I never used to watch PBS. In fact, I made fun of people who watched public programming. Sort of. I mocked them by mocking myself. I’ve even described people by saying things like, “She’s PBS and I’m E!. We will never be friends.”
I’d like to point out it’s been years since I’ve watched anything on E!. This confession has nothing to do with this post, I just want to put it out there.
The past few weeks however, I have found myself watching PBS. Mainly on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. It started with NOVA on Wednesday. But that doesn’t come on until 8:00pm. While waiting for it, I started watching Nature at 7:00pm. That’s when I saw previews for The American Experience on Tuesdays.
I think my IQ raised two points in one week.
That’s an exaggeration.
The trouble with this new viewing habit is that I’m learning stuff. Stuff nobody else cares about. I’ve tried. I go to work the next day and wait for a lull in the conversation. “I watched this program last night on tv,” I say purposefully omitting the channel details.
At first, my coworkers took the bait. “Really?” one would say.
Then I’d tell them about the Bog Bodies. Or about how feisty and smart badgers are.
I admit it was a sneaky way to divulge my newfound information but I had to share. The stories kept running on a loop in my head. Proving once again that I should have paid better attention in science class. Any science class. See, if I had paid better attention back then, maybe I’d have a cool career now. I wish I could work on a show that followed badgers around. That sounds cool. Now. When I was in school I probably wouldn’t have thought so. But if I had paid attention then I’d be able to work on one of those shows. Then I’d have an audience. Albeit, a small one. Just being honest here.
My plan to gain an audience didn’t last long. Nobody wants to hear my regurgitated tales of PBS programming. My co-workers will leave me hanging and not ask any follow-up questions. I tried to tell them about the Triangle Fire but did not succeed. For some reason, listening to me report on my television viewing habits is not exciting or fun for them. Go figure.
I never had this problem when I watched E!. Just sayin’.
** This has become one of my most viewed posts. I realize it has nothing to do with my writing but because of the title. I unintentionally hijacked the phrase. My apologies. Here is website that might help your search for an actual schedule.
ck's days 
You should try Downton Abbey.
Whoa there! Let’s not get crazy with all this pbs stuff… 😉
I have no idea what PBS is!!!! 😀 Sounds like some kind of information channel showing documentaries. Am I right? But why is it embarrassing to admit you watch it? Everyone is into different things. Some people are into Harry Potter and Vampire series – personally I can’t stand either! But I love watching Dr Who. At least Dr Who is cool now, but even if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be ashamed of it. I love watching informative documentaries, as long as they are presented in an interesting way, I find them more interesting than fiction these days. Sign of age – may be?! 😉
Definitely a sign of age 🙂
PBS stands for Public Broadcasting System. It doesn’t have commercials but has pledge drives to keep it operating. During the day it has programming for young ones (Sesame Street) but at night it has documentaries and sometimes local documentaries, or, uh, you know, BBC programming. If you ever watched the old sitcom Family Ties? It’s the station Michael Keaton worked at and his son always made fun of him.
🙂
In other words, it’s nerdville 🙂
I prefer watching PBS. Only problem lately is there are too many “begging” for monies. O.K.,, so it costs money to put these shows on but enough is enough. It’s starting to turn me off from watching. Sad, so sad. I’m hearing the same thing from other’s.
Yeah, I haven’t watched it in awhile because of that! If I’m home – and not busy – I still like Nature and Nova. But it’s been a long time now. 🤓
PBS is for people who are not easily amused. The broadcast networks satisfy the shallow wants of people who hear the William Tell Overture and Instantly think of the Lone Ranger. It’s the only classical music they’ve ever heard–but, they don’t know it. When Carl Sagan pointed to the midnight sky and said there was much to wonder about the Cosmos, I never looked at a star again without being amazed by the dynamics of nuclear fusion. PBS is doing what Darwin did 158 years ago. It is showing us from whence we came.
I am a big fan of PBS. Yes, I do agree with the comments about asking for money all the time. It means I miss a lot of my shows. Very discouraging. As a result I find myself watching old re-runs of shows from the “60’s” and “70’s” like MASH, etc.
PBS needs to remind “America’s Test Kitchen” about the perils of animal fat. Heart disease kills 600 thousand Americans yearly–just ask Dr. Dean Ornish. His clinical study in 1989 showed how coronary arteries cleared spontaneously when animal fats were avoided. The cardiologists should have been dancing in the streets.
I’m delighted my comments are noticed here. In the late 1950’s, a slapstick comic named “Soupy Sales” had a lunch-time children’s show where he frequently got a pie in the face. Fred Rogers pointed this out when he appeared before Congress to ask for funding for children’s programing on PBS. The result was a phenomenon–he spoke to kids in a gentle, contemplative voice that acknowledged their intelligence.
The 6 P.M. News on PBS has a simple, direct delivery of the days main happenings. ABC News has an unmistakable tabloid tone to it. CBS has never found a successor to Edward R. Morrow or Walter Cronkite. NBC lost Brian Williams due to his vanity in the end. All 3 major networks have noticed a decline in their ratings. The web has news before the networks have time to digest it before offering it. All media are in the news business because of the internet.
OK, one last word of praise for PBS. I remember watching a documentary about implanting hearing aids into the ear canal. A young woman of about 30 had such an operation because she was born stone deaf. The moment when she heard sound for the first made her cry–it made me cry too.