Rather than merely plug in the PBS feed, KBDI-Channel 12 makes a point of packaging the network-provided material with local elements — locally produced films about local subjects plus a panel of local experts to talk about the subject — to round out the viewing experience.
This week is a good example of the station’s smart programming efforts.
Wednesday and Saturday, the subject is Parkinson’s disease. Channel 12 is pairing a network documentary on Parkinson’s with an award-winning film produced and directed by Boulder filmmaker Deborah Fryer.
Both deserve attention, particularly because some 1 1/2 million Americans are currently diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
“My Father, My Brother and Me,” is “Frontline” journalist Dave Iverson’s account of his own receipt of the news, in 2004, that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, the same news delivered to two family members before him. As he learns about his degenerative neurological disorder for which there is no cure, he interviews scientists, has intimate talks with family members and encounters other sufferers, notably Michael J. Fox.
Fryer’s film focuses on Denver resident Paul Schroder, an electrical engineer whose dreams were short-circuited when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 33.
The PBS “Frontline” film, “My Father, My Brother and Me” airs Saturday at 8 p.m., followed by “Shaken” at 9 p.m.-9:30 p.m. on Channel 12, for a two-pronged examination of the disease.
Additionally, this week’s “Studio 12” with Tamara Banks, Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Channel 12, focuses on the issues regarding stem cells and what the recent lifting of the ban on stem-cell research might mean for Parkinson’s research.
“Shaken: Journey into the Mind of a Parkinson’s Patient” is the touching story of Schroder’s life over the span of a decade of decreasing debilitation, and his decision to undergo radical brain surgery.
“It was devastating,” Schroder’s mother says of the onset of the chronic, progressive disease.
Schroder talks about taking 21 pills a day, being immobile nearly half the time, and suffering from the tremor that affects most Parkinson’s patients.
The meds work for about an hour, he says as the camera catches him shaving. Viewers can’t help but hold their breath.
The camera is in the operating room to observe the deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery Schroder chose, and lets doctors weigh in on the option. When it works, the surgery decreases the involuntary movements called dyskinesias many patients suffer.
The results are amazing, but the underlying disease continues to progress.
The film closes with a blues song about Parkinson’s, “Awkward Dance,” by Charlie Nimovitz, who was diagnosed in 2000. The dark humor of those who suffer the disease stings, but the delivery is good-natured.
The more in-depth and deeply philosophical “Frontline” film includes researchers’ findings that genetics play a part, and looks at one of the latest experimental treatments: fetal brain-cell transplants.
“Life’s the best deal we got. It’s the best thing we got going,” Michael J. Fox says. As he wrote in his memoir, “Lucky Man,” he wouldn’t change anything.
Iverson comforts himself with the knowledge that, while the disease is progressive, “so is science.”
Meanwhile, with no cure on the horizon, it’s about living.
“Parkinson’s does ask a lot,” filmmaker Iverson says. “In the end, it’s how we answer that matters.”
Local news sweeps
A decade ago, KUSA-Channel 9 ruled the late-news weekday ratings race with a 29 share (or percent of the viewing audience). This spring it wins, but with only a 16.8 share (a running average, October to the present, adults 25-54). KDVR-Channel 31 is second with an 8.9 share. KMGH- Channel 7 follows with a 7.8 share. KCNC-Channel 4 trails with a 7.4 share.
Compared with their hold on the bedtime audience a decade ago, the local newscasts have lost about half of the viewing audience.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
