Culture
WOUB-HD to Ring in New Year with Fantastic New Year’s Weekend Line Up
By: Emily Votaw
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The New Year is upon us! Ever since we developed the sort of neural inner-workings necessary to mark time, human beings have been celebrating the end of each year with self-reflection, time spent with family, and honest contemplation about how to make the next year better than the last.
WOUB-HD will provide ample food for thought this New Year’s weekend with a diverse line-up of programming that is geared to both allow one to reflect on their well-being, as well as reflect on some of the great performers and thinkers of the past 75 or so years.
Improving your future
Some of that traditional New Year’s wellness programming kicks off on Friday, December 29 at 11 p.m. with Memory Rescue with Daniel Amen, M.D. What is one’s experience of life but a collection of memories that one learns from and often contemplates? In some ways, one’s memory is all that they truly own, so it’s important to know how to best utilize it, and certainly, preserve it. Dr. Amen examines how to strengthen one’s memory by treating the 11 risk factors that he has identified that have been linked to the destruction of brain function, most of which are easily treatable.
Following that (hopefully improved) train of thought, on Saturday, December 30 at 11 a.m., Dr. Kellyann Petrucci will host 21 Days to a Slimmer Younger You, which will advise viewers on to kick start their own personal transformation. Petrucci is famous for her bestselling diet book, The Bone Broth Diet. The diet focuses on select superfoods to include into your diet and when to utilize short-term fasts to supercharge your weight loss.
Later that same day, at 4 p.m., WOUB-HD will air Suze Orman’s Financial Solutions. While we all may have either burgeoning debt, student loans that are deferred again and again, an empty emergency fund or little pocket change to begin with, Orman focuses not only on practical ways to save money and decrease debt, but also tending to one’s emotional and psychological needs, both of which are often the central cause of financial stress.
At 10:30 p.m. on December 30, tune into Ric Edelman’s Truth About Your Future. Edelman is another financial expert who is attuned to the human need for a roadmap to make financial dreams come true. The goal of this particular program is to inspire viewers to do what they can with what they have to reach realistic financial goals.
Honoring the past
Although a new year is rearing its head, it’s important to look back and honor entertainers and thinkers who have improved the world we live in now.
On Friday, December 29 at 9 p.m., viewers can tune into WOUB-HD for Bob Hope: American Masters, which highlights the long and interesting life of one of the country’s favorite entertainers. This special is rich with materials from Hope’s personal archives, featuring interviews with the likes of Conan O’Brien, Tom Selleck, Margaret Cho, and Woody Allen and writings voiced by Billy Crystal. Bob Hope is one of the most time-honored celebrities of American culture, and his fellow important cultural figures echo that statement.
Dr. Wayne Dyer’s 1976 debut self-help volume, Your Erroneous Zones, is not only one of the best-selling books of all time, but one of the first books the explore the concept of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, which was initially crafted by psychotherapist Albert Ellis. Although Ellis was not too happy with Dyer’s adaptation of the technique, Dyer’s accessible philosophical style and everyday inspirational messages made an impact on thousands upon thousands of people during his lifetime. This is celebrated by Forever Wisdom of Dr. Wayne Dyer, which will air on WOUB-HD Saturday, December 30 at 1 p.m.
If you’re looking to do a little dancing in your living room this New Year’s weekend, look no further than ‘70s Soul Superstars (My Music) airing on Saturday, December 30 at 6 p.m. and ‘60s Pop, Rock, and Soul (My Music) later that same evening at 8:30 p.m. Check out these links for more in-depth write-ups about the shows. ‘70s Soul Superstars is hosted by none other than Patti LaBelle, and ‘60s Pop, Rock, and Soul is hosted by Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits and the late Davy Jones of The Monkees.
Maybe you’re hoping to do some travelling in 2018, and, if so, you should consider catching Rick Steves’ Heart of Italy, airing Sunday, December 31 at 12 p.m. Americans have always been fascinated with Italy, and WOUB’s Emily Votaw spoke to a number of Ohio University Italian professors about just that in this article. In the special, Steves explores everything from prosciutto to Cinque Terre to Assisi and everything in between.
Great The Carpenters (pbs.org)If you are a child of the ‘60s, you certainly remember the inescapable ‘70s hits of brother-sister pop duo The Carpenters. Their music will be celebrated by the broadcast of Carpenters: Close to You, on Sunday, December 31 at 4 p.m. The documentary is anchored by the duo’s music, utilizing rare footage of Karen and Richard Carpenter, studio recording sessions, and archival footage. Karen famously succumbed to heart failure due to anorexia nervosa in 1983, long before it was a widely recognized psychiatric illness, and the story of her life and death continues to inspire the masses.
The same day at 6 p.m., WOUB-HD will broadcast Alan Jackson: Precious Memories, which documents Jackson’s fulfillment of his mother’s wish that he release an album of gospel classics. The album that followed, Precious Memories, led to a subsequent concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, which was wildly successful.
Without a doubt, Leonard Bernstein is one of the most loved composers of the past century. At 9 p.m. on December 31, WOUB-HD will broadcast N.Y. Philharmonic New Year’s Eve: Bernstein on Broadway, which celebrates Bernstein’s many incredible contributions to the art form that is the Broadway musical. Expect tunes from the likes of West Side Story and other beloved works.
Perhaps you’re in a prog-rock mood for this New Year’s Eve — and understandably so! Look no further than WOUB-HD’s 11 p.m. broadcast of Great Performances The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed Live, which will air at 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, just in time to ring in 2018 with the likes of Justin Hayward and Mike Pinder. Check out this more in-depth article on the band right here.
The Vienna Philharmonic is a critically lauded outfit, and for good reason. Celebrate 2018 alongside the group with the 9 p.m. showing of Great Performances From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2018 on WOUB-HD.
Enjoying the classics
On Sunday, December 31 at 2 p.m., WOUB-HD will broadcast Anne of Green Gables, featuring Martin Sheen as one of the leading characters of the time-tested tale.
If you are a fan of PBS’ Victoria, you are probably already aware that on December 31 at 7:30 p.m. Victoria returns with a look back over the first season of the drama and a few glances into its future in season two. At 8 p.m., WOUB-HD will broadcast Victoria on Masterpiece, which is encore presentation of the television drama which documents the life and times of Queen Victoria starting in 1837, when she became queen at the age of 18. Season two of Victoria premieres on Sunday, January 14 at 9 p.m.