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...

2015

Nov

'A CHRISTMAS CAROL --THE CONCERT' REVIVAL KEEPS ON GIVING FOR PBS By Tom Brinkmoeller

Despite its name, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol rarely has inspired a lot of song. Ebenezer Scrooge's grumpy demeanor prompts feelings of melodrama, not melody...

2015

Nov

WITH 'MERCY STREET,' PBS MOUNTS FIRST HOME-MADE DRAMA IN 13 YEARS By Tom Brinkmoeller

Once it seemed that any drama on PBS came with a British accent, including the recent notables Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife....

2015

Oct

PAIR OF PBS PRODUCERS PRESERVES THE MAGIC OF PAST TV THAT'S STILL WORTH WATCHING By Tom Brinkmoeller

More than being enjoyable viewing for people who remember pre-thousands-of-choices television, programs like Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration are important because they pull examples of important television from out of today's video haystack...

2015

Sep

A MASTERFUL 'AMERICAN MASTERS': ENGAGING PORTRAITS OF 15 FASCINATING PEOPLE IN AN HOUR By Tom Brinkmoeller

TV watchers who can look over the following list and discover at least one person about whom they would like to know more owe themselves an hour of top-notch viewing Sept. 25...

2015

Sep

PBS WALT DISNEY TV SALUTE FOUR TIMES AS LONG AS JIM HENSON'S, BUT NOT FOUR TIMES AS GOOD By Tom Brinkmoeller

Perhaps some day an episode of Nova will explain how the brains of PBS schedulers work...

2015

Sep

BRIAN WILLIAMS RETURNING TO THE AIR? By Tom Brinkmoeller

Brian Williams has been released from the network's penalty box, according to numerous news articles...

2015

Sep

PROFILE OF POPE FRANCIS: IFFY MIX OF WHITE SMOKE, SOME MIRRORS By Tom Brinkmoeller

Despite some pretty authoritative advice to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, for many people in the world today, religion is politics. This point of view is abundantly apparent in an upcoming public television documentary, Pope Francis -- The Sinner...

2015

Aug

HOW SWEET IT IS: BACK-TO-BACK SEBAK SPECIALS ABOUT PIES AND BAKERIES By Tom Brinkmoeller

Public television's Rick Sebak generates as much excitement among many PBS followers as J.K. Rowling or Steve Jobs ever did on the mass-market field...

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