PBS: Viewers Like You. Thank You.

[dcalley]

See what's airing on PBS in the next few months here: http://www.pbs.org/about/blogs/news/pbs-announces-mid-season-schedule/

[Trini]

Also, PBS Black History Month programming press release. Interested in seeing the documentary about the black guy who befriended KKK members.

[stormy]

Billy Connolly's back.  And he's still fabulous!

[StaceyNotStacie]

I'm enjoying the Sunday night lineup. I'm glad to see Mercy Street back and I'm enjoying Victoria. I also watched Secrets of the Six Wives last night and enjoyed it. 

[Ohwell]

Secrets of the Six Wives:  The lady drives me crazy calling it a "dinnesty."  I know it's a British pronunciation but it makes my left eye twitch.

[StaceyNotStacie]

15 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Secrets of the Six Wives:  The lady drives me crazy calling it a "dinnesty."  I know it's a British pronunciation but it makes my left eye twitch.

It was odd how they worked her into the scenes via costumes. It threw me off a bit. 

The host did a 3 episode special about the Romanov dynasty. I watched it on Netflix last month and it was very interesting. 

[Blergh]

On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 10:42 AM, Stacey1014 said:

It was odd how they worked her into the scenes via costumes. It threw me off a bit. 

The host did a 3 episode special about the Romanov dynasty. I watched it on Netflix last month and it was very interesting. 

Actually, I like her a great deal because not only does she give intriguing POVs on seemingly overanalyzed historic periods and people but she actually makes a good bridge for those who might otherwise blow off history.

[Blergh]

Saw the end of "Six Wives" and have to say that Lucy  Worsley REALLY rocked here. She unearthed more stuff than one would have expected especially how Catherine Howard had been a victim of childhood sexual abuse and Catherine Parr had been the first known woman to have published a book in England! She's the Joint Chief Curator of the Royal Palaces and I hope more of her programs make their way across the Pond to PBS.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Blergh

[Ohwell]

On 1/24/2017 at 11:42 AM, Stacey1014 said:

It was odd how they worked her into the scenes via costumes. It threw me off a bit.

I didn't like that at all.

[Kemper]

My local PBS Station has been airing "DCI Banks" on Saturday nights at 10.  A few weeks ago, Banks was ready to propose to Annie, a married detective under his command.  She was ready to say yes, but unfortunately (!) was killed off.  The next week, the station was showing earlier episodes where they were starting to date, she found out she was pregnant to a former love, etc.  It was obviously a much earlier episode.  Have they made any episodes since the one where Annie was killed off?  And do they have the episodes on Netflix or Amazon Prime?  Acorn?  I am invested at this point...it is one of my favorite PBS programs.  They (the local PBS station) butchers the Midsomer Murder episodes by splitting them into two parts...different Saturday nights.  Who wants to try and keep up?  

[Jaded]

14 minutes ago, Kemper said:

My local PBS Station has been airing "DCI Banks" on Saturday nights at 10.  A few weeks ago, Banks was ready to propose to Annie, a married detective under his command.  She was ready to say yes, but unfortunately (!) was killed off.  The next week, the station was showing earlier episodes where they were starting to date, she found out she was pregnant to a former love, etc.  It was obviously a much earlier episode.  Have they made any episodes since the one where Annie was killed off?  And do they have the episodes on Netflix or Amazon Prime?  Acorn?  I am invested at this point...it is one of my favorite PBS programs.  They (the local PBS station) butchers the Midsomer Murder episodes by splitting them into two parts...different Saturday nights.  Who wants to try and keep up?  

From what I can find the last season/series of that show ended last October and was not renewed. I looked at the wiki for it and the last few episode descriptions mentioned looking for Annie's killer.
 

[Mumbles]

The American Experience on the Oklahoma City bombing is must-see. A sobering examination of predecessors of the current alt-right. Nothing is clear-cut, e.g. how Timothy McVeigh could both be the Desert Storm soldier who was severely traumatized by killing an Iraqi, and the guy who could care less that the building  was blowing up had a day-care. Riveting. The two hours fly by.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Mumbles said:

The American Experience on the Oklahoma City bombing is must-see. A sobering examination of predecessors of the current alt-right. Nothing is clear-cut, e.g. how Timothy McVeigh could both be the Desert Storm soldier who was severely traumatized by killing an Iraqi, and the guy who could care less that the building  was blowing up had a day-care. Riveting. The two hours fly by.

I need to watch this - thanks for reminding me. I was working at ATF (forensic laboratory) at the time. The agency spent so much time and resources on cases like it. Very sobering.

[walnutqueen]

I watched a fascinating 2 part show called "Zoo Quest In Colour".  it was David Attenborough's original 1950's Zoo Quest (which aired in black & white, but was shot in colour) with additional commentary by David and others.  Really good stuff - and amazing how they could keep so many animals alive with such limited knowledge and 1950s sensibilities.

The Oklahoma bombing episode is a "must see" for everyone.  It gives great insight and background into how home grown terrorism arises.

My local station has been airing "The Coroner" and "The Tunnel" on Friday nights; I'm enjoying them both.

[dcalley]

Nature is rather entertaining right now.

Quote

This innovative five-part series employs more than 30 animatronic spy cameras disguised as animals to secretly record behavior in the wild.

[txhorns79]

Quote

The American Experience on the Oklahoma City bombing is must-see. A sobering examination of predecessors of the current alt-right. Nothing is clear-cut, e.g. how Timothy McVeigh could both be the Desert Storm soldier who was severely traumatized by killing an Iraqi, and the guy who could care less that the building  was blowing up had a day-care. Riveting. The two hours fly by.

The scenes discussing the children who did not survive were very hard for me.  It was a well done documentary.  Nothing can ever justify what was done in Oklahoma City, but you can see how the mindset that led to it developed, and the very real mistakes the government made in handling other situations.   

[Spunkygal]

I am putting this in the PBS thread because that station introduced me to Jacques Pepin and continues to rerun past shows of his. I got a copy of his bio entitled The Apprentice:My Life in the Kitchen at my local Half Price Books and I'm really enjoying it. I started it this morning and am already halfway through since I'm a slug today due to allergies. I love reading about his boyhood, his maman and her restaurants, and various positions. I'm eager to get to when he comes to the US. If you're a fan of his, I highly recommend this. I also highly recommend Julia Child's My Life in France which I also got at Half Price Books. 

[Brattinella]

My local PBS station is now going into its THIRD week of "Festival" (read: Fundraising).  Blerg!

[chessiegal]

Boy howdy I hate fundraising blocks - they do the entire month of March. I was so happy when Maryland Public TV picked up Create, except they preempt it for fundraising. I give generously every year, have been for 40+ years, I deserve to be able to skip it. I hate missing my cooking shows. I'd pay to stream Create online. Now there's a money making opportunity they're missing. I have the PBS app that works because I'm a member, but it doesn't stream the shows I want to watch.

[Brattinella]

33 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I give generously every year, have been for 40+ years, I deserve to be able to skip it.

Me, too.  We watch the British shows every Sunday night, and Last of The Summer Wine twice every weekday night.  I MISS it!

[maraleia]

To be fair they have to raise lots of money because their funding might get cut by the federal government. Part of the reason why Mercy Street wasn't renewed was due to money issues i.e. not enough for production costs.

[chessiegal]

I totally get their need to raise money - at this point very little comes from the feds. I think they could do a better business model by doing a subscription service. I'd pay a monthly fee like folks do for HBO etc to see their programming just to avoid the begging seasons,

[Brattinella]

21 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I totally get their need to raise money - at this point very little comes from the feds. I think they could do a better business model by doing a subscription service. I'd pay a monthly fee like folks do for HBO etc to see their programming just to avoid the begging seasons,

Perfect!  I would do that!

[SmithW6079]

On 3/12/2017 at 11:34 PM, chessiegal said:

I totally get their need to raise money - at this point very little comes from the feds. I think they could do a better business model by doing a subscription service. I'd pay a monthly fee like folks do for HBO etc to see their programming just to avoid the begging seasons,

I wouldn't. I support public TV, but not everyone can give at the same level or pay a monthly subscription fee. They'd probably lose money and viewers if there was a fee to watch.

[chessiegal]

I have a feeling, don't know for sure, but I'm thinking because the PBS stations are over the air, not cable, they can't charge. I wish Create would do on-line streaming, because I would pay for that.

[Mumbles]

Yeah, once you start a subscription service, what's the difference between that and a pay channel? Plus all the "begging" - which I admit annoys me too - enables people with only broadcast TV or a basic cable package to get PBS, the only non-commercial network in the country and the most informative and educational one. 

Plus, can't people with means avoid the pledge drive stuff by subscribing to PBS's online passport system and then watching on Roku/Apple TV? Which is sort of a quasi subscription service. It will only work for shows that are included on PBS's website, but that would be a great share of them.

[editorgrrl]

Every time I see this thread, I think of Fjohürs Lykkewe:

[Kel Varnsen]

16 minutes ago, Mumbles said:

It's sickening. For years PBS critics have claimed that PBS's broadcasting can be found on commercial channels. Bullshit! What network is going to show the Metropolitan Opera, or shows like Frontline or NOVA? 

A few years ago I watched the Frontline League of Denial episode about concussions in the NFL (which was great and i don't even care for football). They basically said how it was originally supposed to be a co-production with ESPN, but ESPN backed out. It was heavily implied that with how much valuable the NFL contract is to ESPN they had to back out for risk of losing a shit ton of money. Seems to me that a broadcaster that doesn't have the same concerns would br highly valuable to a society. 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Kel Varnsen

[Bastet]

On 3/12/2017 at 8:34 PM, chessiegal said:

I'd pay a monthly fee like folks do for HBO etc to see their programming

So would I in theory, but it's public television and thus needs to be available to everyone, not just those of us who can pay for it.

[SunnyBeBe]

Man, this documentary is very powerful. It was on last night.   I do wish they had given the thing a different name.  The Bad Kids title is rather insulting and doesn't do the project justice, imo.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/bad-kids/

[voiceover]

Ah, Wuthering Heights.  Heathcliff, the Eternal Bad Boy; Cathy, the cocktease.

Catherine Earnshaw is probably my least favorite classical heroine.  At least in the MGM production, truncated version though it was, Merle Oberon showed that Cathy could be appealing.

[kathyk24]

There's an article in the newest TV Guide about the impact of budget cuts to PBS. Some people believe that cable can fill the niche of PBS but many stations have changed over time. A&E and TLC no longer air anything that can be called educational. Rural stations would be most affected by the cuts since they rely on PBS for programming.

[walnutqueen]

11 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

There's an article in the newest TV Guide about the impact of budget cuts to PBS. Some people believe that cable can fill the niche of PBS but many stations have changed over time. A&E and TLC no longer air anything that can be called educational. Rural stations would be most affected by the cuts since they rely on PBS for programming.

Vice News Tonight also aired a segment about this.  They highlighted an Alaskan fishing community that relies heavily on PBS/NPR for all things local - especially weather reports, and how even though the population leans heavily "red", the local station enjoys the highest per capita funding by the citizens. Even so, if they lose government finding, they will be unable to sustain their local news staff, and their future is uncertain.  It is the remote and rural communities who will suffer the most - and they are the ones who need these services the most.

[SunnyBeBe]

I must say that I'm frustrated that our local PBS, started airing A Place To Call Home some time ago, then removed it.  Then, recently, revived it only starting off at the end of Season 2.  So bizarre.  Still, it's such an amusing program.  I'll try to get involved again.   I fear that I missed more of Season 1 and 2, though, I've had to read onine to catch up.  

[proserpina65]

On ‎02‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:12 AM, walnutqueen said:

My local station has been airing "The Coroner" and "The Tunnel" on Friday nights;

MPT ran 3 episodes of The Coroner.  I watched the first one, and beyond the whole "a coroner doesn't do that!" twitchiness it gave me, I thought it was awful.  The writing was dreadful and the acting only marginally better.  I thought about giving episode 2 a try to see if it improved, but decided life was too short.

[proserpina65]

On ‎04‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 1:15 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

I must say that I'm frustrated that our local PBS, started airing A Place To Call Home some time ago, then removed it.  Then, recently, revived it only starting off at the end of Season 2.  So bizarre.  Still, it's such an amusing program.  I'll try to get involved again.   I fear that I missed more of Season 1 and 2, though, I've had to read onine to catch up.  

MPT was running it on Sunday afternoons, but then pledge drives would hit and it would be weeks between episodes.  I finally gave up and went to the library for the dvds.  I binged seasons 2 & 3 over the course of 2 weeks, and now am dying because season 4 isn't available in the US yet.

[SunnyBeBe]

5 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

MPT was running it on Sunday afternoons, but then pledge drives would hit and it would be weeks between episodes.  I finally gave up and went to the library for the dvds.  I binged seasons 2 & 3 over the course of 2 weeks, and now am dying because season 4 isn't available in the US yet.

Yes, I suppose that's what I may do too.  You know it's a racy little series for PBS.  I never cease to be amazed by it.  

I'll admit that I have read the summaries, so I know pretty much what to expect, but, I'm one of those who loves spoilers. lol 

[proserpina65]

9 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Yes, I suppose that's what I may do too.  You know it's a racy little series for PBS.  I never cease to be amazed by it.  

I'll admit that I have read the summaries, so I know pretty much what to expect, but, I'm one of those who loves spoilers. lol 

I found out about the library having it when my somewhat conservative aunt told me.  I was amazed to find out how much she loved it - given the raciness.

[BetterButter]

Every ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ Episode Will Stream Free on Twitch in 18-Day Marathon

[alias1]

Is there a place to discuss the PBS show Remember Me with Michael Palin?

[dcalley]

1 hour ago, SierraMist said:

Is there a place to discuss the PBS show Remember Me with Michael Palin?

I was trying in Masterpiece's small talk thread. http://forums.previously.tv/topic/3127-small-talk-alistair-cookes-library/?do=findComment&comment=3469524

[Spunkygal]

20 hours ago, dcalley said:

I was trying in Masterpiece's small talk thread. http://forums.previously.tv/topic/3127-small-talk-alistair-cookes-library/?do=findComment&comment=3469524

My PBS station is just now showing this. Last night was episode 2, but I haven't watched it yet. MP is such a good actor and episode 1 was certainly intriguing. Looking forward to the remainder!

[alias1]

22 hours ago, dcalley said:

I was trying in Masterpiece's small talk thread. http://forums.previously.tv/topic/3127-small-talk-alistair-cookes-library/?do=findComment&comment=3469524

Thank you.   I know it's only 3 episodes, but the first one was very interesting.

[Brattinella]

So, tonight, instead of my favorite, Last of the Summer Wine, we got a HEALTH info-mercial!  GAH!!!!

[Brattinella]

OH I SEE NOW.  It is "Augustfest", not to be confused with "Octoberfest" which is coming up in 60 days.  COME ON, PBS!  How about only once a year?  Or even twice?  Every two months is pitiful and sad.

[Brattinella]

OH MY GOD!  Did you hear Judy Collins on PBS tonight??  She is 78 years old, and still sings like an angel!  Hit EVERY ONE of those notes!  WOW!

[SmithW6079]

"Agatha Raisin," a detective series created by MC Beaton, is now on my local PBS station. I missed the first episode, but the rerunning it this week. I like Beaton's books. "Agatha..." is all right, but my favorite is the "Hammish MacBeth" series.

[Brattinella]

22 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

"Agatha Raisin," a detective series created by MC Beaton, is now on my local PBS station. I missed the first episode, but the rerunning it this week. I like Beaton's books. "Agatha..." is all right, but my favorite is the "Hammish MacBeth" series.

Agatha Raisin is on Acorn and I have been enjoying it too.  Hammish MacBeth is also available, thanks for the info.  I'll watch that next!

[Brattinella]

Okay, PBS.  Where is Last of the Summer Wine tonight??  You are showing an interview with the CEO of Pepsi instead??  GAH!

[Hyacinth B]

On 8/4/2017 at 10:22 PM, Brattinella said:

OH MY GOD!  Did you hear Judy Collins on PBS tonight??  She is 78 years old, and still sings like an angel!  Hit EVERY ONE of those notes!  WOW!

 

Not only can the lady still SING, but she still looks absolutely stunning! If she's had any "work"done to her face, it was very subtle and if possible she looks even better than she did 50 years ago, especially with that gorgeous mane of silver hair.

 

And if Judy Collins or Joan Baez fans have more than one PBS channel on their system they might get lucky and catch Joan's 75th Birthday Concert special if they haven't already seen it since it's been showing up in a lot of the regular Pledge Week/Month sets. Our smaller PBS channel WYIN in NW Indiana (also available in most Chicago cable systems or with an antenna) is showing the concert twice today (Sat Sept 2) and once tomorrow under the Great Performances listings. Yes, Judy is one of the performers, along with David Bromberg, Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, David Crosby, Emmylou Harris, Indigo Girls, Damien Rice and others. Joanie looks damn good for mid-70s too!