I'm busy writing myself into next week, and you're busy catching up with all the premieres you DVR'd, so allow me to talk about something not airing until NEXT Tuesday.
The PBS documentary series "Independent Lens" kicks off its sixth season Oct. 16 with the critically acclaimed film "Wordplay" (clip above), about the wild, wild lives of the person who runs and some of the best solvers who compete in the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament ...
... including our own Jon Delfin, who for five years edited the "TV Barn TV Picks" and remains a contributor to our tvbarn2 discussion group. He won the whole kaboodle in 2002 and six other years, making him the all-time champ's champ. He's "The Maestro" in "Wordplay," and like all the contestants featured in the film, he gets a very nice humanistic treatment. "Wordplay" is more straightforward than "Spellbound," and for good reason -- the subjects are grown-ups and you can't have innocent fun with their personality quirks the way you can when kids are involved.
I'll have a bigger story on "Independent Lens" this weekend. But it's not too soon to set your DVR for a season pass (the second film in the series, "Please Vote for Me," about an election in a Chinese third-grade classroom, is -- shall we say -- spell-binding because it involves kids). Or, if you're in one of the markets not carrying "Lens" yet, you've got time email the station's general manager and ask what his/her problem is.
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