sielwolf's Journal: I must be getting old. I'm becoming a Dad*!

* Dad in the "Ward Cleaver, Square on all four sides"-sense not the "Bun in the Oven"-sense.

Anyway but I'm really starting to take to watching PBS. Newshour, the documentaries, and now I've added This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop to the list. I don't know why. I used to catch it when I was a kid and my Dad had it on. Now I just find it... interesting. I don't know why. I don't own a seven figure house in the Boston metro area.

But above and beyond all others is Frontline. Now you can watch complete episodes online (nicely broken up into Real Player streams). How many shows offer that? What a bargain. The writing is still top notch and it remains my favorite.

I must say that I'm still not a fan of two of the more popular shows: Antiques Roadshow (aka "The Yaw Hour") and Frontier House. It's all too "reality show" for me when I look to PBS to provide some entertaining "reality". And also the funding drives are just a pain in the butt. You'd think they could find a better way of getting people to donate instead of just annoying the piss out of them.

So, any other Public TV fans out there?

yes

[mekkab]

but only on occaision. Between Masterpiece theatre and random interviews with Lou Reed and David Bowie pbs has some all right stuff.

however, I don't get enough time to watch tv regularly, aside from Sunday night.

Re:yes

[mekkab]

my favorite thing was learning the vocal effects from "We can be heroes"- its not just "reverb"...

3 mics, 1 right in front of Davey,
1 20 feet away,
1 30 feet away, and the two far away ones have gates on them (so only sounds above a certain threshold...yadda yadda)

SO you get this nice, intensely personal (and up close) beginning, and then he gets a lil' louder and then when he's finally shouting and screaming, you hear it.

cute.

Now, all PBS needs to do is breakdown Steve Albini's 4 mics attached to a spinning disco-ball trick for micing guitars, and you have firm foundation in sonic shennanigans.

big time PBS fan...

[heliocentric]

All of your shows are on my list... however the one PBS channel I have also gets Coupling (which is also on BBC America) and Computer Chronicles. Don't forget America's Test Kitchen and Nova as well for some good TV watching and learnin'.

I must admit, however, I'm not a fan of Antiques Road show, but the home-improvement line-up is great - books my Saturday evenings.

Oh, and since you're apparently new to the "Hooked on PBS" craze - keep an eye out around pledge drives for The Prisoner to be on really early in the morning.

Re:big time PBS fan...

[sielwolf]

Ahhh yes, I forgot about Nova... and Nature... and what is that show with Alan Alda? Scientific Frontiers? Sure, it isn't deep deep science but how many other shows go to uni labs and get fresh ideas straight from the well?

Oh yeah

[gmhowell]

Jacques Pepin and Julia Child. Even when Jacques has his idiot daughter, and Julia has some crappy new chef du jour who thinks she (invariably) can teach Julia something.

Britcoms. Hey, if you don't get BBC America, where else you gonna turn?

Almost forgot

[gmhowell]

You ain't dad until you can sing the theme song to at least three PBS kids shows. I'm gonna strangle that Cailou kid.

Antiques Roadshow rules!

[MonTemplar]

I admit it, Sundays are incomplete without sitting down to watch AR whilst having tea...

On the other hand, the only 'makeover' shows that I can stomach these days are Life Laundry, Your Money Or Your Life, House Doctor and What Not To Wear. Changing Rooms makes me cringe, Ground Force has run out of steam, and don't get me started on Home Front In The Garden. Both Diarmud Gavin and Laurence Lewellyn-Bowen show be locked up for crimes against good taste! :)

not much for tv

[subgeek]

i don't watch much tv, but i do like pbs. this is because i have spent most of my life without cable. so i didn't have the discovery channel. over the years pbs has brought me cosmos, nova, many national geographic specials, dr julius sumner miller with dramatic demonstrations in physics, fawlty towers, monty python's flying circus, dr who, and many others.

Ken Burns

[redfiche]

Any time they do a Ken Burns film, I'm there. I get most of my PBS from the radio, Marketplace, Cartalk, etc.

I like watching Nova, & Nature, etc.

[eugene ts wong]

I like watching a lot of those shows on PBS, at around 1am Pacific time.