PBS: Viewers Like You. Thank You.

[Thumper]

Is there a forum or thread for World on Fire?

[chitowngirl]

8 hours ago, Thumper said:

Is there a forum or thread for World on Fire?

Sure is! Go to the Home Page and Search by Show Title.

[Constant Viewer]

So glad PBS is still airing the Memorial Day Concert, even though it makes me cry every year!

[ebk57]

I was marveling earlier over Joe Montegna's fabulous hair! 

And a Bonnie Hunt sighting!!

[tres bien]

One afternoon last week my local PBS channel aired American Experience: Influenza 1918.

If you can watch it it's excellent.  It's also frightening and so depressingly sad.

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by tres bien

[zoey1996]

My local PBS was fund-raising yesterday. Messed up the timing for the season premieres for “Grantchester” and “Beecham House.” I watched “Grantchester” but recorded BH, which didn’t record the whole thing in the time allotted. 😕  It’s re-airing in the next couple of days, so I’ll try recording or watching again.

[chitowngirl]

I’m going to start Beecham House because I love a good period piece. There is NO chatter at all in the Beecham House thread here!

[Spunkygal]

19 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

I’m going to start Beecham House because I love a good period piece. There is NO chatter at all in the Beecham House thread here!

Thank you for mentioning this show. I was unaware of it and have added it to my DVR list!

[magdalene]

American Experience was about Mae West tonight.   Well worth watching.

14 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I’m going to start Beecham House because I love a good period piece. There is NO chatter at all in the Beecham House thread here!

We are talking about it now there.

[Maisiesmom]

I watched the Mae West one last night. What a woman! She really was before her time. She also reminded me of my Grandma who was about the same age. Loved the beautiful gowns and jewels!

[DanaK]

The Mae West doc was via American Masters, not American Experience in case anyone goes in search of it. Something interesting that I realized after watching it was that West's act, at least in the movies in the 30s, was basically a lot of innuendo. She wasn't doing porn, she wasn't taking her clothes off (though she may have done that on stage); I don't think she was even scantily clad. She was her own woman, wanting to have the power to do things her way and she didn't get married (at least publicly) and she dated a lot of men. And it drove people crazy. Such scandal!. Times were certainly different, though I was surprised that so many young women were openly fans of her. And in response to her and of several others in Hollywood, we get censorship via the Hayes Code. She may have been nipped some by the censorship (plus the goodness of Shirley Temple), but she kept at it as best she could, even in her old age (which darn her for being sexy and sexual as an older woman in film). What is sad is that she couldn't pivot to other things, like darker drama and lighter comedy because her persona was stuck to her like glue and people wouldn't accept her any other way (even if they castigated her for it)

[annzeepark914]

There was an excellent interview of Doris Kearns Goodwin tonight on one of our PBS stations. She talked about 4 presidents she'd written about: Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and LBJ. Back in 2007 I joined a local book club. At my first mtg, they said that Goodwin would be visiting the next month. A member of our book club was the mom of Goodwin's speakers bureau president. To this day, when I think of sitting around the table with Doris explaining how she prepared for interviews with future book subjects like Rose Kennedy, I still mentally shake my head. Fellow book club members say the same.

[DanaK]

I recently finished watching American Experience's "McCarthy". He was a decade before my time, but I've known about him for a long time but not necessarily all the finer details. What a horrible person, especially in the position of US Senator. He hurt a lot of people and he didn't really find any communists to speak of (I guess he looked in the wrong places or they were all rounded up in the decade or two before). His lying was off the charts and Roy Cohn as his assistant was such a horrible turd. Cohn went on teach Donald Trump all he knew and I think Trump's lying probably surpasses McCarthy's. It's sad to see how the other Senators just let him do what he wanted, at least until they and the President had enough of his antics

I had always thought the Army-McCarthy hearings was just about McCarthy accusing the Army of having communists, so it was interesting to learn it was more about accusations against McCarthy and Cohn inappropriately leaning on the Army

Another good recent American Experience episode was the 2-part "The Vote", the final decade or two in pushing legislation or an amendment to give women the vote. Interesting how interests collided, especially with White women wanting to sell out Black women to at least get the vote for White women

 

[meep.meep]

I really liked The Vote!  So long to get it finally ratified.  Two full generations of suffragettes. 

[DanaK]

The recent 3 part “Rise of the Nazis” was really good and a very timely warning of how to lose a democracy. The machinations by the various politicians to harness the Nazi Party’s base and Hitler against perceived enemies on the left while still controlling them really bit them in the butt. How they could have ignored the Nazis given their recent wins in parliament isn’t clear though. Of course, why the Nazis and Hitler were even allowed in parliament and politics in general after their coup attempt and Hitler’s imprisonment a decade earlier is equally unclear

[annzeepark914]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:19 PM, meep.meep said:

I really liked The Vote!  So long to get it finally ratified.  Two full generations of suffragettes. 

Watching it set my nerves on edge because even after women finally got the so-called *right* to vote, females were still considered second class citizens.  But those suffragettes were brave and determined, thank God!

[Spunkygal]

This was also posted on the In Memorium forum elsewhere on this site but thought I’d put it here, too, since Pepin’s shows were so popular on PBS back in the day. Jacques Pepin’s lovely wife, Gloria, passed away on Saturday at age 83. I always enjoyed seeing her make an occasional appearance.I never missed one of his shows! 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9024373/French-Chef-Jacques-P-pins-wife-Gloria-83-dies-83-leaving-overcome-grief.html

 

[annzeepark914]

On 12/7/2020 at 2:46 AM, Spunkygal said:

This was also posted on the In Memorium forum elsewhere on this site but thought I’d put it here, too, since Pepin’s shows were so popular on PBS back in the day. Jacques Pepin’s lovely wife, Gloria, passed away on Saturday at age 83. I always enjoyed seeing her make an occasional appearance.I never missed one of his shows! 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9024373/French-Chef-Jacques-P-pins-wife-Gloria-83-dies-83-leaving-overcome-grief.html

 

Thanks for posting the link. I loved her little trick to meet the cute JP!! What a lovely couple in a real loving marriage. I feel so bad for him.

[ebk57]

Good grief - are all the good guys throwing in the towel??  Mark Shields is  leaving The Newshour.  This, an hour after one of our local anchors, Bruce Johnson, retired after 44 years on the station.  Sigh.................

[annzeepark914]

Any ideas on who might take Shields' place? I was thinking about this today & wondered if Ruth Marcus would be the replacement. 

[DanaK]

Very interesting American Masters documentary on author Laura Ingalls Wilder of "Little House" fame. I knew a little about her because of the Little House on the Prairie tv series, but I learned a lot from the doc. It appears that despite the racism in her books, the books are still pretty popular to today's kids

[chediavolo]

On 12/30/2020 at 11:37 AM, DanaK said:

Very interesting American Masters documentary on author Laura Ingalls Wilder of "Little House" fame. I knew a little about her because of the Little House on the Prairie tv series, but I learned a lot from the doc. It appears that despite the racism in her books, the books are still pretty popular to today's kids

I don’t think I would like reading about that time in history, It doesn’t interest me. I did watch Little House on the Prairie years ago. The documentary was pretty interesting seems like her daughter did most of the writing. It was interesting to see the different viewpoints from people of different nationalities.  The one woman who was giving opinions,  I don’t know what her name was, that laughed every time she finished  a comment  was driving me crazy. She wasn’t even saying anything funny I was just disturbing. 
seems like Pa was a bit of a loser! And not much like he was portrayed in the series. I can’t believe how many times they moved. I still can’t understand why anyone at that time would leave the East Coast to go live in the wild west but that’s just me🙂

[meep.meep]

free land is a pretty powerful lure

[ebk57]

On 12/20/2020 at 11:46 PM, annzeepark914 said:

Any ideas on who might take Shields' place? I was thinking about this today & wondered if Ruth Marcus would be the replacement. 

Jonathan Capehart

I guess this will work.

[annzeepark914]

32 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

Jonathan Capehart

I guess this will work.

Yeah...we saw him on tonight's broadcast.  I was really hoping it would be Ruth Marcus. 

[Maverick]

 I was pursuing the cable guide and saw Risky Business on PBS.  The hell?

[DanaK]

On 1/31/2021 at 11:32 PM, Maverick said:

 I was pursuing the cable guide and saw Risky Business on PBS.  The hell?

They've got to fill those hours with something I guess lol

PBS had a recent 3 part series "When Disaster Strikes" that was pretty interesting. The series went inside the coming together of groups working to come into an area and help when a disaster strikes a country or area. The episodes were on Mozambique, Somalia and the Bahamas. I'm not sure I saw the 2nd episode given all the preemptions lately, but otherwise, it was a pretty interesting series

I'm working my way through a 4 part documentary series called "How the Victorians Built Britain" that's also pretty good

I also found the documentary "The Lavender Scare" really good. This was about the government hunting down and throwing out gay people from government positions in the 50s because they thought they could be blackmailed by foreign intelligence services because they weren't serving openly. I worked for the Federal government before retiring in 2019 so I was somewhat aware of this, but this doc provided pretty good details of yet another terrible chapter in our history. Fortunately, the rule or law or whatever it was that didn't allow gays to serve openly in the intelligence field got thrown out a few years back

Also, coming up, PBS has a 2 part doc that looks interesting called "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song" on Feb 16 and 17. Ken Burns has a 3 part doc on Ernest Hemingway in April. "My Grandparent's War" is a 4 parter in April that looks at several Hollywood actors' grandparents in WWII. There's also what looks to be a real interesting 3 part doc in May, "Life at the Waterhole", on creating an artificial waterhole and observing the animals that come to it. "Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer" is a 4 parter also in May that looks at medical advances through the years. "The Mysteries of Mental Illness" is a 4 parter that starts in June. In July, the 3 parter "The Future of Work" premieres, as does Season 2 of "Expedition with Steve Bachshall".

[DanaK]

"American Experience: Voice of Freedom" about singer Marian Anderson was very interesting, as I knew nothing about her other than that she was booted from an engagement at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of racism and ended up singing at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. 

[ebk57]

On 2/22/2021 at 12:18 PM, DanaK said:

"American Experience: Voice of Freedom" about singer Marian Anderson was very interesting, as I knew nothing about her other than that she was booted from an engagement at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of racism and ended up singing at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. 

We had that on to fill time Saturday evening before the late local news and SNL.  We ended up watching the whole thing, skipping the news and catching SNL on the DVR.  Thought it was excellent and quite informative. 

[dcalley]

There's a new three-episode podcast about the history of Masterpiece, which is celebrating 50 years. The first episode is available right now, and there is a transcript if you prefer reading to listening.

Quote

Five decades is a long time for any television series to air, but when a show hits 50, it’s possible some people might start asking questions about where it all started. That’s where this podcast comes in. Fifty years ago, a group of public television producers in Boston had the inspired idea to import British costume drama for American audiences. But they didn’t come up with the idea on their own — there’s a former FCC Chair, a popular soap opera, and a Polaroid exec with Julia Child’s The French Chef on his mind involved, too. For three episodes, Making MASTERPIECE will show how the most unexpected and unlikely of series — Masterpiece Theatre — grew into one of the longest-running primetime television icons of all time.

pbs.org/makingmasterpiece

[ebk57]

All 4 PBS stations here are in Pledge Drive mode.  I've peeved. 

[chessiegal]

10 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

All 4 PBS stations here are in Pledge Drive mode.  I've peeved. 

Me too. Are you in the DC/Baltimore area? I swear, Maryland Public Television does fund raisers 3 out of 4 weekends every month.

[ebk57]

30 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Me too. Are you in the DC/Baltimore area? I swear, Maryland Public Television does fund raisers 3 out of 4 weekends every month.

I am - right between DC and Baltimore.  There's usually at least one channel not in Begging Mode, but not this weekend.  No middle of the night Austin City Limits for me, I guess... 

[annzeepark914]

21 hours ago, ebk57 said:

All 4 PBS stations here are in Pledge Drive mode.  I've peeved. 

Wow...you have four.  My sister has always been in awe of our having three PBS stations: MPT, WETA & the one at Howard U. Sheesh...I now loathe those doo wop, golden oldies shows. A lot of the singers have just about lost their voices. Wish they'd do something different, like hold British movie festivals. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by annzeepark914

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Wow...you have four.  My sister has always been in awe of our having three PBS stations: MPT, WETA & the one at Howard U. Sheesh...I now loathe those doo woo, golden oldies shows. A lot of the singers have just about lost their voices. Wish they'd do something different, like hold British movie festivals. 

The 4th station in the DC/Baltimore market is MPT2 - Create. WETA also has 2 more stations, WETA UK and another.

It really ticks me off when MPT hijacks Create for fund raising when it's supposed to be lifestyle shows. MPT2 goes back to regular programing around midnight during pledge drives.

[Crashcourse]

4 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Wow...you have four.  My sister has always been in awe of our having three PBS stations: MPT, WETA & the one at Howard U. Sheesh...I now loathe those doo woo, golden oldies shows. A lot of the singers have just about lost their voices. Wish they'd do something different, like hold British movie festivals. 

Also, it's sad to watch those doo wop shows because a lot of the singers have died. 

[Kemper]

On 3/14/2021 at 11:11 AM, annzeepark914 said:

Wow...you have four.  My sister has always been in awe of our having three PBS stations: MPT, WETA & the one at Howard U. Sheesh...I now loathe those doo wop, golden oldies shows. A lot of the singers have just about lost their voices. Wish they'd do something different, like hold British movie festivals. 

If they would do British movie festivals for Pledge Week(s) ... I would gladly donate.  The Doo Wop and Oldies shows ran their courses years ago; have seen the Broadway specials many times.  And of course, they always go to some form of Downton Abbey show.  Suze Orman, yoga (which I loved the first 15 times I saw it), improving brain health, etc.  

Has PBS simply given up on having fundraising shows that a lot of people would enjoy and pledge their money for?  Have they lost the rights to the Masterpiece Mysteries?  My area also has multiple PBS channels ... and the pledge shows are still always the same.  

I don't know...apparently a couple of weeks of rerunning old shows is a good tool to raise money.  

[shok]

I love love love all the doo wop shows and the voices that these people still have are just amazing. There are a few that I don't bother to watch but for the most part, I find it a blessing to be able to listen to this wonderful old music. So much better than those brain aging backwards shows or British murder mystery nonsense. I saw the Righteous Brothers sing You've Lost That Loving Feeling the other day and almost wept. Don't think I've ever had the privilege of actually seeing them perform this song before. I do agree that all the begging breaks get tiresome but I put them on mute and wait them out. 🙂

[DanaK]

Just to note, April should be better given all the new programming happening that month, including a 3-parter on Hemingway

[letusprocrastinate]

On 3/15/2021 at 11:36 AM, Kemper said:

If they would do British movie festivals for Pledge Week(s) ... I would gladly donate.  The Doo Wop and Oldies shows ran their courses years ago; have seen the Broadway specials many times.  And of course, they always go to some form of Downton Abbey show.  Suze Orman, yoga (which I loved the first 15 times I saw it), improving brain health, etc.  

Has PBS simply given up on having fundraising shows that a lot of people would enjoy and pledge their money for?  Have they lost the rights to the Masterpiece Mysteries?  My area also has multiple PBS channels ... and the pledge shows are still always the same.  

I don't know...apparently a couple of weeks of rerunning old shows is a good tool to raise money.  

Around last May or June (sorry, can't remember exactly when), one night in the wee hours of the AM, WETA ran a pledge show featuring INXS at Wembley.

It's back to normal programming for the DC/Baltimore stations next weekend, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Edited March 19, 2021 by letusprocrastinate
Who sought this thread out to complain about the same thing

[dalek]

The constant fundraising gets annoying, and I'm often not super interested in watching the umpteenth rerun of whatever they show during the fundraising period, but I will watch the Tom Lehrer in Denmark performance, and sometimes they show one with Dolly Parton that I like.

[ebk57]

On 3/25/2021 at 9:10 PM, dalek said:

The constant fundraising gets annoying, and I'm often not super interested in watching the umpteenth rerun of whatever they show during the fundraising period, but I will watch the Tom Lehrer in Denmark performance, and sometimes they show one with Dolly Parton that I like.

I recorded the Tom Lehrer show when it was on here...because it's so good, and I can fast-forward through the breaks.  

[annzeepark914]

7 hours ago, ebk57 said:

I recorded the Tom Lehrer show when it was on here...because it's so good, and I can fast-forward through the breaks.  

🎵"Poisoning Pigeons In The Park"🎶

[dalek]

PBS World Channel (WETA4 here) is showing Eyes on The Prize 

I don't think I've seen the series since college back in the 1980s, when folks in my dorm would watch it in the common room and the history phd resident tutor would then discuss what was covered in the episode in more detail.

[tres bien]

The four part series My Grandparents War began airing this past Sunday. 

Helena Bonham Carter learning about her maternal and paternal grandparents lives and roles pre and during WWII was quite interesting. 

[chitowngirl]

I just started a thread!

58 minutes ago, tres bien said:

The four part series My Grandparents War began airing this past Sunday. 

Helena Bonham Carter learning about her maternal and paternal grandparents lives and roles pre and during WWII was quite interesting. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by chitowngirl

[Brattinella]

On 3/25/2021 at 8:10 PM, dalek said:

The constant fundraising gets annoying, and I'm often not super interested in watching the umpteenth rerun of whatever they show during the fundraising period, but I will watch the Tom Lehrer in Denmark performance, and sometimes they show one with Dolly Parton that I like.

I didn't even know this was a thing!  I'll have to find it, thanks for the heads-up!

[DanaK]

The recent American Masters episode on Doc Severinsen was pretty interesting. I knew very little about his career other than his bandleader time on Johnny Carson. His personal life certainly matched Carson's for trainwreck status, but he seems to have had a great career as a trumpet player and is still apparently performing at 93, along with mentoring up and coming players

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

The recent American Masters episode on Doc Severinsen was pretty interesting. I knew very little about his career other than his bandleader time on Johnny Carson. His personal life certainly matched Carson's for trainwreck status, but he seems to have had a great career as a trumpet player and is still apparently performing at 93, along with mentoring up and coming players

He’s still performing!?? Wow, I will definitely watch this. Thanks!

[DanaK]

I haven't had a chance to watch the 3-parter on Hemingway, but I've heard it's good

Some interesting stuff coming up this month (days and times will vary with your local PBS stations):

There's an interesting documentary on WETA called "When My Time Comes" on end of life issues that was shown last night on WETA. Diane Rehm, a former NPR reporter, whose husband suffered a lingering death, looks at medical aid in dying and the pros and cons of it. I don't know if it's only for WETA or if other PBS stations have picked it up

Nova has an interesting 2 hour doc called "Picture a Scientist" premiering tonight on my local WETA station that looks at woman and People of Color in STEM and the harassment and bias they suffer

American Experience will show the doc "American Oz" starting on the 19th about Oz creator and writer Frank L. Baum

PBS Newshour has a special called Critical Care: America vs. the World set for the 21st

Frontline will show the 2-part "The Virus That Shook the World" on April 26 and 27 on how the pandemic affected people

"Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World" is a 3-parter on the young climate activist that will be shown on Wednesdays starting April 28 in my area

"Human: The World Within" is a 6-parter that will look at the body's inner workings and starts April 28

Season 2 of "History with David Rubenstein" will premiere April 30. I don't know if it's just available in my area as it's a WETA production, but it's a half hour interview show of people who have done history projects