Antiques Roadshow

Frank Boos, 70, the bow-tied appraiser on the PBS television program "Antiques Roadshow," died Tuesday at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., of complications from vascular disease, according to his son, Jonathan. Boos, an original member of the show's cast, appraised thousands of antiques, mainly silver, as the show toured various American cities.

There is little new or notable to say about "Ball Boys," a retail-based reality series that premieres Saturday afternoon on ABC, that hasn't already been said about the earlier retail-based reality series whose shape it apes. (Indeed, it comes from the people who brought you "Pawn Stars," the holy elder of the form.) And I will say it all in the next paragraph. First, it brings a basic-cable genre to a major broadcast network, albeit to a weekend afternoon (in the old neighborhood of that network's "Wide World of Sports")

Americans have discovered their attics, and Carol Prisant is ready to help them sort the junk from the treasures. Is it a true Tiffany lamp or one of the ubiquitous imitators? A valuable piece of sterling silver or merely silver plated? An 18th century Chippendale armchair or a reproduction? There are ways to find out, even for the beginner, and Prisant, a former antiques dealer and expert appraiser, has put it all together in her book "Antiques Roadshow Primer" (Workman Publishing Co., 1999).

"Antiques" and "adrenalin" don't seem like they belong in the same sentence. But a new breed of television show makes the finding and selling of vintage items look like a life of adventure. Whether they are set in pawn shops or peer into the hitherto obscure realm of storage-unit auctions, these hugely popular series ditch the aura of tweedy refinement surrounding precursor programs such as PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" (based on a British import) and instead present antiquing as rugged, manly and all-American.

SERIES Heroes: Claire (Hayden Panettiere) begins to suspect that Samuel (Robert Knepper) has ulterior motives in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love: Former "Bachelorette" contestant and commercial pilot Jake Pavelka begins his own quest to find a mate from among 25 eligible women in this latest edition of the reality series (8 p.m. ABC). Antiques Roadshow: A women's collection of four rare pieces of carved Chinese jade earns the highest appraisal in the program's history in tonight's season premiere (8 p.m. KCET)

There is little new or notable to say about "Ball Boys," a retail-based reality series that premieres Saturday afternoon on ABC, that hasn't already been said about the earlier retail-based reality series whose shape it apes. (Indeed, it comes from the people who brought you "Pawn Stars," the holy elder of the form.) And I will say it all in the next paragraph. First, it brings a basic-cable genre to a major broadcast network, albeit to a weekend afternoon (in the old neighborhood of that network's "Wide World of Sports")

"Antiques" and "adrenalin" don't seem like they belong in the same sentence. But a new breed of television show makes the finding and selling of vintage items look like a life of adventure. Whether they are set in pawn shops or peer into the hitherto obscure realm of storage-unit auctions, these hugely popular series ditch the aura of tweedy refinement surrounding precursor programs such as PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" (based on a British import) and instead present antiquing as rugged, manly and all-American.

In its ninth season on the air, PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" is busting out all over. Filmed at convention centers across the country, the show documents what happens when regular folks drag family keepsakes -- paintings, clothing, posters, toys, kitchen utensils, you name it -- out of their attics and into what amount to outsized sessions of show and tell. At any given taping, some 6,000 fans, assigned tickets by lottery, converge on a sort of collectibles cattle call.

So the chair that once belonged to your great-great-grandfather didn't turn out to be a Chippendale, and the bronze pig that your aunt bought at a yard sale last week for $10 is actually worth ... 50 cents. How else to get the true "Antiques Roadshow" experience? For starters, Carol Prisant's "Antiques Roadshow Primer" (Workman Publishing Co., $19.95) features examples of finds from the TV program and offers tips on determining the value of everything from jewelry to rugs.

How do you make sure that the value of that perfect collectible you've just acquired doesn't dive like a hungry loon? It's called maintenance. That's where this handy site, sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corp., comes in. The people who bring you "Antiques Roadshow" and "Cash in the Attic," among other pertinent TV shows, provide tips on general care, the do's and don'ts of cleaning, proper storage and even suggest ways to display objects.

SERIES Fight Science: This new series premieres with a look at a highly trained Special Operations Force, whose members are pushed to their physiological and psychological breaking points (7 and 10 p.m. National Geographic). How I Met Your Mother: Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) is having a great week, but his friends haven't been so lucky. Sportscaster Jim Nantz and New York Yankee Nick Swisher guest star as themselves in this new episode (8 p.m. CBS). Chuck: Kristin Kreuk guest stars as Hannah, a new addition to the Nerd Herd.

SERIES Chuck: When the evil Sydney Price (Angie Harmon) mistakes Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) for a super-spy, Chuck (Zachary Levi) becomes Awesome's handler and shows him how to be a real spy (8 p.m. NBC). 24: Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) becomes more involved in preventing the assassination of visiting President Hassan as the fast-paced drama continues (8 p.m. Fox). Antiques Roadshow: In Raleigh, North Carolina, professionals examine items related to Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1966 visit to St. Mark's AME Zion Church (8 p.m. KCET)

NBC's "America's Got Talent" returned for its fourth season Tuesday night, the first since Susan Boyle made its cousin "Britain's Got Talent" an international Internet sensation. Coincidentally, Ed McMahon died that morning -- from 1983 to 1995, he was the host of "Star Search," which preceded "AGT" in the great chain of talent shows and itself followed "Amateur Hour," manned under slightly varying titles by Major Edward Bowes or Ted Mack on radio and television from 1934 through 1970 (with a slight return, hosted by Willard Scott, in 1991)

Ralph M. Kovel, a pioneer of price guides for antiques and collectibles who wrote 97 books on the subject and helped create the modern mania for family heirlooms and flea-market finds on "Antiques Roadshow" and EBay, died Aug. 28 at the Cleveland Clinic of complications from hip surgery. He was 88. He lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with Terry Horvitz Kovel, his wife of 58 years and coauthor of his books. "Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide" as well as the Kovels' other books on subjects such as silver or American art pottery, are written primarily for average collectors and history buffs, not museum curators.

Frank Boos, 70, the bow-tied appraiser on the PBS television program "Antiques Roadshow," died Tuesday at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., of complications from vascular disease, according to his son, Jonathan. Boos, an original member of the show's cast, appraised thousands of antiques, mainly silver, as the show toured various American cities.

WANT to make your friends green with envy? Look to the ecologically sensitive design of the Mio Collection, a stylish line from the Philadelphia collective Mio Culture. Led by Colombian brothers Isaac and Jaime Salm, the 3-year-old firm has already won accolades for its 3-D wallpaper tiles made from recycled paper.

PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" is getting a new host, "Good Morning America" correspondent Lara Spencer, who will take the job in addition to her ABC duties. She'll be on hand when the program starts taping new episodes this summer at locations around the country; the episodes will begin airing in January. Meanwhile, "Roadshow" favorites Leigh and Leslie Keno, the identical twins who do appraisals, will host a new PBS series called "Find!" in October.

For millions of television viewers worldwide, the thrill of the BBC's "Antiques Roadshow" isn't in the discovery of a long-lost Constable landscape or perfectly preserved Ming vase. It's in watching the unimpeachable British reserve of the participants. Whether told that a tatty piece of canvas should be insured for 100,000 pounds ($158,000) or that the silver vase they have so diligently polished is a cheap copy, the owners' reaction is almost invariably "Oh, really?"

In its ninth season on the air, PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" is busting out all over. Filmed at convention centers across the country, the show documents what happens when regular folks drag family keepsakes -- paintings, clothing, posters, toys, kitchen utensils, you name it -- out of their attics and into what amount to outsized sessions of show and tell. At any given taping, some 6,000 fans, assigned tickets by lottery, converge on a sort of collectibles cattle call.