So who here is a PBS fan?

[randomguy]

I'm aware it's probably the nerdiest way to start a conversation this side of "how much NPR do you listen to on a daily basis?", but who here is a PBS fan?

I've watched PBS sporadically since I was kid (I was big into Bill Nye back in the day), but lately, I've been watching more PBS than any other station. In fact, it's pretty much the only TV I watch, outside of 24 and Battlestar Galactica. I love their news programming, Nova and Scientific American Frontiers are fantastic, Austin City Limits hasn't had a bad season since, like, 1994, and one of the new shows, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, represents some of the best television journalism on foreign affairs currently available.

Plus, there's Frontline, which never fails to be fascinating week after week. And Motor Week, which allows me to drool over cars I'll never be able to afford. So does anybody else around here watch PBS, and if so, what shows are your favorites?

[RD!]

Evidently, Wilco and Bright Eyes played on ACL and I've been cursing the fact that I missed something so potentially awesome for a week. That said, I plan to at least watch one hour of PBS every week (even though future acts don't look too appealing).

[Tanooki]

sometimes i catch it to watch "the red green show" which i consider to be one of the funniest shows on television

Falcon

[Lord Dalek]

Sayain how I recieved much of my early education from watching Mr. Rodgers would probably show how much of a PBS nut I am.

[sag_2002]

sometimes i catch it to watch "the red green show" which i consider to be one of the funniest shows on television
Boo-yah! Red Green rocks! My favorite segments are the advice segment and "Adventures with Bill".

Yeah, I watch PBS on occasion, mostly when they do their annual pledge drives. I remember watching PBS as far back as when they had "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" in their lineup. Also, "Square One Television" was a great lunchtime show.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I'm a card-carrying member of my local PBS affiliate (Channel 13 (http://www.thirteen.org/) in NYC), although we don't watch it as much as we probably ought to. That's mostly a factor of not watching much TV at all any more, though.

We do like watching Scientific American Frontiers a lot, which manages to balance depth of the science with accessibility, and Alan Alda seems to be having a lot of fun on the show. We'll also watch the occasional Nova, Nature, Mystery, and Masterpiece Theatre.

Frontline can be inconsistent, but generally leans towards the good side. My favorite one was their "Kerry vs. Bush" episode before the election, where it was pretty abundandly obvious whose side the filmmakers were on ("In 1996, John Kerry was saving puppies and pushing Massachusetts residents to conserve gas and smile more. Meanwhile, in Texas, George W. Bush was pouring dioxin and Agent Orange in groundwater wells personally while playing soccer with live armadillos." ;)).

And Sesame Street. Can't go through life without the Street.

-- Ed/Ace

[Peter Paltridge]

Not so much anymore. Globe Trekker is amusing though. The only problem with it is they use a different host for every episode. I'm still waiting for them to rerun the Hong Kong episode with Megan McCormick; she was the best. Does this show have reruns...???

[Zero-V]

Do we like P.B.S?

Fingle, youuuuuuuuuu are mine

[Delthayre]

I don't watch it too often, really I should give it more time. The fact that they aren't perpetually threatened with the executioner's axe for ratings let's them get away with... well, good stuff.

Really, I wish they'd be more ambitious. Perhaps producing independent, regional dramas and comedies in addition to their current, more prosaic program.

I didn't realize that Zakaria had a show, I'm going to have to look for that. I find his work rather illuminating and refreshingly free of bile, snarkiness, and acrimony.

[langden alger]

another way to find out how many pbs fans we have in here: 'lets see a show of tote bags!":p

[Chrono1995]

I'm aware it's probably the nerdiest way to start a conversation this side of "how much NPR do you listen to on a daily basis?", but who here is a PBS fan?
I am.

And the only radio station I listen to is NPR. Their news and music programs are absolutely fantastic. Similarily, so are the news programs on PBS.

My PBS plays a bunch of 70s-era British comedies Sunday night and I watch them whenever I can. "Faulty Towers" is probably the funniest show of the lot. Other than that, I'm a casual fan. The last thing I was purely absorbed is was Ken Burns' "Jazz", which I now own.

[VCXZX]

Not so much anymore. Globe Trekker is amusing though. The only problem with it is they use a different host for every episode. I'm still waiting for them to rerun the Hong Kong episode with Megan McCormick; she was the best. Does this show have reruns...???
Globe Trekker basically has 3 hosts. Justine Shapiro, Megan McCormick, and Ian Wright.

I have 2 PBS channels that air Globe Trekker in my area. Channel 13 has a new season of episodes Saturdays at 4 P.M. You might want to check your TV listings for what episode airs when.

Also, Globe Trekker was formerly known as Lonely Planet when it aired on the Travel Channel.

[screw on head]

Whenever I do happen upon a PBS show, it's gold. Many times I'll flip over it and come back to find some documentary that I become hooked on. My favorite example is when I tuned in on a documentary about a man who made a log cabin all by himself; it was one of the most unexpectedly hypnotising documentaries I'd ever seen. There's no logical reason why I watched it and was interested in it, just thinking of it kinda bores me, but man, it was just one of those things where I just couldn't change the channel.

I try not to seek out any particular PBS show. There's not a TV Guide description in the world that would make me tune into PBS. It's just one of those 'tune into the right show at the right unexpected time' kind of deals...

[Stewie]

Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, represents some of the best television journalism on foreign affairs currently available.Fareed Zakaria has a show?! Bully.
Of course, it's running at 6:30 am on Saturday. I guess that's an excuse to get my VCR fixed.

I've been a regular Frontline viewer for a long time, but I've been turned off lately. Ever since the flap over the one following soldiers in Iraq that was edited for langauage of all things. My station ran the edited version, wimps.

The rare times I'm at home when it's on and I'm not asleep, I'll watch Newshour with Jim Leher. And of course Nova is always worth watching.

Beyond that, there's nothing I look for. But it is the only channel I know I can turn on and, if I'm not entertained/enlightened, at least won't annoy me.

[Fone Bone]

I watch Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.:anime: :D

[randomguy]

Fareed Zakaria has a show?! Bully. Of course, it's running at 6:30 am on Saturday. I guess that's an excuse to get my VCR fixed.You can stream the most recent show off their website (http://www.foreignexchange.tv/), assuming you have broadband. My local PBS affiliate plays Foreign Affair at midnight Sunday nights, which isn't exactly the most ideal time, so I have to resort the web broadcast sometimes.

It's worth watching, though. It's really solid journalism that goes into greater depth on important foreign issues and personalities than pretty much any mainstream news source that I can immediately think of.

I will agree that Frontline can be kind of hit-or-miss. I found the Bush Vs. Kerry program amusing because I agreed with it, but it wasn't exactly the most neutral of pieces :p

I thought the soldiers in Iraq one was really fantastic, though, and the recent episode profiling Karl Rove was quite good. Depressing, but good. In fact, Frontline's Karl Rove documentary was, in my opinion, far superior to last year's higher-profile and longer Bush's Brain.

I didn't mention local programming, but my PBS affiliate does have a lot of really great Texas or Austin-centric shows, also. Those are a big part of why I watch the station so much.


Evidently, Wilco and Bright Eyes played on ACL and I've been cursing the fact that I missed something so potentially awesome for a week.Ouch. Yeah, the Wilco/Bright Eyes show was pretty good, as was the recent Pixies one. ACL's actually had a really good season. Ozomatli totally rocked.

You might want to keep an eye on your local schedule. ACL tends to rerun a lot, so you might be able to catch a rebroadcast sometime in the coming few months. It's worth a shot.

[Chris Wood]

Of course I grew up on PBS shows like Sesame Street, and I used to catch Britcoms once in a while, but I haven't tuned in much lately.

[Djm912]

I used to really enjoy Nova and Reading Rainbow(being the little trekkie that I was, seeing Lt. Cmdr Geordi LaForge talk about books = teh awesome).

The Red Green Show is pure genius, and if I find something that holds my interest on PBS, I'll definitely watch it.

[Kury Wagner]

the recent Pixies one. I saw that, and part of the Modest Mouse ACL ep a few months or so back.

I'm definitely not a fan, as I rarely watch it, but I have been known to catch Austin City Limits occasionally, as well as some of the kids shows. Hey, what can I say? I like Dragontales.:sweat:

[Stewie]

You can stream the most recent show off their website (http://www.foreignexchange.tv/), assuming you have broadband.Bookmarked!
I didn't realize ACL had such a diverse guest list. I'll have to check it out.

[FinalDragoon]

I remember my local PBS station(Channel 8 in Phoenix for all you Arizonians) had one of the best saturday night lineups...well for me at least...

9:00-10:00 Robot Wars(the original british seasons....the good ones)
10:00-10:30 The Red Green Show(shows that canadian people are funny :anime: )
10:30-11:00 Red Dwarf (aww they don't show it anymore....smegging losers)

[Lord Dalek]

Probably the best PBS stations are the ones off the beaten trail. I used to get my Doctor Who fix off of KBTC in Tacoma which is neither the official station here or there.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Oooh, one other reason why PBS rules: PBS reality TV shows are SOOOOO much better than the reality garbage on regular network TV. The 1900 House, Frontier House, and Colonial House were all just flat out cool, educational, and had their share of on-camera meltdowns for the Drama of the Moment. We missed half the one about servants vs. masters set in a Victorian-era British mansion, but what we saw was wicked funny. I heard they were doing an Iron Age House or something similar in Britain, but had to cancel it because the people were in real danger of dying.

Now THAT'S reality, baby :D.

That Frontline documentary recently about the soldiers in Iraq was really, really hard to watch, but it was some of the best TV, like, ever. It burns me to no end to know that Brent "Bozo" Bozell, Don Wildmon, and the Completely Insane Public Morality Brigade considered it "obscene" because soldiers are swearing when they're getting SHOT at.

I also really liked the one they did right before Gulf War II that chronicled the history of the region from the post-WWII era to today. While they could have gone for the cheap shots all along the way, they really went the extra mile to be truly fair and balanced to all the viewpoints along the way.

They also did one about North Korea that was just flat-out scary.

-- Ed/Ace

[Tanooki]

i guess i also watch "antique road show" when i see that it's on. it's pretty cool to see people sell what they used to think was garbage for a good chunck of change

Falcon

[Majin_Megabyte]

Well my PBS station (IPTV: Iowa Public Television), the only show I watch basically on it is The Red Green Show. And I find the show pure genius, and I'm a huge fan of Ranger Gore. And I almost forget to say that our PBS station still is the Champs in the Red Green Telethon thing. I don't know if you guys remember those war commericals between IPTV Vs. the Utah PBS during the Red Green Live Telecast from 3-5 yrs ago.

[Chris Wood]

i guess i also watch "antique road show" when i see that it's on. it's pretty cool to see people sell what they used to think was garbage for a good chunck of change

Falcon

it's even more fun to see them sell what they used to think was a priceless antique for bus fare.

[Gatomon41]

I used to watch PBS every Saturday night, because they had Doctor Who and Red Dwarf in the same hour! That rocked.

[sag_2002]

Well my PBS station (IPTV: Iowa Public Television), the only show I watch basically on it is The Red Green Show. And I find the show pure genius, and I'm a huge fan of Ranger Gore. And I almost forget to say that our PBS station still is the Champs in the Red Green Telethon thing. I don't know if you guys remember those war commericals between IPTV Vs. the Utah PBS during the Red Green Live Telecast from 3-5 yrs ago.
Yep, being a fellow Iowan, I remember us kicking Utah's butt every year for those 5 years. Our fair state is quite proud of our accomplishment.

Too bad they don't do that anymore. We'd probably kick butt even today.

[Carolina Red]

ACL has some cool shows; I read that Guided By Voices performed it once but I have not seen it. I don't even know if it has aired yet, but if it has I hope it'll come on the air again someday.

My local station (UNCTV) doesn't show many British shows unfortunately, but then again BBC America has been filling that void for me. My parents even have an entire 24-hour Monty Python marathon recorded off of the Chicago station from ten years ago on about six or so tapes. The quality of them isn't very good, so we've been getting the DVD sets instead.