Let me start by saying that I think some of the best stuff on TV is on PBS. In the sea of satellites and cable, direcTV and pay per view, when literally thousands of stations can be accessed on our televisions at any one time, PBS still is a beacon of humanity filling my living room. I even worked on programs in the early 90s that aired on PBS.
I turned on my TV tonight, as I often do, with a meal of carry-out Chinese food in front of me, and scanned through the various prime-time network news magazines, formulaic comedies and dramas. I spent the ceremonial two and a half seconds clicking through each cable channel until I landed in the place I usually land, WTTW-Ch. 11. I knew I’d find an animal burrowing away, a science detective story, a British drama or a political documentary. PBS is my retreat from the mind-numbing broadcasts on the other 13,567 channels that we can now access.
Tonight, PBS was broadcasting a James Taylor concert. As a singer-songwriter raised in the 70s, I knew I could put my remote control down. I also knew it meant something else: It was pledge drive time. Sure enough, eight minutes later my suspicion was confirmed when I was asked to make a donation. In return, I could receive an assortment of premiums: an umbrella or a coffee mug. I already have the tote bag. For $75 I could receive the DVD of the concert, including songs not seen on the air.
“It’s donations like yours that make this programming possible,” I was told with enthusiasm by one of the pledge drive hosts. Somehow, this just didn’t sit right. It seemed that, “It’s programs like this one that make your donations possible,” was more accurate. Let me explain.
If you don’t watch a lot of public television, you may be led to believe that these music programs are regular features. Yep, they are. You can count on them during every pledge drive, but not much at any other time. The Baby Boomers’ booming wallets are well-watched at PBS. I can’t remember the last time I saw a popular music program that wasn’t on during a pledge drive. A few years ago it was John Tesh, followed by Yanni outdoors at the Taj Mahal, or the Forbidden City; or was it the Acropolis? Both those guys in the same week is enough to stop the wind from ever blowing again. Peter, Paul and Mary are pledge drive regulars. As much as I love James Taylor, I missed them. Maybe they’re saving them for the big push on the last night. The Rolling Stones were rolled out a couple years ago. Until the recent revival of the acclaimed “Soundstage,” the only regular popular music we usually get on WTTW is “Austin City Limits,” but I can’t remember if it’s on at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m.
Sure to come after the James Taylor concert, I thought, was a self-help guru giving the seriously contemplative studio audience and me the all-too-familiar lecture on how our minds and bodies could become one and lead us to happier and healthier lives. I could watch as I swallowed each forkful of sweet and sour chicken. These PBS staples are another given at pledge time, which you never see on the regular PBS schedule.
Why is this? Don’t the decision-makers at PBS think their regular programming is good enough to raise the cash from its regular viewers? Is PBS so insecure about its regular programming that it has to dust off the pledge drive specials every time fundraising comes around to raise the money it needs to continue airing the programs it airs the other 48 weeks a year? What PBS does best is a “Nova” exploring the construction techniques used to build Stonehenge or a “Frontline” investigation into the making of Al Qaeda. I watch PBS for “Masterpiece Theatre” and the “American Experience.” These are the reasons viewers watch PBS.
As far as TV goes, PBS is the best thing on the air. I just wish PBS had as much faith in what it normally does and the people who watch it as I do. Sure, I wouldn’t see James Taylor as often, but maybe all those PBS execs know a lot more than I care to admit: I can’t wait for the delivery of The James Taylor concert DVD!
