Smallscreen News
National Geographic Two Week Schedule: Border Wars, Sex, UFO's and Americana
By April MacIntyre Jun 29, 2012, 14:29 GMT
Land of the free, home of the brave and attic of the rare American treasure? From a Civil War drum and a Native American tobacco bag to a 19th century steamboat chair and even a 150-million-year-old stegosaurus bone, some of our nation’s great treasures are waiting to be discovered...and might even be worth a small fortune!
Teens having sex in love huts, UFO's, classic Americana for sale are the tip of the Nat Geo iceberg this special two week tune in alert.
Below are the synopses and videos for the NGC Double Issue for the weeks of July 2 - July 15, 2012.
Schedule is subject to change. Updated schedule available at natgeotv.com/whatson.
For more information, visit natgeotv.com.
NGC Scours the Country For
“AMERICA’S LOST TREASURES” New 10-Part Series Premieres
July 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
Land of the free, home of the brave and attic of the rare American treasure? From a Civil War drum and a Native American tobacco bag to a 19th century steamboat chair and even a 150-million-year-old stegosaurus bone, some of our nation’s great treasures are waiting to be discovered...and might even be worth a small fortune!
From Thom Beers’ Original Productions—the producers of “Deadliest Catch,” “Ax Men” and “Storage Wars”—comes this new all-American competition series celebrating the historical artifacts from our “sweet land of liberty.”
Hosts Curt Doussett and Kinga Philipps scour the country on a quest to find objects with unexpected value and incredible stories forgotten in America’s basements, barns, attics, and backyards. From a Civil War drum and a Native American tobacco bag to a 19th-century steamboat chair and a 150-million-year-old stegosaurus bone, some of our nation’s great treasures are waiting to be discovered ... and might even be worth a small fortune! Could you have a museum-worthy artifact hidden in your house?
In the first season of America's Lost Treasures, Nat Geo travels to ten U.S. cities, inviting locals to bring in their artifacts to find out what they’re really worth. Working with top museum curators, appraisers, and other experts, Curt and Kinga each trace the history of three chosen artifacts. When the investigation is complete, owners and their families learn the true story—and value—of their treasured objects. At the end of each one-hour episode, it’s down to two finalists, and a winner is awarded $10,000 as special recognition for the importance of the artifact in American history, which will be featured in a special exhibit at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., coming in 2013.
"BORDER WARS" Back and Better than Ever
New Season Premieres July 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
NGC's critically acclaimed series Border Wars embeds with officers and agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during their critical battles at the most treacherous border crossings into the United States. In the fourth season, the series focuses on the expansive Arizona and Texas borders with Mexico, and for the first time follows DHS agents to Puerto Rico, an increasingly popular gateway for cartels to attempt entry into the U.S.
NEW SEASON CONTINUES (New Night and Time)
Locked Up Abroad: My Dad the Smuggler
Monday, July 2, at 10P ET/PT
A young Scott Campbell travels to Pakistan to meet his nomadic father Lockie and embark on a once-in-a-lifetime "bonding" trip along the historic Silk Road through China. What Scott doesn't know is that his estranged dad is a veteran cannabis smuggler with big plans to smuggle 20 kilos of cannabis through the country. When they are eventually arrested, Lockie is jailed but Scott is released with a rucksack containing some of the undiscovered cannabis. Incredibly, Scott risks all by continuing the smuggling mission to Tokyo in order to raise money to pay for his father's lawyer.
NEW SERIES CONTINUES
American Colony: Meet the Hutterites: ER Bound
Tuesday, July 3, at 10P ET/PT
Glimpse a rite of passage for the Hutterite women as 17-year-old Tammy prepares for her very first cook and bake week. But the pressure of cooking for the entire 59-person King Colony clan is too much, and when Tammy fails to fulfill her duties on the first day of cook week, her parents pressure her to drop out of school. Meanwhile, Wesley struggles to improve his exercise regimen and diet after being rushed to the hospital for chest pain. And Anna Marie and Bertha bicker over who should keep a long-forgotten china set, a gift they received during their double wedding.
SERIES PREMIERE
America's Lost Treasures: Austin
Wednesday, July 4, at 9P ET/PT
It's off to the Lone Star State, where hosts Curt Doussett and Kinga Phillipps have invited people from all over Texas to bring their personal artifacts to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. After seeing a diverse range of objects, from binoculars that may have belonged to Bonnie and Clyde to a taxidermy pink flamingo head, and even a strand of Willie Nelson's hair, Curt and Kinga have narrowed down their choices to investigate further. Curt chooses a revolver with a ruby-encrusted grip and ornate engravings, used by a famous Texas Ranger. Kinga picks a hand-tooled, mint condition trophy saddle won by the legendary cowboy Jim Shoulders, known as the "Babe Ruth of Rodeo." You know you're in Texas when the final competition is down to relics from a Ranger and a rodeo champ.
NEW SERIES CONTINUES
Chasing UFOs: Alien Cowboys
Friday, July 6, at 10P ET/PT
This time Ryder, Ben and James head to the Colorado Rockies to investigate claims of animal mutilations and reports of abductions. These instances take place in San Luis Valley, a town with decades of history involving UFO sightings. Residents are eager to share their encounters with the team—everything from hovering green lights to speeding saucers. After spotting a few questionable lights in the night sky, Ryder, Ben and James meet with local ranchers to learn more about the animal mutilations. Then, they meet with an alleged alien abduction survivor who recounts his dramatic extraterrestrial experience.
ONE-HOUR SPECIAL
Turtle Boy
Sunday, July 8, at 9P ET/PT
In a remote village in rural Colombia, a 6-year-old boy carries a lifelong weight on his back: a bulbous, dark mole that encompasses 60 percent of his body. The unsightly abnormality was present at birth and grew as he himself grew, coming to resemble the shape of a tortoise's shell. Though the child's name is Didier, his neighbors call him something else—the "Turtle Boy." NGC cameras are there every step of the way as a team of surgeons attempt a five-hour, one-of-a-kind operation. But while the doctors are optimistic about Didier's chances, they make no false promises to his mother, who must face the reality that her son could succumb to a massive amount of blood loss during the procedure.
NEW SEASON CONTINUES
Taboo: Teen Sex
Sunday, July 8 at 10P ET/PT
Around the globe, girls begin having sex at different ages and for different reasons. In Cambodia, the Kreung people encourage the sexual independence of their daughters by building separate huts for them to sleep in. In these "love huts," the girls meet with boys for social interaction and sex with the hope of finding a good husband. In Australia, Carina has conceived at 13 years of age. Whether ready or not for the responsibility of becoming a mother, more and more teens in Australia are having sex at a young age. However, in Mississippi, Camille and Emily are taking part in a purity ball, where daughters pledge their sexual purity to their fathers and in return receive purity rings.
NEW SEASON CONTINUES
Wild Justice: Undercover Cat
Monday, July 9 at 8P ET/PT
After responding to a Craigslist post about a genet, a catlike carnivore from Africa that is prohibited in the United States, Warden Art Golden leads his first undercover operation to rescue the animal and arrest an exotic animal dealer. Meanwhile, Warden Josh Zulliger teams up with the U.S. Coast Guard to catch poachers who want to get a jumpstart on the crab season. After ticketing a major violator, Zulliger spots a toxic danger: a slick of oil in the Humboldt Bay.
SEASON PREMIERE
Border Wars: Rio Grande Reefer
Monday, July 9 at 9P ET/PT
South Texas is one of the most vulnerable areas along the U.S./Mexico border. The Rio Grande River serves as a highway for illegal traffic and dangerous crossings. As the Department of Homeland Security's surveillance intensifies, powerful drug cartels and human smugglers are trying more desperate tactics. Agents hiding on the banks of the river spot drug mules on rafts and confiscate more than $650,000 in marijuana. Officers find a drug cache worth millions hidden in an SUV. An elite team of Brownsville PD plainclothes, uniformed and K-9 officers raid a downtown property, uncovering a cache of marijuana ready for distribution.
NEW SEASON CONTINUES
Locked Up Abroad: I Am Not a Terrorist
Monday, July 9 at 10P ET/PT
Jobless Duane Wollum needs money to maintain his party lifestyle and support his daughter. The lure of easy cash leads him to smuggle cocaine from Nicaragua into the U.S. multiple times. At the airport, a routine security check reveals he is concealing a package on his body. Customs agents suspect he is carrying a bomb, and Duane is suddenly surrounded and looking down the barrels of several rifles. When the drugs are discovered, Duane is incarcerated in a hostile environment. Many of the other prisoners hate Americans because they helped insurgents during Nicaragua's civil war.
ONE-HOUR SPECIAL
Megafamilies
Tuesday, July 10 at 9P ET/PT
Getting two kids out of bed, dressed, fed and out the door can be a challenge for any family, so imagine what it's like living with 13 children or more — a lot more. Follow three families on three different continents living three very different lifestyles. You've heard of the Duggars, but in California, the Casons and their 16 children struggle to find a home with enough space. Plus, with nine of the children in four different schools and four under the age of 5, the best way to describe their lives is organized chaos.
In Carrickmacross, Ireland, meet the Maher family. All 13 of them make it look easy as they show that teamwork and a generous sense of humor are half the battle to keeping the family machine well oiled. Then there's 67-year-old Ziona Chana in northeast India, who, with his polygamous family of more than 160 all living under one roof, gives the term megafamily a whole new meaning — just feeding that many people is an exercise in efficiency and cooperation.
NEW SERIES CONTINUES
American Colony: Meet the Hutterites: Show Me the Money!
Tuesday, July 10 at 10P ET/PT
Claudia and the girls sneak off to the slaughterhouse for a secret sewing session and craft dresses with bright colors and leopard prints. But when she breaks tradition by wearing her revealing dress in public, Claudia must face her greatest fashion critic—her own mom, Bertha. Meanwhile, Marvin struggles to pay the bills and enlists the help of Wesley and Clinton to build log beds. When the guys mess up the order, Toby must sell his prized heifers to support the colony.
NEW SERIES CONTINUES
America's Lost Treasures: Milwaukee
Wednesday, July 11 at 9P ET/PT
Curt Doussett and Kinga Philipps are in Milwaukee, Wis., at the Milwaukee Public Museum, and the "Chedderheads" here believe they have America's next lost treasure. Curt falls for a handcrafted violin from the 1800s and a piece of one of the Japanese Zeros, fighter planes that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Kinga uncovers a writing box from the 1700s believed to have been owned by Roger Sherman, one of the five committee members who drafted the Declaration of Independence and the only person who signed all four of the major documents that built this nation. But Kinga is most excited about 15-foot-wide mosaics of Christopher Columbus made especially for the 1893 World's Fair and done in the famous Venetian Murano glass. Lost for more than 60 years, the mosaics may not win the prize now but could be worth over a million dollars!
ONE-HOUR COMIC CON SPECIAL
Comic Store Heroes
Friday, July 13 at 8P ET/PT
Whether you're into the mischievous baby devil that wears diapers and carries a magical pitchfork in the "Little Hot Stuff" comic series, or the powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control magnetic fields from the "X-Men" series, Midtown Comics in New York City has what you need. It's the largest retailer of comic books, graphic novels, Manga (or Japanese comics) and related collectibles in the country, if not the world, and it has the alternate universes its customers crave. Follow the lives of staffers Gerry, Thor and Alex as they deal with all manner of geek and enthusiast customers while simultaneously planning their mega-booth for New York Comic Con, their biggest day of the year. With more than a million books in stock, they need to know their stuff—and are frequently tested by rabid fans of incredibly popular or extremely obscure comics. Meet Midtown Comics regulars like Chris, whose dream of bringing his graphic novel hero "The Protector" to life depends entirely on his pitch to Thor. Then, see the "super collectors" who may dress like superheroes, and obsessively buy almost anything and everything new.
NEW SERIES CONTINUES
Chasing UFOs: UFO Landing Zone?
Friday, July 13 at 10P ET/PT
For decades, the skies above the desert sands of Roswell, N.M., have been home to thousands of reports of unidentified flying objects. But one particular home video has the Chasing UFO's team in hot pursuit of the truth. Does the mysterious video really show an actual crash landing of an alien spacecraft? Under cover of darkness, and armed with night vision gear, Ryder, Ben and James scour the alleged crash site… and come across a surprising find that has them questioning a military cover-up.
TWO-HOUR SPECIAL
Down to the Earth's Core
Sunday, July 15 at 8P ET/PT
ISave blasting off to outer space. It's time to rocket down. Using computer imagery, travel from just below the earth's crust, with its earthquakes and volcanoes, through breathtaking caverns filled with giant crystals and into giant molten metal tornadoes before reaching the earth's core. See perfectly preserved 300-million-year-old prehistoric forests and watch as we rewind time to see how forests became the oil we depend on today. Then dig deeper to discover the origins of gold, gems, salt, coal, iron and, at more than 100 miles deep, diamonds. Eventually, near the core, you'll discover the source of Earth's magnetic field that protects us from the sun's deadly rays..
NEW SEASON CONTINUES
Taboo: Extreme Collectors
Sunday, July 15 at 10P ET/PT
Since ancient times, people have expressed their passions and their personalities through their collections. But some collectors' passions cross the line into obsession. In London, Viktor Wynd fills his home with eccentric arrays of objects ranging from tiny human baby skeletons to shrunken heads. Calling them his children, Viktor is known to kiss them affectionately and converse with them. In the Philippines, Herbert Chavez is the self-proclaimed "Filipino Superman," a longtime collector of Superman paraphernalia who, in the last 15 years, has undergone a series of cosmetic surgeries to resemble the superhero. Utah resident Jim Dix has turned his home into Noah's Ark, with 550 animals living in his house and yard. For Jim, his venomous snakes, deadly spiders, coyotes, toads and alligators are like his children, but the Utah Department of Transportation is putting a freeway through his neighborhood, forcing him to move. Will Jim find a new home for his very large family?
