49 UP. A pioneering television series started 42 years ago when the British television show World in Action filmed and interviewed a bunch of seven-year-old kiddies for a segment called Seven Up! Over the following decades, audiences have been able to follow the maturation of many of those kids in subsequent episodes--every seven years. It's a fascinating, addictive ride.

So now 49 Up has reached the Big Apple, where it's playing downtown at the IFC Film Center through November 7, at the very least. I'm not going to give anything away--I respect the unspoken code of the show's fans! But if you haven't yet seen any part of this series, you could go in cold or watch the previous releases on DVD (which are on sale at the IFC Center). Both strategies have their merits.























Before signing off on this post, I want to note a technical aspect of the Up Series. It doesn't just follow the maturation of the children--it follows the maturation of the medium, too. From the grainy black-and-white footage of the original to the digital video of the latest installment, you can trace the development of television technology in seven-year increments, both in isolation and, perhaps to a lesser degree, in its relationship to society.