Wisconsin Public TV will record an unprecedented Lambeau Field "homecoming" in May for Wisconsin veterans of the Vietnam War.
LZ Lambeau -- Landing Zone Lambeau -- is a weekend's worth of activities for veterans scheduled for May 20-23, with the backing of the public broadcaster, along with the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. The event in Green Bay will be privately funded.
It's all tied to the release of Wisconsin Public TV's "Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories" with veterans telling about their experiences in the war -- and what they faced when they came home. That three-hour documentary will debut a week after the Lambeau Field homecoming.
It's the latest installment in the series from Wisconsin Public TV, which programs public TV outlets outside Milwaukee. Other "Wisconsin Stories" have focused on veterans of World War II and the Korean war.
Milwaukee Public TV, which operates Channels 10 and 36, is assisting Wisconsin Public TV to record the unprecedented Wisconsin vets' homecoming in Green Bay. A quick turnaround is expected between the event and the coverage hitting the air.
Here's a video featuring vets talking about LZ Lambeau, which gives some idea of just how emotional the event could be:
On TV: First, "Extra" reported Tuesday that Kevin Eubanks was bailing on Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show," then NBC said he'd be back March 1 to lead the band and is staying with the show after that.
- "Bizarre Food" guy Andrew Zimmern has canceled his March 19 Pabst Theater show because of filming conflicts. Ticket refunds are available at the point of purchase.
- The CW says "The Vampire Diaries," "Gossip Girl," "90210," "Supernatural" and "America's Next Top Model" all will return in the fall.
- Betty White tells People.com that she has no idea where the movement to get her to host "Saturday Night Live" came from. A Facebook page designed to get the 88-year-old White a hosting gig has more than 360,000 members.
- CNBC's Charlie Gasparino is jumping ship and going over to Fox Business Network, where he'll do market updates and cover breaking news.
Yes, Seth MacFarlane did go a bit far: Sunday's "Family Guy" featured teenage Chris dating a girl with Down Syndrome who said she was the daughter of the former governor of Alaska.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has a son with Down Syndrome said on her Facebook page that it "felt like another kick in the gut."
What do you think?
Here's the episode. The offending portion begins around 15:30:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
