Big Band Vocalists Preview
Public Television, 7:00 p.m. ET
(Check Local Listings) This new PBS pledge special pops up this weekend on most local public TV member stations, with a lot of them showing it late afternoon or in prime time tonight. Check local listings to find it in your area, and make a special effort to do so: Hosted by Peter Marshall (yes, of Hollywood Squares fame) and Nick Clooney (yes, George’s dad), this special is a compilation of movie clips and promotional film shorts highlighting big band headliners. It’s all vintage, and it’s quite a haul. A dapper young Frank Sinatra sings “Night and Day” with, and to, an all-girl orchestra (at left); Benny Goodman trades solo spots with vocalist Peggy Lee; and Louis Armstrong holds court from behind a bar. Great stuff, pristinely restored – and paired, on many stations, by another T.J. Lubinsky pledge production, a concert reunion special called ’70s Soul Superstars.