On the little screen
Durango and surrounding environs may be getting a little air play in coming weeks.

For starters, local beer lovers can crack a cold one and settle into their favorite couch for “Colorado Brews,” a new half hour PBS program devoted to showcasing Colorado’s craft breweries. Each episode will feature one of the state’s outstanding breweries (of which Durango now has five) and highlight the signature beers it produces and the “passionate brewmasters who create them.”

The pilot episode will feature Crabtree Brewing Co. in Greeley, which will be broadcast on Rocky Mountain PBS on Sat., April 6, at 9:30 p.m.
The show is the vision of Charles Nuckolls and includes a cast of Colorado beer enthusiasts including: host Ed Sealover, a reporter for the Denver Business Journal and author of Mountain Brew: A Guide to Colorado’s Breweries; David Davis, Executive Chef at The Golden Hotel, who does a food and beer pairing segment; beer blogger Billy Broas, who does a home brewing segment; beer blogger Leah Arthur, who reports in each episode from one of Colorado’s beer events or festivals; and beer blogger Dave Butler, who hosts a beer tech segment.

David Thibodeau, owner of Ska Brewing, says, “We have many of the nation’s best brewers crafting many of the nation’s most diverse and unique beers. The time is now for ‘Colorado Brews,’ telling these stories, which are at once inspiring, if not all-together intoxicating.”

If the program is well received by viewers. the first full season will premiere on Rocky Mountain PBS in the fall of 2013.

Meanwhile, fans of HGTV’s “House Hunters” may recognize some familiar scenes in an upcoming episode of the show, which follows potential homebuyers through their quest to find the perfect digs.

Seems HGTV was in town a few months back shooting an episode on navigating the somewhat tricky and competitive Durango housing market. The episode, titled “Hippie Chick vs. Army Guy in Durango,” is scheduled to air Wed., April 10, at 9 p.m. MST.

And last but not least, Silverton was recently scouted as a potential site for an upcoming series, “When Calls the Heart,” on the Hallmark Channel.

According to a report in the Denver Post, the series centers around a Western frontier town, circa 1910, as a wealthy young woman from the East begins a new life as a teacher. Hallmark would like to shoot six episodes of the scripted drama, $8 million worth of production, in Colorado beginning this spring.

Pre-production could begin as early as May with shooting taking place in July. The series is slated to premiere in January 2014. The project is expected to employ up to 75 local crew members and 25 local cast members.