Thursday, March 01, 2007

KERA - If we don't do it, well, cable already did.

Seeing El Anadón Ingobernable's post about how wonderful KERA is reminded me of how they can suck.

Going through the next two weeks of programming on my TiVo to see what I wanted to record, there's plenty of:

  • Suze Orman - I can get that from CNN or MSNBC these days
  • The Rolling Stones - VH1
  • Jerry Lee Lewis - Seriously?
  • Doctor Who - not the kickass old Doctor Who that you can't find anywhere else. No, KERA's got to prove their irrelevance by showing the Christopher Eccleston stuff. Seriously I blew that off on BBCAmerica because I'd already seen every episode on SciFi.
But since it's frakkin' pledge drive, there's narry a Nova or Frontline to be found. They'd better hope their funding doesn't get cut off from the state, because if they can't run what I want during pledge drive, I'm not giving them a dime.

Seriously, I've learned more about food and food science by watching Good Eats on the Food Network than I ever did watching Julia Childs and Yan Cooks Cats on PBS.

Where they still hold up is science and nature programming. Discovery Channel is sometimes doing good work here, but Nova is still the gold standard, with Nature not far behind. And while Frontline is still probably the best current events issue show out there, shows like Anderson Cooper 360 are starting to give it a run for its money.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

America's Test Kitchen is a quite good cooking show. Think Good Eats with the humor and commercials removed.

The News Hour is a closer analog to AC360 than Frontline. Frontline is more like CNN Presents or some such. While AC360 does some good work it still often and for great periods of time stoops to crap stories such as the unending vigil we've been holding over the fate of Anna Nicole Smith's body.

I definitely agree about their fundraising method. I stopped giving them my money precisely because they show utter garbage during their drives. If they switched to the model used by NPR I'd probably start giving them money again. That model of course is play all the normal programs, but interrupt the hell out of them to beg for money. It's annoying, but far less so than 200 reruns of Suze "Preying Mantis" Orman.

lunchstealer said...

I'll check out the test kitchen thing. Assuming they ever show it again, and not just endless doo-wop specials and Eagles reunion concerts.

Tards.

Unknown said...

The Smithsonian declared him a "National Treasure."
He was a member of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He's one of the handful of musicians recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
When the Smithsonian did their celebration of the 300th birthday of the piano? He was among a handful of pianists included in the show.
Elvis Presley said if he could play the piano like Jerry Lee Lewis that he would quit singing.
John Lennon dropped to his knees and tried to kiss Jerry Lee's boots after hearing him play at the Roxy in Los Angeles saying, "Thanks, Killer, for showing me rock n roll."
Rolling Stone lists him as no. 24 in their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
The National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress chose "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" for permanent preservation in 2005.
"Live at the Star Club, Hamburg" by Jerry Lee Lewis is considered by many critics as the best live recorded rock and roll album ever made.
When "Whole Lotta Shakin'" went to No. 1 on all three charts: Pop; Country and Western; and R & B---Jerry Lee joined Elvis and Carl Perkins as the only three performers to do this. When Jerry Lee released "Great Balls of Fire" and it went to No. 1 in all three categories? He left Elvis and Perkins in the dust. It's a feat never duplicated again and it's doubtful that will ever happen.
I thought you would like to know a little bit of the musical history of someone that you dismissed so easily.
It's also not like he's "resting on his laurels" either.
"Last Man Standing" went to No. 1 on the Indie charts when it was released last year.
Yes, I'm a fan. Yes, I am defending him. Just thought you might want some info on a living legend, a national treasure that you so casually dismissed.
Don't worry...maybe someday you can defend someone that you consider a musical genius when someone casually blows off their talent.

SerenitySprings said...

Oh get over it Greeny. The whole purpose of a blog is to express your personal opinions. Stop being lame and just let dave-o-rama have his opinions without righteously indignant comments from the peanut gallery. I'm fairly certain you'd have some opinions that he wouldn't agree with and that's okay because THAT'S THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS. (Besides, those of us that know him personally tease him all the time because of his musical opinions. That "someday" you mentioned his his EVERY day.)

lunchstealer said...

I'm not saying he was a shitty performer. He was pretty good for his time. But I liked him better in Enemy Mine.

UnrulyDuckling said...

In all fairness, it was more a post about how George Bush looks like a monkey than about the wonderfulness of KERA.

~El Anadón Ingobernable

lunchstealer said...

Yeah, I didn't quite make the connection the first time around, but it was funny. I do wonder how many folks got the joke.