Following are Excerpts from the DVS GUIDE
A publication of Descriptive Video Service®
Spring 1999 Volume 10, Issue 1

This guide is also available in braille, on audio via the DVS Information Line, 1-800-333-1203 and on the Internet at: www.wgbh.org/dvs

To contact us directly you may call (617) 492-2777 extension 3490.

Since 1986, Descriptive Video Service® (DVS®) has been "describing" visual images for people who are blind or have low vision. Through an innovative Emmy Award-winning technique, narrated descriptions of visual elements—actions, costumes, gestures and scene changes—are woven into the pauses of a program’s or Þlm’s soundtrack.

This free, nationwide service, available to 80% of American television households, is brought to you by Boston public broadcaster WGBH. DVS has described more than 1,600 programs on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). For cable customers, DVS has described more than 75 classic movies which appear weekly on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network.

To receive DVS on television, a viewer must have either a stereo TV or VCR with the Second Audio Program (S.A.P.), standard on most newer stereo TV’s and VCR’s or a stand alone S.A.P. receiver. To hear the narrated visual descriptions via your stereo TV or VCR, simply activate its S.A.P. feature. To locate the S.A.P. feature consult the TV’s or VCR’s owner’s manual or call the manufacturer. A S.A.P. receiver is a device which is able to tune in a channel, similar to a radio, that carries the descriptions. It can be used alongside a TV or alone as audio only. These are available either pre-tuned or adjustable. The following manufacturers produce S.A.P. receivers: Compol, Inc. 1-800-972-0881; Avocet Instruments, Inc. 1-800-443-0728 and FM Atlas 218-879-7676.

In addition to PBS programming, more than 200 popular movies and documentaries are available on home video with DVS. They may be borrowed at more than 1,200 libraries nationwide, or purchased through the DVS Home Video Catalogue.

DVS Highlights

ZOOM is back!
The hip, hot Emmy Award-winning children’s show of the 70’s is back, with all the energy, attitude and technology of the 90’s. Beginning April 26th, PBS will start airing the all-new ZOOM every weekday with DVS!

ZOOM is a total interactive experience where the cast calls on the viewers at home to join in on the activities, and encourages them to send in their ideas for skits and future episodes. You can send in your ideas for ZOOM, by mail, through the ZOOM web site (www.pbs.org/zoom) and by visiting one of the ZOOMzones set up in museums across the country.

Holiday Classic
On Easter Sunday April 4th, the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network will priemere the Irving Berlin holiday classic, Easter Parade with DVS! This 1948 award-winning musical stars Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, and features the hit song, "Steppin’ Out With My Baby."

More Than 200 DVS Home Videos to Choose From! DVS is proud to offer a variety of classic, popular and educational home videos that require only a standard VCR to hear the descriptions. Select one of your favorite classic films such as Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, The African Queen, and The Miracle Worker or one of the latest box-office hits including Hope Floats, The Full Monty, and Scream. To receive a free catalogue call toll free 1-888-818-1181 for a braille version or 1-888-818-1999 for a large print version. To order a video simply call 1-317-579-0439.

SPECIAL NOTE
DVS would like to offer a fond farewell to Laurie Everett, the co-founder of DVS, former Director and most recently Director of New Business Development. After more than 10 years of service with DVS, Laurie has returned to producing programming at WGBH as project director for an exciting new series, "All Kinds of Minds," about how children of all abilities learn in different ways. DVS is grateful for Laurie’s leadership which took an idea and built it into a successful service which continues to enrich many people’s lives. On behalf of all the staff at DVS, we wish her the very best!

PBS Schedule
The following is the DVS broadcast schedule for April through June on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Some public television stations may have different schedules, so be sure to check your local listings.

For updates of the PBS broadcast schedule with DVS complete with program descriptions and last-minute changes, call toll-free on your touch-tone phone, the DVS Information line, 1-800-333-1203. The broadcast schedule is also available on the Internet at: www.wgbh.org/dvs under DVS on Television. E-mail us with your comments at: dvs@wgbh.org

Adventures from the Book of Virtues
every Sunday, (30 minutes)

The American Experience
4/5, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/17, 5/18,
5/24. The episodes on 4/25, 4/26,
and 5/24 are 60 minutes each. The
episodes on 4/12 and 4/19 are 90
minutes each. The episodes on 5/17
and 5/18 are 120 minutes each.

American Masters
4/7, 5/19, 6/30, (60 minutes) There will be two episodes airing on 6/30.

ARTHUR
every weekday, (30 minutes)

Charlie Horse Music Pizza
every Sunday, (30 minutes)

Kratts’ Creatures
every weekday, (30 minutes)

Mobil Masterpiece Theatre
4/4, 4/11, 4/18, 4/25, 5/9, 5/10, 5/16, 5/23, 6/6, 6/27, (120 minutes each). The episodes on 5/9 and 5/10 are 90 minutes each. The episode on 6/6 will be 150 minutes.

Mystery!
every Thursday with the exception of 6/17, (60 minutes) The episodes on 6/3 and 6/10 are 90 minutes each.

Nature
every Sunday, (60 minutes)

NOVA
5/18, 5/25, 6/1, (60 minutes)

Scientific American Frontiers 4/21, (60 minutes)

Zoom
starting 4/26, every weekday,
(30 minutes)

Turner Classic Movies
Through a partnership with DVS and the U.S. Department of Education, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable channel presents the following classic movies with description. These films are broadcast with description whenever they appear on the TCM channel. Please check your local listings. To obtain the TCM cable channel, contact your local cable provider. Simply activate the S.A.P. feature on your stereo television or VCR to access the descriptions.

A Night At The Opera
The Adventures of Robin Hood
An American In Paris
Arsenic And Old Lace
The Bad and the Beautiful
Battleground
Ben-Hur
The Big Sleep
Bringing Up Baby
Camille
Casablanca
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Cat People
Citizen Kane
Clash By Night
Dark Victory
Dinner At Eight
Doctor Zhivago
Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde
Easter Parade*
Father of the Bride
The Flying Leathernecks
Fort Apache
Gaslight
Gigi
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Grand Hotel
Gunga Din
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
I Walked With a Zombie
Jezebel
Key Largo
Kim
King Kong
Kings Row
Kismet
Little Caesar
Little Women (1933)
Lolita
Lust For Life
The Maltese Falcon
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Meet Me In St. Louis
Mildred Pierce
Mogambo
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Mrs. Miniver
Murder, She Said
Mutiny on the Bounty
National Velvet
Ninotchka
North By Northwest
Now, Voyager
On the Town
Out Of The Past
Pat and Mike
The Philadelphia Story
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Prisoner of Zenda
Royal Wedding
Santa Fe Trail
The Secret Garden
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
The Shop Around The Corner
The Sunshine Boys
They Were Expendable
Teahouse of the August Moon
The Thin Man
The Thing
The Time Machine
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
To Have and Have Not
Viva Las Vegas
Woman Of The Year
Yankee Doodle Dandy
The Yearling

*Newly added title

Large Format Theater Schedule The following is the large format theater movie schedule with video descriptions for April through June. For speciÞc times, please call the theater nearest you. If your local large format theater is not listed in the schedule, let them know that you would like to see movies with DVS at their theater.

To access the descriptions, a theater-goer is given a small receiver, approximately the size of a "Walkman," that has earphones attached. With these headsets, the viewer will hear the descriptions from any seat in the theater. Sound levels are also adjustable.

Langley Theater, Smithsonian, Institution/National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC (202) 357-1675 Cosmic Voyage, Everest, Mission To Mir, To Fly!, Wildfire: Feel The Heat

Entergy IMAX Theater, Aquarium of the Americas
New Orleans, LA
(504) 581-4629
Into The Deep

Mugar OMNI Theater, Museum of Science
Boston, MA
617) 723-2500
Amazon, Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun, Alaska, Everest

Wortham IMAX Theater, Houston Museum of Natural Science
Houston, TX
(713) 639-4705
Wildfire: Feel The Heat, Alaska, Egypt (Descriptions tentative)

Laurence Phipps Theater, Denver Museum of Natural History
Denver, CO
(303) 370-6322
Alaska, Everest

Tennessee Aquarium Imax Theater
Chattanooga, TN
(800) 262-0695
Everest, Into The Deep

Major funding for Descriptive Video Service is provided by the U.S.
Department of Education. Cooperative agreements:
H026C70004, H026C70005, H026C70007, H327C980003

© Copyright 1999 WGBH Educational Foundation

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