Mr. Smits Goes to Washington (again)

    His last big inside-the-beltway role was as victorious presidential candidate Matt Santos, during the lame duck days of President Bartlett and the swan song episodes of The West Wing.  Now Jimmy Smits will return to the USA's Capital to host PBS's 28th annual telecast of A Capitol Fourth live from Washington, D.C. 

    Performances include the very best of the tepid and predictable with acts such as Huey Lewis and the News and American Idol winner who went nowhere Taylor Hicks. 

    Hayley Westerna, of Celtic Woman fame, will also perform along with fellow soprano Harolyn Blackwell, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell and America's favorite don't-worry-I-won't-shoot-you-I'm-only-the-piano-player Jerry Lee Lewis.

    Throw in the NSO with Erich Kunzel on the baton, live cannon fire from the US Army's Presidential Salute Battery during the 1812 Overture and fireworks and you have the makings of yet another great production that has become a tradition for public television stations coast to coast.

    And you were going to go to a picnic?  Check local listings!