I finished watching all 10 hours of the PBS documentary about the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz entitled "Carrier." Hackneyed to say, I know, but I laughed, I cried, I felt wildly patriotic, I felt furious at the gub'ment and frankly the blind eye some of the servicemen and women turn to what they were doing, and I was completely satisfied when the 10th hour was done. And wow. The characters and stories they focus on. One's a self-professed racist so determined to get off the boat and out of the Navy that he is too thickheaded in his racism to realize that he's being discharged less than honorably. Another is this macho man who was raised by carnies who also salsa dances...beautifully. One poor kid doesn't even get the respect of a Dear John letter, just 6 months of heartbreaking disinterest from his pregnant girl (who you just know is hooked up with someone else). And one shooter (team responsible for shooting the planes off the boat) is my husband. He doesn't know me, he's too young and he's married to some other woman of course, but oh yes. He is my husband.
Also, some of the most harrowing television I have watched is the episode when there are 14 planes in the air, the seas are angry, the deck is pitching and the planes HAVE to land...in the dark. Pilots were thrumming with fear and adrenaline getting out of their planes after landing finally on, like, the fourth attempt.
The first two hours are on Hulu. The remainder can be found here. And here's the preview (24 minutes with short commercials).
