A CAPITOL FOURTH

2008

Aired Friday at 8:00 p.m. on CPTV

Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning film, theater and television actor Jimmy Smits hosts the 28th annual broadcast of A CAPITOL FOURTH, live from Washington, DC. The star-spangled party will feature unrivaled musical performances from some of the country’s best known and award-winning artists, as well as the most spectacular fireworks display anywhere in the nation. Grammy winning musicians Huey Lewis and the News, “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks, rock ‘n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, classical superstar Hayley Westenra and soprano Harolyn Blackwell will perform a selection of patriotic and celebratory music with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Erich Kunzel. The multi-award winning event will be broadcast live in high definition from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol and can be heard in stereo over National Public Radio and by U.S. military personnel in more than 175 countries and aboard 140 U.S. Navy ships at sea on the American Forces Network (AFN). visit the website...

THE AMERICAN FLAG producer/director Phillip Koch (left) with TV and film producer/writer New Haven's Norman Lear.

The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict

The Definitive Documentary About the History of the American Flag

Aired Friday at 9:30 p.m. on CPTV

This program documents the history of one of the most recognized symbols in the world: the American flag. The film features Revolutionary and Civil War re-enactments and new facts and insights about American flag history revealed by the world’s leading experts on historic flags, Dr. Whitney Smith and Howard Michael Madaus, American culture expert Dr. Wayne Fields and filmmakers Norman Lear and Harold Ramis. Featured flags include rare Revolutionary-era battle flags, early American flags, Custer flags, exclusionary flags, Civil War flags, Lincoln flags, 1876 Centennial flags, World War II flags, President Kennedy assassination flags and 9/11 flags. THE AMERICAN FLAG tells the story of the origin of the Pledge of Allegiance and covers the record-setting auction of a Revolutionary War battle flag. The film examines the concept of flag as art and leading flag collectors Ben Zaricor, Kit Hinrichs and Louise Veninga display the stunning flags of their extraordinary collections that, up until now, have never been shown to the public. visit the website...