PBS: Viewers Like You. Thank You.

[Kemper]

Last night our PBS station ran a movie called "Prince Charles III" or some such.  I tuned in (not knowing what to expect) and found it dreadful.  

An actor (Piggot-Smith) played the current Prince Charles; Queen Elizabeth had died and he was supposed to be coronated King in 30 days.  But he ran up against Parliament (and in particular, the Prime Minister) when he opposed putting some restraints on the press.  

The entire thing was confusing; acting was okay except for the actor who played Prince Harry.  This was supposed to have taken place not long after William and Kate had their second child; Harry was still a "playboy" or some such.  That particular actor was terribly miscast.  He was a bit pudgy, whiny and pasty.  The actor who played William at least looked the part; Kate was portrayed as ambitious and a bit of a bitch.  The actor who played Prince Charles did the best he could do with the way the part was written.

At times "Charles" would turn and address the audience; I have a feeling they were going for a Shakesperean feel; they failed miserably.  The scenery and costumes were nice, as one would expect from PBS/BBC.

I usually love anything "British" that our PBS airs; but to me, this entire movie was a mess.  I hate to sound so harsh; has it been one before?  Was it a Part II or a two-parter?

[Brattinella]

2 hours ago, Kemper said:

I usually love anything "British" that our PBS airs; but to me, this entire movie was a mess.  I hate to sound so harsh; has it been one before?  Was it a Part II or a two-parter?

I am an Anglophile as well, but this was truly an abomination.  It was on before, a couple years ago, I think.  It could have been a good production if they didn't play so fast and loose with the facts.

[dcalley]

King Charles III was first on Masterpiece a couple of years ago. The Masterpiece forum disappeared or else I'd point you there for the discussion of it (I don't think there was much, though). I skipped it, but I do remember that it was a play before it became a TV movie. Perhaps it was better then?

[Tom Holmberg]

Speaking of "Masterpiece", I'm looking forward to their production of "Les Miserables" due to be on in a couple of weeks.

[RealityCheck]

Victor Hugo’s Classic Novel Les Misérables Is Set To Premiere Sunday, April 14, 2019 On PBS's MASTERPIECE Theatre

Quote

The six-part drama adaptation stars Dominic West (The Affair, The Hour) as Jean Valjean, and David Oyelowo (Selma) as Javert in this landmark drama adaptation.  They are joined in this epic event drama by Lily Collins (Rules Don’t Apply, Love, Rosie), in the role of Fantine.

[dcalley]

On 3/25/2019 at 4:29 PM, dcalley said:

The Masterpiece forum disappeared or else I'd point you there for the discussion of it

Whoops, I think only Small Talk disappeared. The King Charles thread is still here:

I started a Les Mis thread:

[SmithW6079]

Series 3 of "Upstart Crow" has been airing on my local PBS station, and tonight they went where I wondered if they would.

In history, William Shakespeare's son Hamnet died when the boy was 11 years old. The series has fictionalized so much, I wondered if they would skip over that, but they didn't. In this episode, Hamnet dies from the plague.

At the end, the Will's voiceover recites Constance's speech from King John, as he and Anne sit silently by the fire.

Quote

Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, 
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
Remembers me of all his gracious parts, 
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form: 
Then have I reason to be fond of grief

[dalek]

So, did anyone else catch the documentary "Streit's: Matzo and the American Dream" on PBS?  Did it just show on the NYC area stations?

[Brattinella]

On 4/12/2019 at 11:20 PM, SmithW6079 said:

Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, 
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
Remembers me of all his gracious parts, 
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form: 
Then have I reason to be fond of grief

How sad and eloquent!  I had never read this one before, thank you!

[ebk57]

On 4/23/2019 at 8:23 PM, dalek said:

So, did anyone else catch the documentary "Streit's: Matzo and the American Dream" on PBS?  Did it just show on the NYC area stations?

I didn't, since I hadn't heard of it.  However, now I've looked it up and it seems it will be an annual tradition on PBS.

https://www.boweryboogie.com/2019/04/pbs-picks-up-streits-doc-matzo-and-the-american-dream-for-annual-passover-telecast/

I'll look for it here in my area.  Thanks 

[Sharpie66]

Welp, just saw a music compilation Pledge Week show that was music of the ‘80s. I am officially old, since that was my high school/college years. I remember when the late-night ads and PBS specials for swing music started progressing to ‘50s, then on up through the ‘70s as the years passed, so I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was! 

In not “God, I am ancient” news, I did also see a fun concert of Postmodern Jukebox, who I just love watching on YouTube.

[stormy]

Yay! My local PBS station is showing the BBC series Pride and Prejudice.

I've seen it more times than I can remember but it's must see for me whenever it's on.

[annzeepark914]

A big Thank You! to PBS for broadcasting A Capitol Fourth last night.  John Stamos does a good job as host and most of the talent was good.  Seeing a medley done by the cast of the Broadway musical of Carole King's life and works was wonderful.  I want to see this musical now. They also did a superb job of showcasing Sesame Street and its stars as they celebrate 50 years of this excellent children's program (very sweet when the Muppets & the kids sang Happy Birthday to America).

[Sharpie66]

I am finally getting caught up on the American Experience show Chasing the Moon. I consider myself a space-race geek, but somehow, I had never heard the final seconds of the Apollo 1 fire audio, where one of the astronauts screams, “HELP US!!” Nor did I know that Pat White, Ed White’s wife, ended up committing suicide. 

So far, they are doing an excellent job of giving an overview of the race to the moon, while not boring geeks like me by providing different angles on the usual highlights/lowlights, including a short profile on Ed Dwight, the first African American man to go through astronaut training, even though he wasn’t selected with the third batch. 

ETA: wow, a profile of the only female mission control engineer on the Apollo program at NASA! Fascinating. 

ETA2: Just finished the last ep. Depressing ending, with the BTDT attitude that ended up killing the Apollo program. As is pretty standard, Apollos 7, 9, and 10 weren’t even mentioned, and this one stopped individual mission details after 11. (For details on 7 and 9, check out From the Earth to the Moon, finally available on streaming and BluRay as of tomorrow.)

Edited July 15, 2019 by Sharpie66

[Trini]

PBS Fall programming press release: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2019/07/18/pbs-americas-home-for-documentaries-this-fall-101125/20190718pbs01/

[Tom Holmberg]

I watched the American Experience show on Woodstock.  I wish they had dug deeper into the experience rather than largely rehashing the Woodstock movie. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎07‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 9:00 PM, Sharpie66 said:

Nor did I know that Pat White, Ed White’s wife, ended up committing suicide. 

She tried once before, shortly after his death but one of the astronaut's wives found her.  She finally succeeded years later, after remarrying, right before a big reunion of astronaut wives was supposed to take place.  Her story is really very sad.

I've watched pretty much every moon-related thing PBS has run this summer.  It's been fascinating, but it has kind of spoiled me for fictional moon stuff like From Earth to the Moon and First Man (which I'm very glad I saw before this summer even though I did have problems with it then, too).  Now that I've seen actual NASA footage from various Gemini and Apollo missions, the recreations just pale in comparison.

[novhappy]

Is anyone watching Professor T.?

[Brattinella]

1 hour ago, novhappy said:

Is anyone watching Professor T.?

You bet!  Terrific show!  I'm so glad there are three seasons to watch.

[Brattinella]

Well, damn.  It appears we are in Pledge-time on PBS.  None of our regular weekend fare, only music 'specials' and assorted nonsense to appeal to casual channel-surfers (for donations).  I think it will last 2 weeks (hopefully not a full month!)

Edited August 20, 2019 by Brattinella

[chessiegal]

One of our PBS stations does fund raising 3 weeks out of every month. Sometimes even Create programming is preempted for fund raising. So annoying.

[annzeepark914]

I cannot stand the Do-w** shows.  Initially, they were fun but the PBS stations show them over and over ad nauseum.  I wish our PBS stations would show some good foreign films.  There must be some good ones that won't cost a fortune to obtain.

[chitowngirl]

Does anyone watch Shakespeare & Hathaway? I love a light mystery series!

[Brattinella]

Hey!  I just checked... they are still doing "Festival" but they are showing Last of The Summer Wine from 11pm to midnight!  I think they must have read this forum!

[Ohwell]

On 8/23/2019 at 12:04 PM, annzeepark914 said:

I cannot stand the Do-w** shows.  Initially, they were fun but the PBS stations show them over and over ad nauseum.  I wish our PBS stations would show some good foreign films.  There must be some good ones that won't cost a fortune to obtain.

I wonder if people are even bothering to contribute anymore.  I know I don't, because I think PBS is lazy showing the same damn Do-w** stuff over and over and over.  Surely there's some other programming, like the foreign films you mentioned, that they could purchase. 

[wknt3]

1 hour ago, Ohwell said:

I wonder if people are even bothering to contribute anymore.  I know I don't, because I think PBS is lazy showing the same damn Do-w** stuff over and over and over.  Surely there's some other programming, like the foreign films you mentioned, that they could purchase. 

People are definitely donating or they wouldn't be airing it anymore. I work with our local PBS/NPR affiliate and employees have told me several times that they have detailed statistics on #s of donors, average donation, total $s, margin, etc. and it plays a big role in programming decisions during pledge drives. I've also heard that the programming staff would love to drop a lot of the junk, but it brings in the money.

[annzeepark914]

I remember when our PBS station would air that wonderful Pete Seeger documentary. The phones would be ringing off the hook.  Haven't seen it in the past year or so.  I love it because there are several scenes at his house on the mountain overlooking the Hudson River. Also love the segment where he's singing on stage with Arlo Guthrie, and his (Pete's) grandson.

[chessiegal]

We give generously every year to all our PBS/NPR stations. It's part of our yearly donations.

[roseha]

Has anyone here gotten the PBS substation All Arts, or is that possibly just a local station that WLIW, Channel 21 from Long Island, is broadcasting?  I was surfing over-the-air channels from my apartment in Manhattan and was amazed to see Channel 21 coming in clear as a bell, perhaps they are transmitting from the city now.  Anyway, in addition to Create, they are also showing this All Arts Channel which seems to show music programs, American Masters, and the occasional mystery from what I can see for the next couple of days.  I'll have to Tivo some of the shows. 

[annzeepark914]

Is there a place where people are discussing the ongoing Ken Burns special re: country music?

[ebk57]

7 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Is there a place where people are discussing the ongoing Ken Burns special re: country music?

Here ya go...

[Sharpie66]

I just watched a really good documentary on WTTW, the Chicago PBS station, called All the Queen’s Horses, about the biggest theft of city funds in US municipal history. A city manager in small-town Dixon, Illinois stole $53 million over 20 years, all by herself, using a secret bank account that she funneled city money into. She spent in mostly on award-winning show horses and houses and transport not anywhere near Dixon. They knew about her horse farm, but she always had excuses as to where her money came from. She was only caught when the city clerk was too swamped to follow Rita’s explicit instructions on how to get the monthly bank records for the various city accounts and just asked the bank employee to send all the accounts’ info. She was shocked to find an extra account listed with hundreds of thousands of dollars in it. The FBI was called in by the mayor and they finally busted her months later. The fallout was huge—she’s in prison until 2030, the city government has been completely redesigned, the lawsuit against the independent accounting firm keeping track of the city records was settled and recouped at least some of the funds, as did the sale of her property. 
 

I know Dixon—my grandparents and aunt and uncle lived 15 miles north. When I was out of a job, I actually applied for a job at the Dixon library, thinking to move up and help Grandma out while working there. It’s a really nice small town (even with their overwhelming love of hometown boy Ronald Reagan), so seeing this film was a big surprise—I had missed the story when it hit the news in 2012. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Did anyone see For Sama last night on Frontline? OMG......I'm still speechless.  It's a documentary produced by an ER doctor's wife as they live in the hospital during the days of major civil war in Aleppo, Syria.  I don't think I've ever felt the way I did watching those scenes, which was their life, along with their child, for years.  If you get the chance, I would highly recommend seeing it, but, I will say WARNING.  Graphic images of children dead or dying.  

[shok]

Did anyone else watch the first half of College Behind Bars tonight? What a moving film. There were times I was in tears, times I was very angry, times I was proud for some of the men, times when...well, it was such a well told story that I felt the whole gamut of emotions at different times. Kudos to PBS for airing such an excellent documentary and I'm really looking forward to the second half tomorrow night.

There's a very good article here about the show and how it was made. https://www.vulture.com/2019/11/college-behind-bars-pbs-bard-prison-initiative.html

[dcalley]

I saw a commercial last night during Jeopardy for "College Behind Bars." I was surprised to see a PBS ad on a commercial station. I may watch it yet. And I should watch "For Sama," but as with so many Frontline episodes, it's very difficult viewing. There is a Frontline thread (not active in months, though):

[Sharpie66]

Tangentially PBS-related: If anyone else enjoys the occasional rebroadcast of Time Team America but has never seen the original Time Team from the UK, Amazon Prime has the whole series available now. Highly recommended, except for seasons 19 and 20, especially 19 (they tried to tart it up due to sagging ratings and removed all the charm).

My personal favorite eps were the S12 South Perrot ep where they went looking for a potential Roman villa or temple, only to find a late Neolithic/early Bronze Age mound that the later Romans venerated, the S14 Isle of Man dig of the Viking chapel that found both a 6th century female skeleton with her braided hair intact and an inscribed stone with Ogham writing, and the S17 dig at Westminster Abbey. The strangest ep was when they were called in to check out a plethora of discoveries at one Welsh farm, only to figure out it was all a fake. The archaeologists got sooooo pissed off on that dig, even though they knew going in that it looked fishy. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Sharpie66

[novhappy]

On 8/23/2019 at 2:32 PM, chitowngirl said:

Does anyone watch Shakespeare & Hathaway? I love a light mystery series!

Yes. I find it amusing. Easy to watch but the plots are silly. The behavior of the lead male, Hathaway is quite ridiculous. But still ok to watch. Just glad our PBS channels have gotten some new programs to show. Also the translated from Italian Thou shalt not Kill. It’s pretty good  

[dcalley]

There are new Masterpiece series coming up tonight, and here are the threads.

 

 

[treeofdreams]

Does anyone know if Belgravia is coming to PBS, and if so when?

[dcalley]

2 hours ago, treeofdreams said:

Does anyone know if Belgravia is coming to PBS, and if so when?

So far, I've only seen that it's on Epix. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that another network will air it later, though. https://blogs.weta.org/tellyvisions/tags/belgravia is one place I'd monitor for such news.

[dcalley]

Jim Lehrer has died (Washington Post)

PBS.org: Remembering Jim Lehrer

Edited January 23, 2020 by dcalley

[BusyOctober]

Hi all, I'm looking for any forum that might be out there for "Little Dorrit".  I know it's an older program, but I just stumbled across it on Amazon Prime.  I'd love to read what others thought of this production.  Thanks!

[dcalley]

12 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Hi all, I'm looking for any forum that might be out there for "Little Dorrit".  I know it's an older program, but I just stumbled across it on Amazon Prime.  I'd love to read what others thought of this production.  Thanks!

You might be able to find old televisionwithoutpity.com stuff on archive.org, but I imagine it could be a lot of work. The Masterpiece thread was in the Dramas forum, and Little Dorrit aired in 2009 in the US.

[chessiegal]

I'll be glad when March fundraising is over. MPT has even hijacked Create for fundraising. Grrrr.

[Kemper]

Our PBS station is fundraising, too.  Same old tired music specials.  And "infomercials" for all sorts of things...better memory, Susie Orman shilling financial advice. Things like that.  How about showing an entire season of a BBC mystery...Shetland, Hinterland, etc.  Break it up into segments so they can bang the drum for money; I would actually donate to that.  I am tired of getting one episode at a time, sometimes random times, of some of the really good series.  And at odd hours or late at night.  

[tres bien]

Highly recommend American Experience: The Polio Crusade.

So excellent,  I've watched it twice.  I also bought the book Polio An American Story by David M Oshinsky on which the show  is based.

Edited April 13, 2020 by tres bien

[Brattinella]

WHEN will we be getting "The Last of the Summer Wine" back?  The last announcement said that it would be back in March.  Well, it's April already...

 

[Hyacinth B]

On 1/27/2020 at 6:26 AM, BusyOctober said:

Hi all, I'm looking for any forum that might be out there for "Little Dorrit".  I know it's an older program, but I just stumbled across it on Amazon Prime.  I'd love to read what others thought of this production.  Thanks!

I know it's an old post and the OP might not even be checking for replies any more. but...

 

You'll probably have better luck just Googling "little dorrit forum or discussion" since that should have links for UK as well as US sites, and was more likely to be discussed in the UK. I just did and found quite a few links, but some of those might be for the book rather than the TV production. 

 

Good luck, if you're still looking.

[proserpina65]

On ‎03‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 1:20 PM, Kemper said:

Our PBS station is fundraising, too.  Same old tired music specials.  And "infomercials" for all sorts of things...better memory, Susie Orman shilling financial advice. Things like that.  How about showing an entire season of a BBC mystery...Shetland, Hinterland, etc.  Break it up into segments so they can bang the drum for money; I would actually donate to that.  I am tired of getting one episode at a time, sometimes random times, of some of the really good series.  And at odd hours or late at night.  

They show what makes them money.  I don't know why it does, but it must or they wouldn't run that stuff.

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by proserpina65

[Spunkygal]

My station is showing Jamie’s Ultimate Veg. Jamie Oliver has traveled the Middle East and is inspired by great use of spices and veg from foods in that area. Today was episode 6 of the first season. Frankly, I’ve heard of, but never used, half of the spices he uses. Well, I’ll be darned if Jamie hasn’t inspired me! I just ordered the hardback of his Ultimate Veg cookbook. I won’t give up meat, but I do love veg and want to incorporate more meatless meals in my diet, especially now that I am of a certain age! 😉 I would happily chow down on everything he’s made so far. Leave it to PBS to always air interesting cooking shows, a concept which FN has abandoned.