Skip to main content

Blue Sky Metropolis

Email share
Slue Sky Metropolis

Blue Sky Metropolis

How did Southern California become the aerospace capital of the world? What were the consequences of this development for the region, for the nation and for aerospace itself? Blue Sky Metropolis is a series of four one-hour episodes that examine the largest homegrown industry that, nevertheless, has received only a fraction of the attention heaped upon the Hollywood entertainment business. Like its counterpart, aerospace was an industry created by dreamers drawn to a region that was invented by dreamers civic boosters comprised of newspaper publishers, real estate developers and Hollywood moguls. Their entrepreneurial spirit surely resonated with those imaginations attuned to the possibilities of flight. Blue Sky Metropolis explores the intersection of aerospace and Southern California from multiple perspectives: technology, popular culture, politics, race, business, labor, environment and gender.


BLUE SKY METROPOLIS:
WINGS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 10 PM

Wings establishes Southern California as the undisputed aviation capital of the world, tracing its growth from the 1910 Los Angeles Air Meet to becoming America’s “arsenal of democracy” during World War II, led by Jack Northrop, Glenn Martin and Donald Douglas. Critics see an unhealthy alliance developing between the federal government and aircraft manufacturers.

Airdates:

  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Wed, 11/04/2020 @ 10pm
  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Fri, 11/06/2020 @ Noon
Blue Sky Metropolis

Episode 1 Preview | Wings

0:30
Published:
Rating: TV-PG

This episode establishes Southern California as the undisputed aviation world capital.


Blue Sky Metropolis

Episode 2 Preview | The Big Chill

0:30
Published:
Rating: TV-PG

The Cold War and Pentagon dollars fuel the explosive growth of modern Los Angeles.

BLUE SKY METROPOLIS:
THE BIG CHILL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 10 PM

This episode traces how the Cold War and Pentagon dollars fund the explosive growth of modern Los Angeles and create the military-industrial complex. Entire suburbs such as Lakewood are built in record time to house defense industry workers, while also restricting non-white races from living there. Fear of nuclear annihilation spawns the science-fiction genre for Hollywood.

Airdates:

  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Wed, 11/11/2020 @ 10pm
  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Fri, 11/13/2020 @ Noon

BLUE SKY METROPOLIS:
A SPACE ODYSSEY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 10 PM

The triumphant and tragic Space Race unfolds in the first-hand accounts of those who pioneered the technology and built the hardware that made possible mankind’s greatest achievement, landing on the moon. Meantime, the military-industrial complex expands unchecked.

Airdates:

  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Wed, 11/18/2020 @ 10pm
  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Fri, 11/20/2020 @ Noon
Blue Sky Metropolis

Episode 3 Preview | A Space Odyssey

0:30
Published:
Rating: TV-PG

The race to the moon is matched in dollars by a secret military program to dominate space.


Blue Sky Metropolis

Episode 4 Preview | Back to the Future

0:30
Published:
Rating: TV-PG

Tech billionaires choose Southern California to launch their own space companies.

BLUE SKY METROPOLIS:
BACK TO THE FUTURE
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 10 PM

The end of the Cold War brings massive layoffs, but tech billionaires choose Southern California to launch their space companies, injecting new vigor to the industry in the region. Though committed to the “democratization” of space, SpaceX and Virgin Orbit include the Pentagon as a major customer.

Airdates:

  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Wed, 11/25/2020 @ 10pm
  • WTVP-HD 47.1 - Fri, 11/27/2020 @ Noon