PBS launches free retro channel

[DramatistDreamer]

It’s a shame that the theater and dance programs eventually fell by the wayside, but the opera clearly still garners financial support from the pledged support of deep pocketed viewers but yes, Venza executive producer a lot what once sustained PBS performing arts programming at one time.

[Khan]

BITD, I wished that someone like Venza would have come to daytime and elevated soaps to the same level as all those great programs he ushered in for PBS.  Someone who would get soaps as far away from all the gimmickry as possible and put the focus back on where it belonged: great writing, great acting, great directing and producing.

Edited June 4, 2024 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

Wow yeah, we could only imagine what that would yield. Or even someone like Christopher Sarson who originated Masterpiece Theatre.
Did you ever see that series I, Claudius? I imagine, in the right hands, the best produced daytime dramas could have risen to those heights. I, Claudius at it’s core, was really fantastic soap opera.

[Khan]

I agree!  Or even the original "Forsyte Saga," for that matter!  I think those two miniseries, along with our own "Adams Chronicles," should have become the template for all soaps.

[SFK]

I, Claudius was Esther Shapiro's inspiration for Dynasty. So many great performances in that series, and Dame Sian Phillips' Livia makes Alexis look like a wet pussycat.

[Taoboi]

My apologies for the late reply. Now that I'm getting major catch-up time getting myself to slow down...

 

Bookworms unite!!! And really re: your interest in music? I also studied theater so I understand. In fact, it's been on my mind lately since it was my minor. Thinking about all the classes I took and how I don't seem to use it and pondering how I feel about that since I still have such a love of theater. The last time I was in NYC, I was there during the Tony Awards and I happened to be in a bar where the Tony Awards was a BIG deal. And that vibe among all of the theater folk stayed with me. 

 

Thank you for the PEI information. That is so cool. Perhaps I should break down and finally give it a look-see. 

 

Oh, those were the days, weren't they?

 

And hahahah! get out of my head. My latest obsession has been YT reaction videos to shows I watch. I'll totally get around to that at some point. 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

You’re welcome.

Honestly, I had a loved/hate relationship with music as a kid. There were aspects that I absolutely loved about music but practice wasn’t one of them and the way piano was taught back then…wasn’t fun. As a spectator I loved to watch live theater as a kid but when I started working in the theater, the enchantment eventually wore off. There were a lot of unsavory aspects hidden behind that magical curtain. I took some acting/dance courses and did some performance work and I will say I enjoyed some aspects of that but not enough to have tried it as a career, but writing for the theatre appealed to me more than any other aspect but even there, there is a lot of rot in the system unfortunately. I still believe that a reckoning needs to happen and they should start over…

…but I digress.

[Taoboi]

The amount of experience in theater from when I was in junior high right up until I graduated college, truth and believe that I very much would not be shocked too much by the unsavory. Or the scandalous. After all, my latter years of theater I became more of a techie (which saddens me now that I never followed my gut in high school and went out for being a lighting assistant which I enjoyed given I took classes at the local theater for it, but I also was/am scared of heights so I know I was a contradiction lol) only to wind up spotlight the star of our production of Hair who 1) had a baaad drinking problem and 2) was sleeping with my ex who happened to be my first real relationship.

 

But yeah I can understand a love/hate.

[DramatistDreamer]

What’s even worse than that is what goes on in the small circle of people who make the decisions about what gets seen, produced, shown- who becomes the hot director, choreographer, composer, which minuscule group of playwrights will get there work produced. I once worked at one of the premiere (so-called) arts and cultural institutions in the United States and despite one or two well-intentioned people who make programming decisions for seasons, there was so much abuse, racism (a group of us used to sardonically refer to the place as a ‘plantation’), misogyny and casual casting of micro aggression and they were far from the worst. When I did a brief freelance stint in television, that was the worst experience I ever had. There is a lot of predation the film field, as we all know but it is there in the television industry as well as in theater-although it is far more subtle, at least from my personal experiences.  When I say these fields need an honest reckoning, I am putting it mildly.

[Taoboi]

Oh, don't get me started on the film industry. The things I've heard or read about in the last 2 decades, I would be shocked if I was ever to break into it because I don't think I could stand L. A. I also am surprised that I had any wide eyes about it and writing programs back when I was in college knowing what I know now. 

A reckoning for sure is needed. 

 

Hehe at 'the plantation.' It reminds me of why I winded up falling in with the techies in my latter college years when growing up besides wanting to be a writer, I wanted to be an actor. And where I come from in the South, it never occurred to me that the actors and technical crew were apparently supposed to be two separate classes. There were signs, but I guess being so young and oh so colorblind it went over my head. One day...it clicked. I'm sure if I was to sit down and really think about it, I could cite examples that did not make sense to me then what was really going on, but I can see it now in hindsight. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Sorry for the typos in my post. Geez, I need to turn off autocorrect. It messes up grammar and syntax. Every time. 
Yeah, unfortunately, the entire entertainment industry has separate classes. I learned that pretty quickly- not so much while I interned in Tin Pan Alley, but in grad school. My first week during orientation, there was a mixer in the lobby of my school and the student directors were milling about, glad handing as many people as they could, there were they actors being exhibitionists and chatting up everyone in sight. Then there were the writers, off to the side, sitting in a corner on our own, forced to watch, bemused and feeling very uncomfortable. And then there was the world renowned  film school, who got state of the art digital editing software, didn’t collaborate with us (who were still using analog equipment to edit) at all. 
Even in the Writing Department, there were different classes. If you got admitted on the strength of a playwriting portfolio, you were told that you had more skill and talent than someone who submitted a screenwriting portfolio, despite the program touting its bonafides about intense training across all media. Sad but true. Then as a playwright, you are in screenwriting class and they obsess over whether your screenplay is too cerebral and will it “sell”.

[Taoboi]

Your phone is just as crazy as my laptop which I think is still recovering from the outage given how it's acting or one of Microsoft forced updates.

 

I totally believe that. That was how it was with I was more involved in theater and even cut across race lines. Funny that I'm now noticing it in hindsight. 

 

But omg!!! What you said about the writing department. Wow. The Catch-22 of it all. Just let people write! smh. 

[DramatistDreamer]

I can’t even blame the damn phone

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It’s the iPad Pro. I keep saying I’m going to buy a laptop. At first it was budget but now I have more than enough to purchase whatever laptop I want but I can find a big sexy laptop that has the storage and memory that I want. I don’t want to be upgrading in two years but maybe I should settle on something because I’m getting sick of the limitations of this iPad. I mean, having to spend $200 for a friggin’ keyboard and without the mouse?! I refuse.

[Taoboi]

Yay!!! I've know you been looking for ages. Good to see you're ready. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Technically, I could have bought one last year. My decision making has been halted by a lot of things but this year it has definitely been being overly picky and the seeming inability to make a decision.

I just need to get over it and make a choice.