Eureka Springs.
Mention the picturesque Carroll County community and, for many folks, one of two images comes to mind:
A quirky, magical, artist-filled Victorian village tucked away in the scenic Ozarks, or ...
A weird, twisty little town full of aging, long-haired hippie freaks who go barefoot and wear tie-dyed clothing. Besides you can never find a dang parking place.
Maybe it's a little of both. One thing is certain, there sure are a lot of artists, long-haired and otherwise.
The town's artistic spirit is examined in a new documentary. EUREKA! The Art of Being airs at 6:30 today on AETN. Note the capital letters in the title. Perhaps we're meant to shout it out as did Archimedes sliding into his bathtub -- "I have found it!"
Local artist James Yale probably had Archimedes in mind when he said, "It's Eureka. And in the truest sense of the word, you either find it or you don't."
I've only been able to see parts of the documentary, but from what I've seen, it's a fascinating take on the town.
Almost everyone who travels to the quaint community of 2,000 comes away with some sort of impression, usually a positive one. A major contributing factor -- of those 2,000 citizens, more than 300 are artists, musicians or writers "drawn to the camaraderie and creativity of the art community."
"I wanted to come to Eureka because it had beautiful buildings," painter Larry Mansker says in the film, "and I stayed here because it has fascinating characters."
Adds folk artist Blakeley Wilson, "You can be who you are and be as odd as you want to be, or just as normal as you want to be. After a while, you're accepted."
Full disclosure: I've had a warm spot for Eureka Springs ever since I was a kid and our family stayed at the Basin Park Hotel. Years later, the Crescent Hotel is where me and the missus spent our honeymoon (back when ghosts still roamed the halls).
Our "splurge" honeymoon gift to ourselves was a beautiful serving plate thrown and fired by a local potter. It's still on display in our "treasures" hutch, along with the little souvenir statute of Christ of the Ozarks we bought because it loomed over our honeymoon suite like a 66-foot-tall peeping Tom.
Both those visits (and several in between and since) were from a tourist perspective. For those who live there, the documentary claims to show how life in Eureka "can move at a slower pace but still have a richness and cosmopolitan feel."
Artist Julie Kahn Valentine notes, "If you give this town something we love, then we're going to keep you. Or the town is going to keep you. Whatever the 'town' is."
EUREKA! The Art of Being comes from Quiet Center Films and AdPro Media Productions. It was produced and directed by L. Kai Robert.
If you miss tonight's premiere, the film will repeat at 3 p.m. Sunday.
• Shocking news. Dozens of emails have poured in (OK, only two) asking what I thought about the stunning -- stunning -- news coming out of Hollywood.
I'm not talking about the break-up of Jennifer and Ben, or even Blake and Miranda. I'm talking about the far more shocking revelation that Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy have called it quits.
This was perhaps the biggest news to come out of the recent TV critics' summer press tour. It happened during the ABC panel session for the network's new comedy, The Muppets, premiering Sept. 22.
The Associated Press reported the official statement that followed on Kermit's Twitter account. "People change. So do frogs and pigs. We were together for a long, long time and it's personal," Kermit said.
The AP also reports, "Kermit also acknowledged starting a new relationship with another pig, a woman named Denise who works in ABC Marketing."
There are cynics who would accuse ABC of a cheap publicity stunt ahead of the new fall mockumentary-style series. Others will we delighted that this aberrant, unnatural, socially deviant, inter-species relationship has ended.
Kermit and Miss Piggy may no longer be a couple, but they vow to remain professional on their new show. Sort of like Sonny and Cher (kids, ask your grandparents).
• By the numbers. Here's some information for those who like crunching numbers. If you thought there were way too many TV shows with which to keep up, welcome to my world.
According to a recently released study from FX Networks Research, there are 267 scripted original series on the air so far this year. That breaks down to 23 from online services (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime), 109 on broadcast networks, 22 on pay cable and 113 on basic cable.
That's only the scripted stuff. Throw in reality and other shows and it's a TV critic's nightmare. Sometimes we long for the good ol' days of three networks and PBS. Life was much simpler then.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 08/13/2015