Wednesday, May 7, 2008

‘Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On’ on PBS tonight

I wish I could’ve given y’all more advance notice. But this documentary is starting in a few minutes on East Coast PBS stations.

I’ll be watching at 9 p.m. Pacific Time.

UPDATE (05/07/08): Wow... this is a very good documentary. A wrenching emotional story, well told.

It was written, produced and directed by Samuel Pollard, who has spent years editing the feature films and documentaries of Spike Lee.

Check your local listings to be sure, but according to IMDb.com, “Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On” will be rebroadcast late tomorrow night... 12:30 a.m. Friday, actually.

As a side note, the film is narrated by Jesse L. Martin, who is supposed to star in a Hollywood movie about the last years of Gaye’s life.

12 comments:

wanda loves... said...

Well thanks for nothing David! Its cool though. I'll just TIVO it another time. Hope it was good.

Undercover Black Man said...

Asleep at the switch... I know...

Ann Brock said...

UBM I didn't get to see it maybe I will catch it when it rerun. Too me PBS do the best documentary especially the one they did on Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

Anonymous said...

I was working like a dog at my computer last night and my analog TV kept dropping sound. So I pretty much missed it. Guess it's time to switch to digital.

Good for Sam. A few years ago he was in South Africa helping traing filmmakers and television producers trying to catch up in the post-Apartheid era.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the tip. What a tragic waste of talent that he died so young. I hope Jesse L. Martin does succeed in getting the movie made. It would seem to be a role he was born to play, what with the amazing resemblance (and he can sing too).

But yikes, I'd forgotten that Marvin got with that girl young enough to be his daughter. He was a bit of a perv.

Lola Gets said...

I caught part of the documentary. The volume on my tv is pretty much broken, so I cant really hear much of anything that goes on. And Im a channel changer. And Im really fucking depressed right now, so when they were talking about Marvins changes after his co-singer died (forget her name now), I just couldnt stand it. But what I did see, I did like.

L

Undercover Black Man said...

And Im really fucking depressed right now, so when they were talking about Marvins changes after his co-singer died (forget her name now), I just couldnt stand it.

Lola: You mean Tammi Terrell. Yeah, a lot of stuff in this show was just so emotionally rough, it made me squirm.

And I think it's pretty clear that, while they threw around the word "depression" in regards to Marvin, he had undiagnosed mental illness.

Undercover Black Man said...

... especially the one they did on Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

I missed that one, JJB. But you're right about PBS... They're the only ones who have done a documentary about George Clinton and P-Funk.

Dollar Bill said...

I think BBC did a P thang with the guy from "Chef"/"Red Dwarf" as the host.
Have it in a pile of blank VHS tapes somewhere.LOL

There's this book I have as well,written by Dave Marsh and some other guy ;)

Not quite as too the bone as the Sly one from the same series,someone must have been a little biased as there is just as much(more?) dirty P tales to tell.

Dollar Bill said...

LOL MIB for me,thinking of(mixing up) Lenny Henry from Chef!&Coast To Coast and Craig Charles from Red Dwarf.

I can't remember who hosted the P-Funk thing,but Craig Charles seems the logical choice as he hosts a Funk show on BBC radio.

However Lenny Henry played a pirate radio DJ who played funk and Motown on Coast to Coast.

Why can I remember that?LOL

Undercover Black Man said...

Not quite as too the bone as the Sly one from the same series,someone must have been a little biased as there is just as much(more?) dirty P tales to tell.

I think the Sly book dwelled too much on the drugs, frankly.

Objectively speaking, the other book got the mix just right. ;^)

Dollar Bill said...

Lenny Henry

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OSj4MgZf9hA


The South Bank Show episode "Lenny hunts The Funk"