My Thoughts on PBS

Yikes! I can't believe another month or so has passed since I've posted. Life has been taking a weird path lately. I admit I've been out of touch for the most part, and rather mechanical in my day-to-day life. A trend I don't like actually. I have been doing a lot of carvings, yet they haven't found their way to paper or fabric yet. I have been so craving screen printing, but lately, have felt I can't even draw anything. I need to snap out of this "thing" I'm going through right now.

As we've recently had our first presidential debate in the US, I wanted to share my thoughts on PBS (Public Broadcasting System), so here goes.

I've seen so much posted lately about PBS and Big Bird since the debate. I personally love PBS and have donated in the past. Like many of you, I grew up with PBS and our parents didn't have to pay for our opportunity to watch those shows. Hell, that was well before the days of "cable" television and networks that you not only have to pay for, but you are also forced to watch commercials!

I never watched Sesame Street, however, I know that show is valuable to many and has served a purpose. I was more into the Electric Company myself (cooler music), not to mention Dark Shadows, The Flintstones and The Monkees. Also when I was a kid our local and free networks actually aired fun Saturday morning shows for kids, as well as fun cartoons and shows during the afternoon, which doesn't seem to be true today. I guess the big / free networks have abandoned those shows assuming that the "world" has cable, and kids can now watch the Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.

I'm an adult and find Saturday morning television to be a drag! The limited cartoons suck, in my opinion, and what little kid really wants to watch sports (unless it's the Wacky Races)? So, if PBS were to "go away", I assume educational television could now consist of Honey Boo (assuming the world has cable) or the lame "reality" shows on free and local networks.

I also love the historical shows PBS airs as they are a great source of entertainment for my 89 mother. She can relate to these shows as her short term memory isn't good. Not sure how many of you can understand that. When she gets to watch shows with Big Band musicians or about WWII, Doo Wop, or Andy Williams, memories coming streaming back. On the other hand, if she watches something like, oh, Big Bang Theory (or whatever), she has zero interest. It just doesn't reach her.

So now that I've vented, maybe someone can actually help me understand why I "pay" for cable channels and am still forced to see commercials (especially those hideous Carls Jr commercials). It's clear to me that money is being paid to these channels (the same as they are to the free channels) to air their ads. What's up with that? I once asked a cable support person that question and she couldn't give me a reason.