"Wing and a Prayer: The Saga of Utah Man" is the sort of World War II documentary you might expect to find on the Discovery Channel. Or something out of the BBC that ends up on PBS
It's both informative and engrossing. The hour slides by with surprising speed.But "Utah Man" is neither British nor made for cable. It's a locally produced documentary that premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on KBYU-Ch. 11.
And, in a way, this hour is better than some of those standard WWII docs you see played and replayed through the years. Because "Utah Man" brings the greatest of human conflicts down to a very personal level, dealing with the it through the eyes of one man.
And that man is Walter T. Stewart of Benjamin, Utah County - the last surviving member of the crew of the B-24 Liberator bomber that was part of the Aug. 1, 1943 mission to bomb the oil fields in Ploesti, Romania.
(It was Stewart, a Utah native and former University of Utah student, who named his B-24 "Utah Man.")
Not that this is purely a personal story. Writer/director Mike Sanchez and writer Bob Haynie put this mission in historical perspective, emphasizing the importance of oil to Hitler's war machine and recounting what led to the decision to launch the mission.
There's plenty of archival footage, and even some computer animation to recreate parts of that mission.
But it is as a personal remembrance that "Utah Man" shines. Instead of a grandiose view of thousands, this is how Stewart recalled those times.
You feel his apprehension - his terror - as a bomber pilot. You feel his friendship with his fellow serviceman. You feel the loss when friends don't come back from their missions.
It makes the leap back over half a century and makes those times come alive.
"Wing and a Prayer: The Saga of Utah Man" is well worth spending and hour with.
SURPRISING COMBINATION: Don't be thrown when "Wing and a Prayer" opens. Yes, that really is a KBYU-co-produced documentary opening with a rousing chorus of "Utah Man," the U. of U.'s fight song.
And, as you'll see in the credits, it's BYU's Young Ambassadors singing "Utah Man."
Who would've thought?
FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED: Beginning Monday, KTVX-Ch. 4 will begin close-captioning its 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.
And closed-captioning will begin Tuesday on Ch. 4's 6:30 a.m. broadcast as well as its 7:25 a.m. and 8:25 a.m. segments in "Good Morning, America."
SWITCHING SOAPS: CBS soap opera alert! Local affiliate KSL-Ch. 5 is flip-flopping a pair of CBS sudsers on its weekday schedule as of Monday.
Beginning Aug. 2, "The Young and the Restless" moves to 10 a.m., and "As the World Turns" will be seen at 11 a.m.
KSL SCHEDULE: The folks at KSL say they've finally finalized their schedule - at least for now.
In addition, beginning Monday "Vicki!" moves to 2 p.m.; "Murphy Brown" to 3 p.m.; and "Designing Women" to 3:30 p.m.
A syndicated, half-hour version of "Rescue 911' debuts at 4 p.m., followed by another syndicated reality show, "Real Stories of the Highway Patrol." And "M.A.S.H." returns to 5 p.m.
"Oprah" moves to 8 a.m. until early September, when it moves to KTVX-Ch. 4 at 4 p.m.
And, in late-night, reruns of "Murphy Brown" at 11:05 p.m. and "Designing Women" at 11:35 p.m. is just a stop-gap measure until "Late Show with David Letterman" debuts on Aug. 30.