Today – November 10th 2009  SESAME STREET celebrates its 40th Birthday!!  Many of us grew up with Sesame Street and now have children or grandchildren doing the same.

Sesame Street is an important part of WVPT’s programming efforts on PBS KIDS.

“HOW THE BEATLES ROCKED THE KREMLIN”  is the extraordinary and untold story of how the Beatles punctured the Iron Curtain. In August 1962, award-winning director Leslie Woodhead made a two-minute film, in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, with a raw and unrecorded group of unknown rockers — the Beatles. Twenty-five years later, while making a series of films in Russia, Woodhead learned just how powerful Beatlemania was in the Soviet Union.

Tune in Monday November 9th at 10PM to WVPT – Your Source for PBS and MORE!

In “Birth of Humanity,” the second part of the three-part series “Becoming Human” NOVA investigates the first skeleton that really looks like us–”Turkana Boy”–an astonishingly complete specimen of Homo erectus found by the famous Leakey team in Kenya. These early humans are thought to have developed key innovations that helped them thrive, including hunting large prey, the use of fire, and extensive social bonds. Tune in Tuesday November 10th at 8PM on WVPT.

They look like dragons and inspire visions of fire-spitting monsters. But Monitor Lizards with their long claws, razor-sharp teeth, and muscular, whip-like tails are actually monitors, the largest lizards now walking the planet. With their acute intelligence, these lizards—including the largest of all, the Komodo dragon—are a very different kind of reptile, blurring the line between reptiles and mammals. Thriving on Earth essentially unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, they are a very successful species, versatile at adapting to all kinds of settings.

NOVA “Lizard Kings” looks at what makes these long-tongued reptiles so similar to mammals and what has allowed them to become such unique survivors.

Tune in Tuesday October 20^th at 8pm on WVPT and WVPT-HD.

Watch Part Two of “Latin Music USA” and see the stories of Mexican-Americans in CA, TX and across the Southwest who have created their own distinct musical voices during the second half of the 20th century. Their music would play an important role in the struggle for Chicano civil rights and ultimately propel them from the barrio to the national stage.

And also, the program focuses on the Latin Pop explosion of the turn of the century and the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Shakira in the English-language market.  As studios concentrate on star-driven Pop, Latino youth gravitate toward urban fusions – Spanish Rap and Reggaetón, as well as Rock en Español. 

Tune in Monday night October 19^th at 9PM on WVPT and WVPT-HD.

Art:21–Art in the Twenty-First Century  is the only series on television to focus exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States, and it uses the medium of television to provide an experience of the visual arts that goes far beyond a gallery visit. Fascinating and intimate footage allows the viewer to observe the artists at work, watch their process as they transform inspiration into art, and hear their thoughts as they grapple with the physical and visual challenges of achieving their artistic visions. 

Tune in for the series premiere which features William Kentridge, Doris Salcedo and Carrie Mae Weems  –  Wednesday October 7^th at 10PM on WVPT.

With this new program, NOVA takes a different approach in it’s “delivery” of content, in this two-hour scripted drama which tells the remarkable story behind the unveiling of the most influential scientific theory of all time, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. The program is a special presentation from NOVA and National Geographic Television, written by acclaimed British screenwriter John Goldsmith and directed by John Bradshaw.

Tune in for “Darwin’s Darkest Hour” , Tuesday October 6th at 8pm on WVPT.

Scientists have long puzzled over the different fates of identical twins: both have the same genes, yet only one may develop a serious disease like cancer or autism. What’s going on? Does something else besides genes determine who we are? NOVA explores this startling possibility in this program.

The “something else” turns out to be a network of chemical switches that sit on our DNA, turning genes off and on. Called collectively the epigenome, the switches appear to play a major role in everything from how our cells keep their identity to whether we contract dread diseases.  Find out more on NOVA: Ghost in Your Genes . . . .Tuesday September 22nd at 8PM on WVPT – Your Source for PBS and MORE!

Hawaii’s breathtaking beauty was forged in fire, created by the awesome power of volcanoes on land and in the sea, by earthquakes and tsunamis, natural wonders that continue to shape the islands today. Shot in high definition by a team of award-winning filmmakers who live on the islands, this spectacular film features volcanic eruptions, rivers of molten lava, monster waves, humpback whales and perhaps most surprising of all, snow.

Watch NATURE: Violent Hawaii – Sunday September 20th at 8PM on WVPT.

The Wayside Theatre in Middletown, Virginia is holding a special “WVPT Benefit Night” on Friday October 23rd.  YOU can enjoy live theatre with the performance of “Sherlock Holmes Final Adventure”.

WVPT is proud to partner with The Wayside Theatre during their 2009 – 2010 Season.  Just another way that WVPT is YOUR Source for PBS and MORE!