I am not much of a TV watcher, and frankly, a lot of the TV I do end up tuning in is PBS. American Masters rarely fails to be fascinating — took in the Annie Leibovitz show twice, a few months ago. Frontline is broadcast journalism as it should be, and American Experience may be one of the best history teachers out there. Austin City Limits is a Saturday night staple, and more often than not, Great Performances is worth a look. I could go on — love History Detectives, I’m developing a taste for Antiques Roadshow and here in the Bluegrass State, KET develops a lot of terrific programming.

We’re tossing bouquets here, because the next thing I am going to say is Eric Williams’ recent blog item on the Huffington Post did strike a chord with me. All I had to read was the title, If It’s Orbison, It Must Be Pledge Month, to
know exactly what he was talking about. We just finished that time of year where PBS stations toss out most of their normal programming in favor of shows we do not see the rest of the year to persuade us to open our wallets. Now, even here, I have to say I liked quite a bit of what KET showed during the early March drive: the Alison Krauss and Union Station concert filmed at Louisville’s Palace Theatre was sublime, the Great Performances’ James Taylor tribute was better than I thought it would be and the Antiques Roadshow "greatest hits" was a lot of fun (favorite item: Someone had a pre-production screenplay of Gone with the Wind that was so early in the process it listed George Cukor as the director). I even like the Roy Orbison Black & White Night perennial. But there were numerous shows that were so beneath PBS. For instance, they’ve started trotting out these Jurassic rock and pop shows like The British Beat. Being a British Invasion fan, I was interested, until I started watching, and saw that it was basically reunited or semi-reunited 60s rock bands trotting out their old tunes. We got that a year or two back with a disco show. This is quality programming? I would dis Celtic Woman, but my wife would probably dis-agree. And the video clips of Elvis mixed with his band in a recent performance was just kind of bizarre. What was worse was  every one of these seemed to play over and over again, like they were on a DVD changer. In fact, a lot of these shows were repeats from previous pledge drives.

Williams makes the good point that this is not how NPR operates (though he does indulge in a snotty attack on Car Talk). When you’re in public radio’s  pledge drive, you hear a lot of interruptions, but those are in the midst of your regularly scheduled programming. I don’t go into Terry Gross withdrawal  during pledge week. In fact, if you love a certain program, you are encouraged to call in and pledge during that show to show your support for it. Hmmm. Should I call in during Solo Shots or Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me?

But if I want to show my love for Austin City Limits, no chance. It was pre-empted all pledge drive. No Frontline. No American Masters. PBS has probably figured out the most effective ways to raise money, but sometimes, during pledge weeks, it just doesn’t feel like you’re watching PBS. At least, not the one that I usually tune in.

Two more Grease notes: Thinking about Grease: You’re the One That I Want, and what I did not like about it, got me to thinking about the reality show I do thoroughly enjoy: Project Runway. That’s the one that has aspiring fashion designers competing for the favor of a panel of judges. One of the big things I like about it is that it really feels like it is about fashion. Grease almost never felt to me like it was about Broadway. Maybe expert critiques of scene work and a deeper look into the journey of aspiring actors would be
Nielsen ratings poison for a network show. But, if Broadway producers want to do this sort of thing again, maybe they could modify their expectations, take the show to Bravo and — I know this may be heracy in this interactive world — dispense with the viewer voting. I’m much more interested in seeing how Broadway producers weigh casting decisions than finding out who has the biggest fan base.

This will probably be the last word on Grease, and of course, our whole impetus for following the show was University of Kentucky graduate Derek Keeling. I kept meaning to post a photo from our archives of Derek in the UK Theatre’s 2002 production of Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly, so here it is. (The copyrighted photo is by  David Perry.) It’s a bit different from the Danny Zuko look, eh?