In her 2009 book, Antiques Roadshow Behind the Scenes, the program’s executive producer for the last two decades, Marsha Bemko, describes how the Antiques Roadshow (ARS) entourage rolls into a town...

2019

Nov

WATCHING DICK CAVETT, THE MASTER, AT WORK By Tom Brinkmoeller

Eight years ago, I wheedled and finagled to land a phone interview with Dick Cavett, one that produced two TV Worth Watching stories...

2019

Oct

A NEW LOOK AT THE NEWS By Tom Brinkmoeller

It has been a long time since I watched a television news program...

2017

Mar

MILK STREET IS A BUSY THOROUGHFARE SINCE KIMBALL MOVED THERE By Tom Brinkmoeller

Some people who have followed the America’s Test Kitchen public television series over the past 16 seasons or so may have a high-school flashback while watching the current season: The regular teacher didn’t show up...

2017

Feb

TV CHEFS SHOULD TO STICK TO BOILING WATER, NOT WALKING ON IT By Tom Brinkmoeller

I watch a lot of cooking shows, so it’s time to list some of the foolishness that parades through many of the commercial and non-commercial cooking programs that over-populate our TV set...

2016

Nov

GRANT TINKER: AN APPRECIATION By Tom Brinkmoeller

I didn’t house the work I have done for TV Worth Watching under the “Raised on MTM” roof without reason. So much of what I consider valuable about television has its roots in Grant Tinker...

2016

Nov

PBS’S ‘NATIONAL PARK SYMPHONY’ TAKES USUAL PLEDGE DRIVES INTO BEAUTIFUL NEW TERRITORY. LITERALLY. By Tom Brinkmoeller

There are many awful necessities in life; among them are: Cutting grass, raking leaves, shoveling snow and enduring PBS pledge drives... But there’s an exception to that rule coming soon that will envelope most of the PBS universe...

2016

Jan

REFINISH AN ANTIQUE? NEVER. BUT SPIFFING UP A 'ROADSHOW' APPRECIATES ITS VALUE By Tom Brinkmoeller

By definition, PBS' Antiques Roadshow doesn't have near the antiquity to make it the very thing it spotlights... But in television timelines, the 20th Antiques Roadshow season makes it a rare video survivor, a collectable on many a DVR...

2015

Dec

HOW ONE PBS STATION SWORE OFF PLEDGING AND MADE MORE MONEY By Tom Brinkmoeller

Imagine, if you will, a major U.S. city where, as in most cities, there is a public-television station. But one thing is different: it doesn't pull the plug on those fine shows several times a year and plead for money endlessly for days...

2015

Dec

PBS PLEDGE DRIVES WORSE THAN A BAD HABIT By Tom Brinkmoeller

As a former smoker, I can tell you that what once was acceptable, then shown to be a tar-and-nicotine-paved path to no good, is a tough and awful habit to break...

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Tom Brinkmoeller

I wrote about television for a daily newspaper (The Cincinnati Enquirer) in the '80s, but what drew me to covering it was how good this young medium so often was. So much of what was good then came from MTM Enterprises and its alumni. When I left the beat, MTM was still setting high standards with drama series like St. Elsewhere and comedies like Newhart. Because general TV standards have dropped a great distance since then, it's no reason to capitulate. My role here is to find and spotlight programming that still honors high standards.

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