The Wright Stuff

For the past few decades, PBS's "The American Experience" has been quietly producing one of the best shows on television. Time and again, they have released amazingly good documentaries--ones who are nearly always better than their competition. Yet again, "The Wright Stuff" is an exceptional episode--and it was a joy to watch.

This show is about the Wright Brothers. It's not just about their invention of the airplane but about their lives--both before and after the invention. It was quite interesting--especially as you learn that the brothers were self-taught engineers--and were better than college-educated ones! In addition, you learn about the controversy concerning their proving they were the first to fly, though the film seems to indicate it was clearly established around 1910. It actually wasn't and the decision to credit them didn't come until much later. Part of this was, it seems, the fault of the brothers--as they didn't want to show off their new invention for fears of having their idea stolen! It's all very interesting and a nice loving portrait of these geniuses. Well made and well worth seeing.