Titanic’ with Bob Ballard, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Robert Ballard retraces Titanic’s beginnings and examines the ship’s original plans — never before filmed— to reveal untold stories of Titanic’s heroes and the unwritten story of Titanic’s future.

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The hotly-anticipated miniseries from the mind of Julian Fellowes (‘Downton Abbey’) was expected to be one of the highlights of the centennial anniversary of the RMS Titanic’s sinking, however, a bloated cast, flawed set-up and overload of social commentary amounted to one massive disappointment.

‘Titanic’ is a 4-part miniseries which will document the experiences of various passengers aboard the infamous ship which sank on its maiden voyage on April 12 1912. The ship’s sinking has been depicted onscreen many times before, most successfully with the eponymous 1997 theatrical release grossing almost $2 billion, and soon to be re-released into cinemas in 3D. But this miniseries, penned by the same man who turned ‘Downton Abbey’ into a worldwide hit, does not seem likely to follow in the footsteps of Fellowes’ award-winning series.

For starters, there are too many characters. Plain and simple. Featuring 89 main characters in total, each episode will focus on a select group before ending with their efforts to escape from the sinking ship. Episode 4 will presumably tie all of the storylines together and then show which of the characters managed to survive.

Unfortunately, Fellowes has tried to do too much with too many characters, barely giving the audience a chance to learn their names or backstories before one is suddenly thrust onto the deck where hundreds of inter-changeable characters are running around, spewing out stock dialogue of  a dozen other disaster dramas.

Clearly trying to emulate the appeal of ‘Downton Abbey’, Fellowes depicts the servants and the first-class passengers, and every other group in between. However, unlike ‘Downton Abbey’, Fellowes does not have 7 episodes to tease out the nuances of their relationships, nor is there the opportunity to create compelling or surprising encounters between characters of different social status. Certainly, a variety of characters do interact in this first episode, but it is to no dramatic pay-off.

The most glaring and irritating aspect of the first episode is undoubtedly the inclusion of a social issue in every other line of dialogue. The very first scene, which lasted no more than 60 seconds, referenced: the judicial system, political protests, women’s right to vote, class bias, and even an allusion to homosexuality.

Moving beyond that, not an act break could go by without one nationality criticising another, with one American character awkwardly commenting, “I can’t see the English wanting to drop the class system anytime soon. It’s woven into their heritage.” Excuse me, but what was this character’s name? Who was he addressing?

Why should the audience care? The most laughable, and again awkward, piece of dialogue had to be when an upper-class American character told a man from an opposing political party that he could sit next to him – all while outside on the deck hundreds of passengers were clamouring onto lifeboats. It was ridiculous, and simply ineffective on any thematic level.

All in all, Fellowes is clearly eager to explore class, sex, politics, nationality, and countless other hot-topic issues. And who could blame him? The RMS Titanic was a melting pot of different cultures and classes, with the accounts of survivors offering up various threads for a story-teller to pursue in this type of series.

It must have been incredibly tempting to produce a big-budget series, guaranteed to be given a massive promotional push, scheduled in the exact same time-slot as ‘Downton Abbey’, and sure to attract interest from the U.S. and beyond. But all those lavish production values amount to nothing when you have bland characters, forced dialogue, predictable interactions, and an badly-executed premise made all the more frustrating by the possibilities for provocative storylines which it had to offer in the first place.

With three episodes still to go, one can only hope that things improve. If not, Fellowes won’t be worried. After all, ‘Downton Abbey’ isn’t going anywhere.

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Beckoning visitors to “journey to new depths of discovery,” Sea Research Foundation, operator of Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, has announced a major new exhibit – ‘Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below’ – at Mystic Aquarium’s Ocean Exploration Center exhibit hall.

The exhibit, opening on April 12, marks the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage and sinking of the celebrated ocean liner. It is the product of a collaboration between famed oceanographic explorer, Dr. Robert Ballard, president of Sea Research Foundation’s Institute for Exploration, who led the 1985 expedition that first located the sunken Titanic, and Tim Delaney, the former Walt Disney Imagineering designer and head of Tim J. Delaney Design.

The Ocean Exploration Center renovation and its inaugural ‘Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below’ exhibit are sponsored by United Technologies Corporation. Sea Research Foundation President & CEO, Dr. Stephen Coan, has called the project “a unique and important collaboration that will give people a chance to experience the Titanic through the eyes of the person who found her, someone recognized as one of the world’s greatest explorers, and through the imagination of a world-renowned exhibit designer.”

Tim Delaney described the exhibit as “a very different approach to the Titanic experience, one that taps directly into the excitement of exploration and discovery. We’ve created something that both adults and children will find thrilling, immersive, interactive, experiential, and memorable. ‘Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below’ takes you there.”

Bringing the legendary vessel’s timeless history to life, ‘Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below’ captivates minds with a glowing iceberg that is cold to the touch, a bi-level adventure area inspired by Titanic’s engine room, hands-on experiences that unfold Titanic‘s lingering mysteries, and modern deep-sea technology that led to the discovery.

“The Titanic sinking is, of course, one of the greatest dramas of the last century,” said Dr. Ballard. “Everything about her conception, construction, launch, passage, passengers, loss, and legend is fascinating. I believe that the excitement of discovery is transferrable and can inspire future generations of explorers and discoverers. That’s what ‘Titanic – 12,450 Feet Below’ is all about.”

The exhibit opens to the public on April 12 at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/mysticaquarium

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