2012 Olympics: Countdown to the Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London kicks off the start of the games this Friday, July 27, at 9PM local time (4PM Eastern). If you’re going to be there up close and personal, I wish you a grand time.

British filmmaker Danny Boyle is the Artistic Director for the Opening Ceremony, named “Isles of Wonder,” and if it is going to be anything like his movies (including the Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire and the Oscar-nominated Trainspotting), then we’re all in for some extraordinary entertainment.

On this side of the pond, NBC will live-stream all 302 events at NBCOlympics.com, but not the Opening Ceremony, so we’ll have to wait until NBC begins its television coverage at 7:30PM on Friday to see it. By the way, you must have a cable, satellite, or telco TV subscription that includes CNBC and MSNBC in order to access the live stream.

Since Friday is still a few days away, here are a couple of programs from the BBC to help get you into the Olympics mood:

You can catch the premiere of the movie Going for Gold tomorrow, Wednesday, July 25, at 8PM on BBC America. Starring Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and Sam Hoare, it’s the true story of how Bert Bushnell and Richard “Dickie” Burnell, two athletes from nearly opposite ends of the class spectrum, became teammates just weeks before the games, and how they overcame their many differences to compete in the double sculling event in the 1948 London “Austerity” Olympics.

And if you missed Twenty Twelve, the BBC comedy series starring Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) about the team responsible for organizing the 2012 games, you can watch both seasons of it on Amazon Instant Video.

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