PBS launches free retro channel

[DramatistDreamer]

If they would show some of their more avant garde arts programming (e.g. Alive From Off Center, etc.) I think I’d be more excited about this but maybe they will be doing bolder programming in the future?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/pbs-launches-free-retro-channel-with-programs-from-the-80s-and-90s/ar-AA1nENOL

[Khan]

Cool!  I'm gonna check this out when I get the chance!  Thanks for the heads-up, @DramatistDreamer!

[DramatistDreamer]

No problem at all @Khan!

[DRW50]

Thanks for letting us know. I'd love if they ran Alive from Off Center.

[DramatistDreamer]

You’re welcome. They might need to have a separate FAST channel for their more daring programs but it would be nice to be able to view those episodes of show. Maybe something like PBS Arts?
Although it would also be cool to see episodes of the Bill Moyers program. So many thoughtful programs that were deemed too risky by PBS and dropped and all but completely forgotten these days.

I mean, whatever happened to American Playhouse? As much as I enjoy Masterpiece, I get a bit weary with constantly getting bombarded with British dramatic fare, I would love to see more pieces by writers from the Americas…Canada, the Caribbean, Texas, Miami. How many iterations of Upstairs/Downstairs can they churn out?

Classic episodes of Mystery is another series that I enjoyed and would love to get a second look.

[DRW50]

I've gone on about this a lot to some people, but I do weep at what PBS has had to become compared to what they were in the '70s and '80s, and even to the '90s. And instead of the diversity, education and reality they provided, we are now just left with tiktok.

Edited May 30, 2024 by DRW50

[Mona Kane Croft]

I agree about American Playhouse.  I'd love that to return to the PBS schedule for exactly the reasons you mentioned.   

[Taoboi]

Oooo thank you for the heads up @DramatistDreamer. I was just thinking about PBS a little while ago and my days obsessing over Gilbert Blythe Anne of Green Gables, anything Narnia, etc. 

[Khan]

So, you, too, had a thing for Gilbert Blythe, eh, lol?

[DramatistDreamer]

I loved the Anne Of Green Gables and Anne Of Avonlee series. From episode 1, I immediately purchased the books. I think Megan Follows may have even been on the covers lol. And yes, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and The Tales Of Narnia was a series that reminded me of the holidays because that’s generally when PBS would air it.

I would love if they could stream a lot of these programs. I realize that PBS was under a lot of pressure from conservatives who wanted to dismantle their funding and as a result, this forced PBS to become smaller in scope and present programming that was more ‘vanilla’ in order to appeal to deep-pocketed donors but it makes for bland and repetitive programming.

[Taoboi]

Who didn't? lmao.

 

But yes. I read the books before I saw the show and seeing the classroom scene with Ann with an E hitting him with her board...yeah I was swooned as a pre-teen. I always wanted to go to Prince Edward Island to see if I too could find someone who could deal with my freckles and overdramatic young self. lol. 

 

I cried with everyone else when Jonathan Crombie passed. Another part of my childhood gone. 

 

I was the reverse with my bookworm self so I stumbled onto the show during one of PBS's telethon periods where they always aired their best shows like Anne of Green Gables to donate from what I remember as a kid. And I think you are right about the Megan Follows cover!!! It took me forever to realize what a tie-in book was. And seeing the Narnia shows got my brother interested in reading since I winded up teaching him how to read by making little plays based off of the Narnia shows and we would play act them growing up. The power of PBS indeed!!!

 

You are making me realize another reason I loved PBS and those conversative sadden me given where it used to be...DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH.

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I used to long for lunch breaks at home when school was out to watch it at 11:30 (around Y&R's schedule) and noon. 

[DramatistDreamer]

I didn’t even know about AOGG/AOA until I saw the first episode of the series. I had read the Little House series by then and I had read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights (to be honest, I didn’t read a ton of booby North American authors), etc. I lived in Canada briefly when I was a preschooler so I wouldn’t have had much exposure to AOGG at that time. 
 

Funny but I remember DJH/DH being shown on weekends on my local PBS stations. Channel 13, the NYC PBS broadcaster showed some very adult programming (I can’t even say on this board the type of performance art they used to show) but by the time I was watching DJH/DH, you can be pretty sure that I was watching most of it, being equal parts fascinated and revolted by some of it.  

I doubt that PBS would have the rights (or the guts) to stream much of the programming that Channel 13/WNET would show and I realize that most PBS stations didn’t air what they aired but it is still somewhat sad that today when people are supposed to be more progressive, even Channel 13 holds back from showing any type of daring.

[Taoboi]

Oh, I was such a bookworm as a kid. It was not unusual in elementary school to see me at recess sitting in a tree reading a book. I so keep to myself right up until junior high/high school. It still shocked me now with my birthday in a week how much I actually read as a kid...Oz. Little House i missed with a little bit. The Phantom Tollbooth. All kinds of fantasy books that I don't remember that I read (or watched an adaptation) now. But Ann with an E and her relatable to me self growing up felt like I was seen so like you I stumbled onto her. I had not known they did a show. So I looked forward to seeing it every year. And when I found out there was a whooooole tv show (that I still need to binge completely now that I think about it cuz Felicity and Gus...woof. lol)...I was in heaven. 

 

Wuthering Heights...Mmmmm.

 

Lol. Tell me about it with Degrassi. I think the only reason I found out about it...besides again keeping to myself as a bookworm...is because it came on at the time it did. I assume PBS thought kids would be at school back then. Not at home off from school or having a sick day with the tv on. This was in Arkansas and it was PBS so I was shocked to see something different, but relatable and...edgy. I still hear the Stephanie Kaye chant in my head. lol. But I was curious about these kids and I didn't like how Stephanie was treating her brother. And her brother with his one friend. I related. And don't get me started on Joey Jeremiah Esquire...lol...another young crush. And Lucy...was probably one of the first time I saw my color reflected back to me on tv so I looked forward to seeing more of her. So I was hooked, trying to find the show again whenever I was off from school in that timeslot. 

 

But I do find that funny that I don't remember any controversary around Degrassi on my local PBS channel when I was young. Now TALES OF THE CITY on the other hand....had a big old mess here from what I remember growing up. I wasn't even able to sneak any peeks and I'm not sure if it was completely broadcasted here originally. It was that controversial for us Arkansas folk.

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Bookworms unite!

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 Back then, I was also studying music and developing a keen interest in theater (but not musical theater, go figure!).
I forgot to tell you @Taoboi that I knew someone who visited PEI and did a self-guided tour of all the landmarks illustrated in the AOGG/AOA series. At the time, she said it was every bit picturesque as it was in the series. It’s likely to still be that way. 

I had no earthly idea that there were any controversies with PBS until I was a full-grown adult lol. NYC PBS was wild though! In many ways, it was more risqué than anything you were going to see on HBO. I truly miss those daring days.

Speaking of those daring days, this article talks about the inception of the series POV and how the show’s creators got advice from other PBS series creators like Frontline, Alive From Off Center and American Playhouse, three of my favorite shows!

http://archive.pov.org/blog/news/2017/12/30marathon-marc-weiss-letter/

 

P.S. If you want to get a kick (of amusement as well as feeling old) take a look at some of the DJH/DH reactions by younger generations on YouTube!

[DRW50]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jac-venza-dead-pbs-great-performances-1235913497/

As Jac was a big reason why many of the shows we were talking about got on the air I thought this was a good place to put his obit.