SFist Watches: Earth Shaking TV This Week
We have to admit, all this hubbub commemorating the anniversary of a catastrophic event, an event that could, at any moment, happen again, has given us a few moments of panic. For instance, sitting at our day job last week, we were startled when our desk started to shake. Then the floor started to shake, too. But it didn't stop. The same vibration kept going on and on, and unless this was the longest mild earthquake in history, we realized it was something other than the earth moving. When it didn't stop after an hour, and we had gotten good and dizzy, we finally figured out the culprit: a temp a few cubes down from us had an annoying habit of bouncing his legs up and down while he worked; a kind of running in place while sitting down, and apparently our floors are quite sensitive.
He's gone now, but thoughts of earthquakes still run in our heads, and will soon invade our TV screens.
If you're like us, and prefer to partake in disaster nostalgia from the comfort of you own bed, the next two days will afford you ample opportunity.
KQED channel 9 will be re-running the "American Experience" episode "The Great San Francisco Earthquake" tonight at 10 p.m. with re-runs on their digital channels later in the evening, (check listings here.)
The local news stations are getting an early morning start on their coverage, with some programs running in the wee small hours of the morning. KTVU channel 2's news special airs at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and NBC channel 3 is running "Echoes of the Past: The 1906 Earthquake" at 4:30 a.m. as well. Wake up early and flip between channels, and you won't have to worry about those alarms disturbing your slumber!
The national morning shows are getting into the act, too. CBS's Early Show promises a look at the centennial, as does NBC's Today Show. We imagine ABC's "Good Morning America" will do the same. All shows start at 7 a.m.
ABC channel 7 presents "1906 - A City Remembers" Tuesday at 3 p.m., and the History Channel will re-run their excellent two-hour episodes of "Mega Disasters" "Mega Disasters: The San Francisco Earth Quake" at 8 p.m. and midnight on Tuesday. Since this is the only show we've already seen, we can recommend it wholeheartedly. It provides a lot of the usual talking head experts, yes, but goes into interesting detail about the causes of the fires, how orders had come down to shoot looters on sight, and why some neighborhoods were doomed from the start (we had no idea parts of Valencia street were built on top of a lake!). The whole program made us very thankful that we live on the solid rock that is Nob Hill. (Um. Knock on wood, of course!)