PBS Circus coming this fall!

One of the advantages to working nights is that you can sometimes catch up on shows you haven't seen.

On Sundays, you can catch really great shows and previews on PBS channels in the middle of the night. Don't ask me why- they just schedule for the night owls out there!

This past weekend I watched half hour documentary of the 6 hours documentary mini-series "Circus" coming out this Fall on PBS.

"Show of Force, the team who brought viewers the Emmy Award-winning PBS series "Carrier", turn their lenses on the circus — not just under the big top, but far beyond it — into what circus folk call “the backyard,” the place where the trailers are parked and the real heart of the circus beats. With unprecedented access granted by the Big Apple Circus, the filmmakers will follow the traveling company over the course of an entire season, showcasing the circus community’s wandering caravan, “the city without a zip code.” Viewers will witness the circus as a world unto itself, with its own lingo, rules and tight-knit community."
Check out the official preview video:



"Among the 150 adults who make up the company, there are the expected clowns, tightrope walkers, trapeze artists and animal trainers, as well as carpenters, electricians, concessionaires (known in circus lingo as “butchers”), musicians, ushers, cooks, teachers and even clergy. Performers come from all over the world to travel with Big Apple — the Nanjing Duo from China, the Flying Neves from Brazil, the Rodion Troupe from Russia, Olivier Taquin from Belgium and Sultan Kumisbayev from Kazakhstan — making a diverse traveling family.

Going behind the scenes, the cameras capture the training and rehearsals, the flubs and foibles, the bravery and the intensity of life — and work — in the circus.They capture the 'misses' and mistakes as well, giving you a true behind the scenes look, not an edited one. Along the way, viewers will even get lessons in how to juggle, walk a tightrope and do a triple somersault.

The series also will offer a revealing look at the ways in which the company of a traveling big top circus governs itself. Constantly in motion, startlingly insular and completely interdependent for months on end, the circus community demands a uniquely high level of sociability, diplomacy and flat-out patience. CIRCUS will explore the various ways the company navigates conflict, internally and with outsiders, underscoring just how challenging it can be to spend every day and night for nine or 10 months straight with 150 other people of differing nationalities, belief systems and backgrounds."

Show of Force used special camera and techniques to truly capture the magic and awe of the circus that makes every adult turn back into a 5 year old again when watching the circus! It is a mastery of all that great camera work, editing and story telling can achieve. The preview was absolutely riveting and I am really debating if I can wait for the show to premier, or if I should go ahead and buy the DVD from PBS ahead of time!

I know it's early, but I had to share what a wonderful show this will be for your kids (and yourself!)- check out your local PBS channel in November for when it will start!  And don't worry, I'll remind you!


Disclosure: I posted this info on my own, with no request from PBS. I saw their preview and had to share it with you all! There was no compensation of any kinds given for this post! Info on the show itself was taken from the January 7, 2009 Press Release for the Circus miniseries.