'Country Boys' Explores Teen Life in Appalachia

I'm really looking forward to checking out "Country Boys," a documentary airing on the PBS series "Frontline" over the next three nights (January 9-11) about two teen boys living in Appalachia. It's not often that mainstream television provides us with a glimpse of teens living in not only poverty, but also in the a relatively isolated place like rural Kentucky. The series follows the boys from 1999 to 2002, and seems like it will cover some emotional territory including family dysfunction, alcoholism, religion and Christian heavy metal! What a refreshing change from the coast-focused reality TV that we normally see on TV.

In conjunction with the series, a "Community Engagement Campaign" is being launched. According to the website, "The
Country Boys Community Engagement Campaign will build awareness and support systems for young people in key goal areas involving mentoring, education, boys' development and substance abuse prevention. Target audiences include youth mentors, educators, substance abuse professionals and faith communities."

Note from Anastasia: In other teen TV programming notes for tonight, fallen boy band angel Ashley Parker Angel returns to MTV (reg. required) tonight with "There and Back." And Olympic snowboarding medalists Gretchen Bleiler and Ross Powers and Olympic hopeful Kelly Clark are all making a first ever prime time appearance on "Las Vegas." (thanks Heather!)

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