PBS documentarian Ken Burns overdoes “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” with too-familiar favorite talking heads.

PBS’S OWN ‘WALT DISNEY’ — A/K/A KEN BURNS —
OVER-UTILIZES TRIED & TIRED COMMENTATORS
GEORGE WILL AND DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN

Documentary on FDR, Teddy et al. is well-made
but offers little new information or insights

REPEATS SUCCESSFUL FORMAT DEVELOPED BY BURNS
FOR HIS SERIES ON ‘BASEBALL’ AND ‘THE CIVIL WAR’
 
By David Maril
 
Here’s a question for you:

If PBS filmmaker Ken Burns decided to do a multi-part documentary on the Baltimore Orioles’ return to playoff competition, would he bother to interview any of the players, coaches, front office people or Manager Buck Showalter?

After watching his seven-part PBS special entitled “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” which was aired locally on WMPT and WETA, I think the answer would be negative.

Perhaps he’d have a clip or two of Showalter talking. But for the most part, he’d wheel out the talking heads from his ivory tower personal hall of fame.

After all the closeups, with sentimental, nostalgic music in the background, and the camera zeroing in on the eyes of Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz and Zach Britton, we’d hear columnist George Will and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin pontificating away.

The most interesting aspect of “The Roosevelts” series was the early part focusing on Teddy Roosevelt:  Burns was able to convey what a larger-than-life figure TR was.

Burns effectively conveyed the 26th President’s contradictory nature of putting so little value on human life with his reckless battleground behavior leading the Rough Riders (the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry), in contrast to his obsession with government’s looking out for the interests of the people.

There was very little new material on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Their personal issues and difficulties have already been heavily documented and explored. The one very striking focus related to FDR is that Burns was able to reveal the struggles the 32nd President experienced making the public believe he was able to walk.

THE ‘WALT DISNEY OF PBS’

However, give Burns credit.

He’s become the Walt Disney of PBS and has found a successful style and format that seems to mesmerize enough viewers and critics to generate the funds to keep the documentaries coming at an assembly line rate.

Few viewers seemed to mind that his series on “Jazz,” which was superficial at best, and full of too many serious omissions at worst, was pretty much the Wynton Marsalis Show. Burns sat back and allowed the popular musician to direct the pace and focus of the production.

It also worked enough in his multi-part “nine inning” tribute to baseball — enough to minimize numerous flaws.

For the most part the public lapped up the narration, dominated by a parade of tiresome commentators rhapsodizing about the game in a narcissistic and overly sentimental way.

A more appropriate title would have been, “Why Baseball Matters to Ken Burns and Friends.”

Since Burns made a big introductory splash on the PBS scene with his much-heralded “Civil War” documentary, where of course he was unable to talk to survivors, he’s fallen into the trap of not utilizing primary sources.

JACKIE ROBINSON’S IMPACT BREAKING THE COLOR BARRIER

One of my frustrations with his baseball documentary was despite focusing on Jackie Robinson’s impact breaking the color barrier, he didn’t go out of his way to include interviews with people who had played with and against the major leagues’ first black player.

Burns relies too heavily on familiar talking heads like Will and Kearns.

Do we really need to hear them personalizing everything? Also, there was far too much pseudo-intellectual rhetoric about the “poetry” of the game, as if each baseball stitch offers hidden meaning and symbolism.

But please don’t get me wrong.

I will gladly argue with any football, basketball or hockey fan that baseball is indeed the greatest of the so-called big-time American sports. It’s a timeless game, can be played by people of any size, and incorporates all the  aspects of team and individual play.

But in the follow-up to Burns’ original baseball package, who cares what Will had to say about baseball injuries and how amazing ironman Cal Ripken was able to play so many games in a row?

Wouldn’t it have been more interesting to interview, say, the Orioles’ trainer and gain insight into inside factors behind Ripken’s achievement?

PROMOTING ‘BASEBALL’ WEARING A BOSOX UNIFORM

Burns, who is a Red Sox fan and enjoyed being photographed traveling around the country promoting the baseball documentary wearing a Bosox uniform, did include several lengthy interviews with Pedro Martínez. That was a plus.

The interview sessions with baseball sportscasters Jon Miller and Bob Costas, both succinct and knowledgeable, also enhanced the content.

But where was Dodgers’ voice Vin Scully, who has lived baseball history since the 1950s?

The bottom line, I guess, is to be positive and recognize the fact that even at its most superficial worst, Burns’ work does deliver an introductory bit of history to the PBS audience. And hopefully it will inspire people to read and do research on these topics to learn more.

I just wish he’d find a few new talking heads and stop putting Will and Kearns in front of his cameras.
 
davidmaril@voiceofbaltimore.org
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.
 
EDITOR’S NOTE:  “Baseball” is a nine-part, 18-and-a-half-hour documentary series created, co- produced and co-written in 1994 for PBS by Ken Burns and narrated by late NBC anchorman John Chancellor. “The Civil War” series, which Burns created and produced, first ran on PBS over five consecutive nights (nine episodes) in September 1990 and was narrated by noted historian David McCullough. “The Roosevelts” was directed and co-produced by Burns and written by Geoffrey C. Ward, a Public Television scriptwriter, editor, author and historian.
 
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