PBS cartoons

[zimbach]

Hi all,

Being new here, I'd like to know what you think of the animated shows on PBS:
Arthur
Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat

I haven't seen much talk about these around here, so I thought I'd open the topic.

[ninjagirl]

my kids like it. i like 'arthur' better.
i also like 'george shrinks' even though i hardly ever catch it

[oranthal]

my PBS station shows some anime.

[zimbach]

Originally posted by oranthal
my PBS station shows some anime.

Wow! Which station is that? (as if I have to guess)

KTEH 54, the PBS station in San Jose, CA has been showing anime since 1995 when they started with Robotech, and they've been getting better ever since.

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku-Nuku starts at the end of this month.

Other anime they've shown include:
Tenchi Universe (dubbed but uncensored, years before CN picked it up)
Urusei Yatsura
Bubblegum Crisis
Key, The Metal Idol
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Sakura Wars
Dirty Pair Flash
Serial Experiments Lain
and others that I don't recall right now.

When ever possible, they show uncensored, subtitled versions of the shows, though they do show dubs when they can't get them the other way.

Are any other PBS stations showing anime? This is something you can make happen in your community! Because PBS stations are non-commercial, it's up to you viewers to put up the money to bring out the programming you want. Just tell them on the pledge drives that you will contribute if they put some anime on the air. The San Jose station does it, so can they!

[Psycho Fox]

I like Redwall.

[Sharklady]

I definitely approve of PBS's practice of broadcasting those milder cartoons that are fit for pre-school children to watch- it seems nobody else is willing to air 'em because they get low ratings.

[Elven Moon]

I'll say it loud, and I'll say it proud: I'm 21 and I love watching PBS kids. Oh sure, you can chuckle, but I like Clifford, Sagwa, Arthur, Cyber Chase, all those good shows. I even watch *gasp* Sesame Street sometimes.

[Anthonynotes]

I thought "Clifford" and "Arthur" seemed like pretty OK cartoons, from what I've seen of them...

Re: anime on PBS stations: never knew of any PBS stations airing such stuff...usually see PBS stations around here airing Dr. Who or old British sitcoms (could think of other types of shows I'd like to see such stations airing, though anime isn't one of them....). Don't even recall the Chicago PBS stations airing anything anime/animated beyond kid shows (unless they started recently, now that I'm not regularly up that way much these days)....

-B.

[zimbach]

As far as I know, and as far as the people at KTEH know, the San Jose station is the only one showing genuine Japanese animation during adult viewing hours or any other time for that matter. KTEH would really like some other PBS stations to jump on the anime bandwagon, since that would mean they can negotiate a lower per-station broadcast fee. They are having trouble convincing the station managers in other markets that it would be worthwhile. If you and your friends in your community demand anime from your local PBS station, you may be able to bring them around. That's what viewer supported television is all about!
If the station already has sci-fi programs, it's a much shorter step to bring anime on the air.

Other things you can do:

If you have an anime club or small business, consider volunteering to answer phones during their pledge drives (Fanime Con/Anime Resource Group already does this at KTEH). You might also ask about underwriting a program (usually a few thousand dollars per month).
If you cant do that, call up during pledge drives! Even if you don't make a contribution, the phone volunteers will take down your comments if you ask them to and give them to the station management.

[ninjagirl]

Originally posted by Elven Moon
I'll say it loud, and I'll say it proud: I'm 21 and I love watching PBS kids. Oh sure, you can chuckle, but I like Clifford, Sagwa, Arthur, Cyber Chase, all those good shows. I even watch *gasp* Sesame Street sometimes.

LOL sing it sister!

[Christopher N. Denner]

I've seen none of those.

Though I do have a thing for Bob Ross and the Joy of Painting, each thursday at 2pm here. But they usually air Zaboomafoo and Dragon Tales after it.

[Psycho Fox]

Anyone watch Redwall on PBS? It is into its second season and here in Canada Teletoon is airing the third season which is neat.

[Nickdisk]

i like Arthur & Redwall (which are both on Nick UK over here)

[Sharklady]

> I'll say it loud, and I'll say it proud: I'm 21 and I love watching PBS kids. Oh sure, you can chuckle, but I like Clifford, Sagwa, Arthur, Cyber Chase, all those good shows. I even watch *gasp* Sesame Street sometimes. <

There is nothing wrong with liking that sort of show. By golly, 'Sesame Street's writing is definitely above-average for television.

BTW: PBS formerly broadcast at least one animation series for grownups, which, regrettably I haven't seen since the 70s. 'The International Animation Festival' was just what it sounds like; a showcase of cartoon shorts from all over the world. They varied greatly, both in style and quality, but it was always interesting to see what different cultures produced. (Example: you may recall from 'The Simpsons', that really weird cat-and-mouse cartoon once shown on Krusty's show. The Simpson's animators didn't invent it- some Eastern European catoons really do look that way!)

[zimbach]

Originally posted by Sharklady
'The International Animation Festival' was just what it sounds like; a showcase of cartoon shorts from all over the world. They varied greatly, both in style and quality, but it was always interesting to see what different cultures produced. (Example: you may recall from 'The Simpsons', that really weird cat-and-mouse cartoon once shown on Krusty's show. The Simpson's animators didn't invent it- some Eastern European catoons really do look that way!)

Ahh yes, Worker and Parasite. Hoch Hech!

They used to show some of the tamer European shorts on Pinwheel, a Nickelodeon preschool show from way back. Most of the characters spoke complete gibberish, I guess so the studios could sell them outside of Poland or wherever they came from.

[hippety hopper]

My dad and I always watch "Arthur"(shown on Nick in the UK) before I go to College and my dad goes to work

[Sharklady]

> Most of the characters spoke complete gibberish, I guess so the studios could sell them outside of Poland or wherever they came from. <

I understand Yugoslavia used to be a big producer.

[oranthal]

Originally posted by zimbach
If you and your friends in your community demand anime from your local PBS station, you may be able to bring them around. That's what viewer supported television is all about!
If the station already has sci-fi programs, it's a much shorter step to bring anime on the air.

Other things you can do:

If you have an anime club or small business, consider volunteering to answer phones during their pledge drives (Fanime Con/Anime Resource Group already does this at KTEH). You might also ask about underwriting a program (usually a few thousand dollars per month).
If you cant do that, call up during pledge drives! Even if you don't make a contribution, the phone volunteers will take down your comments if you ask them to and give them to the station management.

i have always wondered how they buy the series. for example, the 3 possible anime that they would have shown is nuku-nuku, city hunter, and generator gawl. city hunter has hundreds of episodes while nuku has 6 and generator gawl 16. it costs them the same amount of money to air these series no matter how many episodes there are.

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by Sharklady

BTW: PBS formerly broadcast at least one animation series for grownups, which, regrettably I haven't seen since the 70s. 'The International Animation Festival' was just what it sounds like; a showcase of cartoon shorts from all over the world. They varied greatly, both in style and quality, but it was always interesting to see what different cultures produced. (Example: you may recall from 'The Simpsons', that really weird cat-and-mouse cartoon once shown on Krusty's show. The Simpson's animators didn't invent it- some Eastern European catoons really do look that way!)

You should see the very first NFB animation done for the war effort they are ummmm uniqe becouse the theory was if they yelled at people enough they could teach anyone to animate.

There was some good Soviet shorts. There was one that had an apple tring to shake its self free from a tree eventully it did and smashed onto the ground. Orginally the apple was red but then the Soviet Union said it depects Soviet nations breaking free so they told the animator to change the color. Funny since you could argue the other way if the red apple repersents Soviet nations then it would carry the message that breaking free would lead to their destruction still they apple was changes to blue or green (I forget exactly). Then there was a short done in the Soviet Union that won a award and someone high in the Soviet Union tried to pass him self as the animator but someone in the audience knew what the animator looked like and yelled out that he was an imposter and phoney made a mad dash out of there.

[zimbach]

Originally posted by oranthal


i have always wondered how they buy the series. for example, the 3 possible anime that they would have shown is nuku-nuku, city hunter, and generator gawl. city hunter has hundreds of episodes while nuku has 6 and generator gawl 16. it costs them the same amount of money to air these series no matter how many episodes there are.

KTEH actually did a viewer survey on these. They showed one episode of each and asked people to call in with their favorite. Nuku-Nuku won!

It's all a matter of what the video distributors make available for broadcast. They stand to make a lot more money from selling commercial broadcast rights (network, syndicated, or basic cable) than selling to a single PBS station, so often titles are delayed a long time while these higher-margin sales are negotiated and eventually fall through. KTEH tried to get Lain for years, but it was tied up in a failed offer with a cable network. (That last sentence could be taken the wrong way )

Anime Resource Group is pretty well connected with folks at Viz, ADV Films, Manga Entertainment, and other video distributors, and we help KTEH with anime programming whenever we can.