Dauphin Island Times

If you see a film crew on Dauphin Island today give them directions to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. The bird sanctuary is one of the field trips around the Mobile Area which is to be included in an episode of the Antiques Roadshow to be recorded in Mobile this weekend.

Approximately 5,000 to 6,000 people will attend the main attraction appraisal event, which will take place at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center from 8am to 6pm this Saturday. All that's needed for admission is a ticket and an item to be appraised.

Unfortunately there are no more tickets to be had. WGBH in Boston, the show's owner and operator, gave away 3400 pairs of tickets already.

'Antiques Roadshow' arrives for look at Mobile treasures

While the camera rolled in the Mobile Medical Museum on Thursday, Mark Walberg yanked his arm back when it looked like he might lose some blood.

The host of PBS' popular "Antiques Roadshow" reacted quickly when antiquities expert Ken Farmer made out like he was going to break Walberg's skin with a most frightful little device.

The palm-sized gadget from a bygone era of medicine -- with several small but effectively sharp knives -- is among the historical artifacts on display at the Mobile Medical Museum. That's where a "Roadshow" production crew shot footage for a segment that will air during the TV show's 20-episode 11th season next year.

"I'm feeling much better now, thank you," said Walberg for the video camera as he removed his arm from close proximity to Farmer and the blood-letting device.

The letting of blood -- via leeches or various tools developed by the medical profession over the course of several centuries -- was once believed to be a necessary method of removing impurities from the body, Farmer and Walberg revealed during banter captured by the camera.

The audience for "Roadshow" typically measures 11 million viewers for a new episode, according to Nielsen Media Research. The show is currently in reruns on PBS and Alabama Public Television, but a trio of new episodes will be made from the visit to Mobile this week, according to executive producer Marsha Bemko.

Other cities on the "Roadshow" tour this summer are Tuscon, Ariz., Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Honolulu.

The "field trip," as Bemko termed it, to the Mobile Medical Museum, as well as segments shot Thursday afternoon at the Mobile Museum of Art and today at the Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island, will be included in the episodes being shot in Mobile.

Bemko estimated that 5,000 to 6,000 people will attend the main attraction for the episodes, the "Roadshow" appraisal event to be held from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center. An admission ticket and an item to be appraised are required for entry.

Some 3,400 pairs of free tickets were given away by WGBH, the Boston public broadcasting TV station that produces "Roadshow," but no more tickets are available, Bemko said. Read more