I grew up in a segregated community in a segregated America. Like many others, I learned during the late 1950s and into the '60s how wrong this was, and have tried since then to make amends for my ignorance. But as proven by PBS's current nonfiction series about slavery and its impact on Latin America, I remain more ignorant than I imagined...

2011

Apr

ON LOCAL TV WEATHERCASTS, BEWARE THE MIGHTY DOPPLER -- AND DANGEROUS PURPLE ROUND THINGS! By Tom Brinkmoeller

Forget the invention of the printing press, the telephone or even the electric light. This world was nothing until the invention of doppler weather radar. In fact, it's a wonder this world still spins, and wasn't ripped to cosmic shreds before doppler arrived and saved us from complete devastation...

2011

Apr

TALKING WITH DICK CAVETT: REMEMBERING WHEN TV TALK SHOWS WEREN'T INFORMERCIALS By Tom Brinkmoeller

During a phone interview with Dick Cavett, when he mentions being at the home of Groucho Marx and one of the other dinner guests was Carly Simon, name-dropping just isn't suspected. On his television shows, and off the air too, he has talked with some of the more interesting people in the world...

2011

Mar

UNDER SIEGE IN CONGRESS, PUBLIC BROADCASTING HAS BOARDROOM SUPPORT By Tom Brinkmoeller

In an era when government funding for public radio and television seems to be under new attack, the importance of program underwriters has risen sharply. And despite economics and politics, some big companies have continued their support...

2011

Mar

'THOUSANDS OF CHOICES' AND NOT ONE TO BE FOUND By Tom Brinkmoeller

On March 4, two Republican U.S. senators introduced legislation that isn't that unique in the Washington, D.C., that exists today. Their bill would end all government funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the same idea that has longer roots in the U.S. House of Representatives...

2011

Mar

PBS 'TROUBADOURS' IS A SCENIC TOUR THROUGH A MAGICAL MUSICAL ERA By Tom Brinkmoeller

"Troubadours: Carole King/James Taylor and the Rise of the Singer-Songwriter," the newest "American Masters" masterwork, premieres Wednesday on PBS (8 p.m. ET -- check local listings). Consuming its contents, for many fans of that music, will be as revelatory as they are enjoyable...

2011

Feb

TRUMP CARD TURNS TO JOKER IF USED TOO OFTEN By Tom Brinkmoeller

When a good pitcher relies too often on his best pitch and telegraphs its delivery, that fast ball, curve or slider loses much of its effectiveness. The same loss can happen on TV comedies when the people in power -- writers, producers, network executives -- play too often to a popular character's quirkiness...

2011

Feb

TOP 10 PEOPLE WHO, LIKE LINDSAY LOHAN, WON'T BE READING A LIST ON CBS 'LATE SHOW' By Tom Brinkmoeller

The CBS eye got a little egg on it Wednesday when the network and David Letterman learned they apparently had been misled by someone who said actress Lindsay Lohan would appear on the Thursday, Feb 17 The Late Show with David Letterman to read the Top Ten list. Here's the correction from Letterman's production company... and our own list of other people who ALSO won't be appearing on The Late Show...

2011

Feb

PBS'S 'NEED TO KNOW' FOCUSES ON NEED TO TEACH -- DIFFERENTLY By Tom Brinkmoeller

A chemistry course that puts an equal emphasis on proper uses of commas and periods as on the periodic chart is part of a program that has helped lift graduation rates much higher at a Massachusetts high school. And at an Illinois high school, starting students' days with physical education has raised their heart rates and, as a result, their grades in the six years since the program was started...

2011

Feb

A RETURN TO THOSE NOT-SO-THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR? OR, WHOSE 'OLD HOUSE'? By Tom Brinkmoeller

The founder and editor of this site, under a different context, recently told me I write about old people a lot. I stipulate that fact, with no reservations. So it should not surprise him, or anyone else who has read my earlier interpretations of TV's Dead Sea Scrolls, when I start here by reflecting on the long-ago days when sponsors controlled what television viewers saw -- and didn't see...

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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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