VH1 this weekend is airing a documentary on the 40th anniversary of James Brown's concert at the Garden the day after Martin Luther King's assassination - the one then Mayor Kevin White came to realize could not be canceled - and had to be aired live on local TV (only Channel 2 put it on):

... Even in this bleakest of moments, James knows his job is to go on-stage and give the people a reason not to riot. He puts on a mesmerizing show. James Brown kept the peace in one of America's most racially inflammatory cities. And he did that just by being James Brown -- setting the stage of the Boston Garden on fire. And the city itself didn't burn. ...

WGBH page on the concert - You can listen to the entire concert and watch WGBH's own documentary on that night, "The Politics of Soul."

Via Carmen Nobel.

Deb makes the mistake of turning on WGBH this morning:

... I absolutely cannot fucking believe what I'm seeing this morning. Pledge week! During the KIDS programming! Evil son of a bitching PBS bastards. ...

From televised debates, that is. Greater Boston's Emily Rooney is among the media honchos who've put together gubernatorial debates this year and she says enough is enough: The fringe candidates have had their say, now it's time for Healey and Patrick to go at it mano a mano:

... After four attempts to "do the right thing", the media consortium needs to "do the gutsy thing" and pull the plug on Mihos and Ross for the November 1st debate so voters can hear what the two real contenders, Deval Patrick and Kerry Healey, have to say, unencumbered by a sideshow.