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Posts : 1325 Join date : 2010-05-13 Age : 80
| Subject: The Heartland Series, hosted by Bill Landry Tue 22 Mar 2011, 6:13 am | |
| The Heartland Series, hosted by Bill Landry, was a popular documentary series produced by WBIR from 1984 until 2009. It was conceived in 1984 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, , the series has enjoyed a special place in the hearts and minds of East Tennesseans. It continued to celebrate the people and the land of the entire Appalachian region, presenting re-enactments of historic events and feature stories about regional culture. In February 2009, WBIR announced that it would suspend production of the series in September 2009, but would continue to show the hundreds of episodes already produced "for as long as the viewers like them." The last episode was taped at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris on August 8, 2009 before an audience estimated at 10,000 people, one of the largest crowds in the museum's history. The Heartland Series started with five-minute segments, two shows a week. Later, it expanded to a 30-minute version on Saturday evenings and continues its segments after the station’s noon news and its nightly news. About 1,900 short features and an estimated 150 half-hour specials have aired. “The Heartland Series” was about East Tennessee and it's true people and tanning hides, make jelly butter, saw logs, eat tree bark, carve soapstone, build a log cabin, cut timber, run a sawmill, make moonshine, shoe a horse, call a hoot owl, rut like a deer and when the buffalo runs and more subjects to numerous to mention. During its 25-year history, The Heartland Series received several awards, including four Emmy Awards. United States embassies around the world keep tapes of The Heartland Series broadcasts as an information resource on life in Appalachia. But the show ended in 2009, as the national park celebrates its 75th birthday. The end of production for the series, one of the longest-running in regional television history, came in mid-September. |
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