PBS TO THE RESCUE

The power of PBS was on full display. (Photo credit DirecTV)

Where have you been?

Recently, while channel surfing (is “channel surfing” a 1990s term?) I rediscovered a great alternative to cable news. It’s been around much longer than cable news. Public television consistently delivers outstanding programming covering a wide range of topics including the arts, music, culture, occasionally sports, but with less emphasis on round-the-clock news and politics. Programming rarely gives lengthy platforms to the bogus claims that infiltrate our national discourse. For example, untruths are competently laid to rest by informed news show hosts and their guests, sans histrionics.

In a sea of TV viewing options, PBS has been right under my nose. Or between my eyes. PBS delivers a sense of order flowing from optimism and mature perspective. Recently, I’ve re-discovered the pleasure derived from watching my two local PBS stations, WTTW/Chicago and WYIN/Northwest Indiana.

PBS adroitly provides outstanding, informative, entertaining content. It’s not a flashy entity like Hulu and Netflix. Nor is it a rip-off like DirecTV has become. Taking the baton from National Educational Television, which operated from 1952-1970, PBS has delightfully soared for nearly 55 years. Going on air in October 1970, The Public Broadcasting Service simply produces memorable, high-quality television.

PBS is a marvelous reminder that intelligence is not a disease to be legislated away, e.g., by banning books and degrading science. For five decades PBS has fearlessly given us the full picture, the triumphs and stumbles as man and nature pursue monumental achievements and suffer unstoppable, sometimes unpreventable disasters.

A couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a PBS program titled 60s and 70s Soul Celebration: My Music Presents. It was an amazing two hours of the greatest songs from music’s halcyon days. From Detroit Motown to the Sound of Philadelphia to Memphis’ Staxx Records, to the best New York, Chicago and L.A. had to offer, the show was a delicious treat. Seeing the greatest R&B, Soul and Disco performers, most of them currently in the age bracket 60s and 70s, bring to life the fun and energy of my youth was heartwarming.

Last weekend, PBS delivered again. I stumbled upon a re-airing of a show from 2015 celebrating the 25th anniversary of Ken Burns’ The Civil War. Burns is the most prolific documentarian of our time. He’s also produced greats such as Baseball, Jazz, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, The Vietnam War, and Country Music, among others. But The Civil War remains the measuring stick, the most watched PBS documentary of all time.

Seeing the 2-hour tribute to The Civil War was a reminder of Burns’ greatness. And a reminder of the power of television. The photography techniques, the patience (it took over five years to produce the documentary), and brilliant writing and interviews were groundbreaking. Historian Shelby Foote, narrator David McCullough, and violin-led, perfectly toned theme music lifted the documentary into stratospheric, legendary status.

My only suggestion is that PBS shorten pledge drive breaks. During the 25th anniversary celebration of The Civil War, PBS inserted an hour’s worth of pledge drive breaks. The programming guide said the show ran from 8-10pm. But there were four 15-minute pledge drive breaks! It would not have been a surprise to hear “Money, Money, Money, Money” in the background as show hosts implored viewers to send… money!

Thankfully, PBS has not gone down the programming rabbit hole as have Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Discovery’s Contraband: Seized at the Border and Gold Rush and National Geographic’s To Catch a Smuggler and Drugs, Inc: The Fix, are examples of low-bar programming that is unwatchable and ruins television.

Certainly, I will continue following Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC. More than anyone, Maddow and O’Donnell intelligently analyze what is happening. They reveal fissures in the Musk-Trump chaos that could easily turn into roaring waterfalls. As Maddow and O’Donnell have shown, We the People are asserting our power (with or without the help of Democratic politicians) and fighting for our democracy. Protests and town halls across the country are having an impact as some Republican members of Congress are literally running from their constituents.

But even a diehard political junkie like me needs a break. In the past I would have turned to ESPN for relief. But the formerly great ESPN networks have gone the route of too much mind-numbing programming (wiffle ball, dart throwing). Enter PBS, now taking its place alongside Turner Classic Movies and MeTV reruns when I need a break to re-charge my resist Trumpism battery. Going forward I will be more intentional, when scrolling the TV programming guide, to see what PBS is offering.

PBS is engaging and stimulating. As Chicago’s WTTW PBS tagline says, stay curious.

Douglas FreelandMarch 13, 2025