TV REVIEW : Finding the ‘Lost Kingdoms’ of the Maya

If you’re bored to tears with today’s coverage of the Clinton ascension, there is a decent “and now, something completely different” alternative on PBS tonight.

“Lost Kingdoms of the Maya,” a “National Geographic” special (at 8 p.m. on KCET-TV Channel 28 and KPBS-TV Channel 15, and 7 p.m. on KVCR-TV Channel 24), is a leisurely look at the Maya world of today and past, and it couldn’t be more removed from the Capitol hoopla.

Producer-director Christine Weber offers an interesting though somewhat bland history lesson about this ancient culture, which was one of the most highly developed of its time. Maya skills in mathematics, astronomy, architecture and art are shown in numerous examples, laying the groundwork for a portrait of a complex society with large cities, trade routes and political/religious hierarchy evolving over hundreds of years. While Paris was still a tiny village, the Maya were carving great cities out of the jungle.

And then it all vanished. “Lost Kingdoms” visits experts attempting to solve the mysterious disappearance, including archeologist Arthur Demarest, whose controversial theory that the Maya--believed peaceful by other experts--became just another violent, warring nation is a hot topic in academic circles.

“Lost Kingdoms” also shows the link between contemporary Maya in Central America and Mexico and their ancestors, making the case that Maya life didn’t disappear but evolved into a different form.

Heavy-handed at times and silly at others--the “spine-tingling historical re-creations” of ancient Maya rituals, for example--”Lost Kingdoms of the Maya” is a nonetheless pleasant, informative hour and a cooling antidote to Potomac fever.