Orlando Sentinel: Ken Burns' NATIONAL PARKS "my choice for most beautiful program ever put on American television"

Television: Ken Burns turns his documentary lens on America's national parks

12:00 AM CDT on Monday, September 28, 2009
FROM WIRE REPORTS Hal Boedeker, Orlando Sentinel

This 12-hour documentary, which debuted Sunday, is the real deal, a stupendous achievement. It's another Ken Burns epic, and it's my choice for the most beautiful program ever put on American television.

The land is the star, and Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Everglades and other parks register with breathtaking force. Burns and writer Dayton Duncan explain how John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Stephen Mather and many others fought to preserve the lands and the wildlife. These personal stories are told dramatically, eliciting tears and gratitude.

The National Parks is more compact than some other Burns epics (Baseball, Jazz). And it is less remote than other Burns histories. When Burns' The Civil War debuted in 1990, it was a national sensation. In a new, splintered media environment, The National Parks will have a hard time duplicating that achievement.

Still, the new documentary lifts spirits and teaches patriotism by reminding people of what is timeless and transcendent.

Hal Boedeker,

Orlando Sentinel

The National Parks:

America's Best Idea