WTTW/Chicago

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, Blondie is still putting out new music and rocking out for fans everywhere! Debbie Harry and her band bring their eclectic mix of pop, rock and punk sounds to Soundstage, performing hits such as 'The Tide is High,' 'One Way or Another,' and 'Heart of Glass' in an electrifying concert audiences are sure to love!

"Tarantella" was an early Super 8 short film directed by Christopher Nolan with his childhood friend Roko Belic. It was made in 1989 while Nolan was studying at University College London. The film aired on "Image Union," a PBS programme in Chicago. It is about the suffering of a young man while he has nightmare about spiders and demons.

The colorful stories of Irish-American immigrants and their descendants who lived the history and exemplify the repeated cycle of the outsider becoming the ultimate Chicago citizen-insider.

Known fondly as the "Queen of the Blues," Koko Taylor began singing in Chicago blues clubs in the 1950s. Her gritty, powerful voice attracted the attention of Willie Dixon, another famous Chicago blues icon and record producer. Her recording of Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" topped the R&B charts in 1966. This special, recorded in 1991 for WTTW, documents her history, and cements her legacy as a Bonafide Chicago Blues legend.

The history of Chicago's African-American community told like never before -- through the voices of its leading citizens, scholars, artists, politicians, and business leaders.

A portrait of a generation at a turning point in 1976: With plans to attend their high school reunion, five members of the first Television Generation gather in an East Village, NYC, apartment where they discuss their dreams, insecurities, past events, and TV shows. They attempt to figure out what to do with their lives as they head toward age 30.

He could have been a character in a Greek tragedy. Rod Blagojevich, the Chicagoan familiarly known as "Blago," was blessed with talent, drive, and charisma, and he capitalized on these qualities to rise to the position of Governor of Illinois. But after a series of disastrous decisions fueled by greed and ambition, he lost it all. Audio-narrated descriptions are available.

In Biking the Boulevards, Geoffrey Baer bikes his way across Chicago, using the city's network of boulevards. The boulevards are wide, tree-lined streets, which connect Chicago's largest parks. This system of parks and boulevards was the first of its kind in the country - imagined nearly 150 years ago. Discover how these boulevards came to be and explore these magnificent parks, from Washington and Sherman Parks on the South Side, to Douglas, Humboldt and Garfield on the West. These green spaces are often overlooked, but they're every bit as beautiful as Chicago's famous lakefront parks. Geoffrey invites you to take a new look at the old neighborhoods that emerged along these boulevards in the 19th Century. Places like Bronzeville, Englewood, Back of the Yards, Lawndale, Humboldt Park, and Logan Square. Many of these enclaves have seen their share of hard times over the years, but hidden just beneath the surface…you'll find some remarkable surprises.

A documentary about the careers of child stars of the '40s in Hollywood, featuring movie clips with Shirley Temple, Margaret O'Brien, and numerous others along with interviews.

Throughout the 1900's, before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1946, black baseball talent blossomed in the Negro Leagues. Baseball buffs still sing the praises of Josh Gibson who could be counted on to hit 70 homeruns in a season, and Satchel Paige who pitched over 100 no-hitters in his career. Only the Ball Was White pays tribute to the many topflight players from the Negro Leagues. Narrated by actor Paul Winfield, the program documents a bygone bittersweet era in baseball and the men who were denied stardom by the color line. Ballplayers throughout the country were interviewed for this program, all of them quick to tell tales of the life, the competition, and the camaraderie. These include: Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Buck Leonard, Jimmy Crutchfield, David Malarcher, Effa Manley, and Quincy Trouppe.

Inventive performer and poignant songwriter John Hiatt captures the attention of fans and critics alike. In this Soundstage performance, which features Dar Williams and Robinella and the CCstringband, Hiatt performs "My Baby Blue" from his most recent album Beneath This Gruff Exterior. He also showcases timeless pieces like "The Thing Called Love" and "Memphis in the Meantime."

In 1924, after several months of meticulous planning, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks for the thrill of committing a "perfect crime." Audio-narrated descriptions of key visual elements are available.

Shari Lewis, Lamb Chop, and the gang discover the true meaning of Chanukah in this special holiday program. The story of the special holiday and all its traditions are celebrated with music and song along with Lloyd Bochner, Alan Thicke and Pat Morita.

"There was a time, from the late 1940s through the 1960s, when the now-upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood served as the beating heart of Chicago’s huge Puerto Rican community, and the base of operations for a band of Puerto Rican revolutionaries known as the Young Lords. Led by a young man named José 'Cha Cha' Jiménez, the activist group – which evolved from a social club to a street gang to a political force – banded together with the Black Panthers as the Rainbow Coalition to wage war against what they called Mayor Richard J. Daley’s “urban removal of the poor” and the area’s eventual gentrification" (WTTW).

In February 2002, families living in the Robert Taylor Homes public housing development were given a 180 day notice of eviction. In six months, the community that had been their home for generations would be demolished. DISLOCATION chronicles the lives of tenants in one building as they move through the six-month relocation process. The filmmakers follow three families as they prepare for their own move and as they help others around them. Dislocation is a story of a community coping with its own impending demise. It is a tale of courage, hope, and survival.

Taped for a two-part PBS Soundstage, Petty employs the Chicago locale as an entry into the blues and R&B that are at the foundation of rock & roll, and to a lesser extent, his music. This results in a fascinating and exciting show, where the extensive covers are just as interesting as -- and arguably more interesting than -- the few hits he gets around to playing.

Grammy Award-winning folk singer John Prine performs his early classics such as "Angel from Montgomery" and "Hello in There" in this 1980 concert filmed for the PBS series "Soundstage," featuring special guest Billy Lee Riley. Interviews with Prine as he tours his Maywood, Ill., hometown and his acoustic versions of "Paradise" and "How Lucky" punctuate live stage performances of songs from his "Bruised Orange" and "Pink Cadillac" albums.

This 1978 documentary classic is an inside look at the old-style Chicago Machine politics of the Richard J. Daley era, where Alderman Vito Marzullo ran his West Side 25th Ward virtually unchallenged from 1953-1985.

Power pop is arguably one of Americas greatest gifts, The All-American Rejects are champions of the genre. Group members Tyson Ritter, Nick Wheeler, Mike Kennerty, and Chris Gaylor made their mark in 2002 with a memorable self-titled debut, which houses the buoyant hit Swing Swing. The All-American Rejects rev high with big, loud guitars and anthemic choruses. Catch the rocking All-American Rejects wave with Dirty Little Secret, Swing Swing, and The Last Song on Soundstage. The All-American Rejects is like a feel-good summer trip on a sunny highway windows down, great pop blaring, and not a care in the world.

Experience the pivotal 1950s-1960s period through the eyes of 20 Chicagoans as they relive the stories and events of their youth, coming of age, and the hallmarks that define them as Chicagoans and Baby Boomers.