Earthquakes, politics, public lands – and illegal immigration.
What year is this anyway? It could be 2006, or it could be 1906.
People change, issues don’t, as will be made clear when host Peter Boyles goes retro, surrounds himself with observers in period clothing and takes on the Big Issues of 100 years ago on “Colorado Inside Out” (8 tonight, KBDI-Channel 12).
“It’s real interesting,” said Boyles, who portrays a crusading newspaperman determined to bring down Mayor Robert Speer and his corrupt administration. “We’ve done the time machine before but this is, by far, the best one.”
Traveling back in time with Boyles are Patty Calhoun, David Kopel, Craig Silverman and Dani Newsum, all in costume and in character.
One issue that escapes the panel is illegal immigration, even though the website Wikipedia notes at the time, “Mexico was a major conduit for smugglers of illegal aliens of all nationalities” to meet “a growing demand for farm laborers in the Southwest.”
“I didn’t set the agenda for the show,” said Boyles, who has made illegal immigration from Mexico a centerpiece of his KHOW 630-AM talk show for months. “I don’t want to do that. Everybody else gets the questions in advance; I don’t. It makes me better, I think.”
There’s some interesting type-casting: Calhoun as newspaper sob sister Polly Pry; Kopel as Rocky Mountain News publisher Thomas Patterson, and Silverman as his grandpa, a saloonkeeper.
Boyles, sometimes his toughest critic, is pleased with the result. “It came off really well.”
Weekend highlights
Today
Some of the humor is too Minister of Silly Walks to make Americans smile but 30 years after its creation “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” still worth its weight in laughs (10 p.m., KRMA-Channel 6).
Saturday
“The 40-Year-Old Virgin” stars Steve Carell as a nerdy guy who’s never done “it” and finds the pressure mounting when he meets a single mother (Catherine Keener) (6 p.m., HBO).
Sunday
“Reno 911,” the weirdest police squad in the world, comes back for its new season with an episode that includes the mistaken notion the expression is “good cop/black cop” (11:30 p.m., Comedy Channel).
Around the dial
Radio pioneer Bob “Cowboy” Butz, who took to the local airwaves in 1947 but was best known as a newsman for 23 years on KLZ radio and television, died on Wednesday. Services are pending. … Nelson Rangell headlines the outdoor jazz concert at Confluence Park at 6:30 p.m. next Thursday, sponsored by KJCD 104.3-FM. … Quotable: “If you’re going to tell people the truth, be funny or they’ll kill you.” Billy Wilder
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
