Tuned In

TCA Roundup: Ken Burns Takes Another Swing

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PBS

It was PBS Day yesterday at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, and you know what that means: drugs, swearing and cattiness! By which, of course, I mean: steroids in baseball, a respectful discussion of FCC policy and The Cat in the Hat. The too-hot-for-TV highlights follow:

* Ken Burns gave a presentation for The Tenth Inning, his epilogue to his vast Baseball documentary, which will cover the last 16 years of the sport in real time in four hours. The impetus for his returning to the subject: the Boston Red Sox’s World Series win in 2004, and the increasing role of steroids in the sport. Also, it seemed more pressing than updating us on recent developments in the National Parks System.

* While he was at it, Burns took a question on on of baseball’s longest controversies—should Pete Rose be admitted to the Hall of Fame?—with what may be the Quote of Press Tour: Rose, he said, should get into the hall after he dies. “He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He doesn’t deserve to know he’s in the Hall of Fame.”

* On a more politically charged matter, PBS executives are happy about the recent court decision limiting FCC authority over “fleeting profanities,” so that it can continue to make filthy, filthy Martin Scorsese documentaries.

* Kids’ favorite home invader, The Cat in the Hat, returns to TV this fall in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, a science show. The episode in which he explains that it is biologically impossible for a goldfish to be gifted with the power of human speech is going to be heartbreaking.