I am currently watching. I see Bill's point about not involving the audience, but the television is not showing the whole story.    Having witnessed the performance at Madison Square Garden, this special is not capturing the audience who were singing every word. To be in a venue like Madison Square Garden and join in with 20,000 people singing "We Shall Overcome", "Jacob's Ladder" and even "Old Dan Tucker" was an experience I will not soon forget.   The audience was participating in the pure joy of the songs.   No, this audience was not as committed as Seeger's audience is to the music and message, but it was a start.

Yes, Springsteen is a performer - but that is not a sin.   I never heard people complain that Laurence Olivier was just an actor or Van Gogh only a painter.   Springsteen is a brillant performer, and the 1 hour PBS special is edited from a nearly 3 hour concert that took place without an intermission. He gives his fans a show, and a message. Do they carry out his message? Probably not.   Seeger usually sings to an audience that is already committed, Springsteen is singing to an audience that proabably has not been converted.

No, it is not the folk music we grew up with. No, not everyone will like it. Nothing wrong with that.