PBS Facing Crisis

Television Week ^ | 10/20/03 | John Motavalli

[RadioAstronomer]

Basil Rathbone is Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes is Basil Rathbone.

The movie "Murder by Decree" was also very well done even though it did not use Basil Rathbone.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/murderbydecree.html

[FreedomCalls]

I really enjoyed the PBS "Mystery!" series, especially their adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie.

But are those really PBS shows or are they BBC shows that PBS bought?

[motherof 3]

Facing a crisis----GREAT
I can't stand that tax money goes to PBS.

[lewislynn]

I grew up learning a lot from Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Zoom. But there's no reason they can't pay for themselves

What about the taxpayer subsidized Sesame Street products?...Sesame Street even has their own retail outlets.

Sesame Street is a taxpayer subsidized commercial for their products and retail outlets...Where does THAT taxpayer subsidy money go?

[Drango]

And by the way, why does PBS waste money taking the "Horizon" program from the BBC (renamed to "Nova" here) and redubbing in an American narrator?

Interesting! I didn't know that!

For those interested in more information on NPB/NPR please click on my name (homepage).

[FreedomCalls]

Didn't they used to show episodes of Monty Python, Benny Hill,The Goodies, Dr.Who, Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Universe. etc., etc. ?

Monty Python = BBC
Benny Hill = ITV
The Goodies = BBC
Dr. Who = BBC
Hitch-Hikers Guide = BBC

None of those are shows produced by PBS.

[Lockbar]

WHAT? They didn't make and save enough money from Barney merchandise? Too bad. Go away, PBS.

[I still care]

I loved the "Miss Marple" Agatha Christie series. Also the old "Campion" episodes.

As of recent years, PBS has become a mouthpiece of the homosexual left. Like the alphabet soup networks, they believe their own propaganda, and "just don't get it."

I don't know what it will take to convince mainstream media that flyover country finds their programming offensive.

[eeman]

Democratic fund raising...If PBS didn't do it, who would?

The Chinese?

[general_re]

With the History Channel, C-span, several 24-hour news channels, and on and on, PBS is as necessary today as a slide rule.

That's it exactly. PBS was born and bred to survive in a world with exactly three commercial networks. In a world of three hundred channels, it's in real trouble, because there's nothing you can find on PBS that wouldn't also fit in someone else's niche quite comfortably. Let the thing die - those shows that people actually want to watch - Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Mystery!, Sesame Street - will find homes elsewhere, whether that home is A&E, Discovery, Nickelodeon, Trio, History Channel, or whatever.

[BADROTOFINGER]

Yes, but these shows were shown by PBS for a time. I dont believe that he ever said that they were produced by PBS...JFK

[FreedomCalls]

A big clue is when they are interviewing scientists and they are all from Cambridge or some other British university.

[RadioAstronomer]

PBS's Benjamin Franklin was awsome:

http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/

PBS's The Mechanical Universe was also very well done:

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tmu/

These are just two of the things that PBS has shown that were wonderful. (remember NOVA?)

I would miss PBS.

[upchuck]

Mystery is pretty good. I also like Nature.

But it's high time to defund PBS. Let it stand on its own. If it can't, some cable outlet is sure to pick up the most watched programs. Let the others die. Let the market decide.

[Rodney King]

PBS should have sued the TV show Family Ties 20 years ago for having that liberal doofus as a PBS station manager. Before I ever watched any shows on PBS, I knew from Family Ties that it was a haven for idiot do-gooders, so i never really gave it a fair shot.

[Concerto in D]

I must admit that I whipped through the article about as fast as I whip through the channels on my way to FOX News, including PBS. However, I saw no mention of the show that aired at 11:30 on PBS last night, entitled Coupling. Isn't this the same show that was so pathetic that is was canceled by one of the useless networks? I'm FURIOUS that my tax dollars are paying for this!

[JRandomFreeper]

Sponsors work with us because of the quality of our audience.

First with the hubris, then with the fall. To mis-paraphrase R. Kipling.... "And a fool's finger goes wabbling back to the fire."

/john

[okie01]

It's not literally Media Shenanigans, but it's worth a ping.

Salon is at death's door. Can PBS be far behind...???

[Landru]

Newt's approach for dealing with SS works even better for the PBS monster.

..."Let it wither on the vine."

[RadioAstronomer]

Like any other channel, you must use discernment.