MetaFilter posts tagged with pbs

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood not included in weekday program services this fall

k8t — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:55:08 -0800

After 40 years of national broadcasts, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood will be removed from PBS' weekday program service this fall. The current situation is that PBS beams the show to member stations as part of its children's programming block Monday through Friday. Most (63%) stations air it. Starting in the fall, PBS stations won't receive the show daily but rather one episode per week will be sent. This summer, PBS stations that still want to play the the show during the week will have an opportunity to receive a season's worth of episodes to stockpile. But receiving and scheduling those episodes requires effort. As such, contacting one's local PBS station requesting for the summer stockpile is one step. Here's a link to the station finder. One can also contact national PBS. Mrs. Rogers herself is encouraging people to do this. News article I don't mean this to be activistfilter, but past posts about Mr. Rogers seem to imply that others will care about this.

PBS falls on hard times

plexi — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:17:18 -0800

'Llectuals. The fresh new PBS show about honor students learning love at Heidegger High School.

Nutrition's his mission, good health's his goal

Mael Oui — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:48:20 -0800

Remember John Burstein? Since 1975, he has been educating children (including many of us!) about the human body and the importance of health and nutrition in a rather unique way. Like many superheroes before him, he dons a form-fitting suit and transforms into a shocking alter ego... the living anatomical reference, Slim Goodbody! From his birth at New York's Floating Hospital, Mr. Goodbody went on to capture the hearts of a generation between his dynamic live shows; the PBS television show, The Inside Story; and his regular appearances on Captain Kangaroo! He even recorded albums like The Inside Story (anyone have the full-color activity poster and lyric sheet?) and Healthy Is Wealthy [back cover], featuring songs from 'The Adventures of Slim Goodbody in Nutri-City' (a little more info about this album here)! Today, Mr. Goodbody is still performing to packed theaters (and school gymnasiums) with sidekick Bill Strong, Mandroid the Mime, and Slenda and the All Fit Team. John Burstein has even expanded his repertoire to cover other subjects, as in his Math Monsters and Symphonasaurus! shows and his online Daily Almanac. You can also watch his videos on Slim Goodbody TV (aka YouTube)! Now, give yourself a hug, and say, 'I love my body. I'm the best me in the world!'

Health Inequalities

cashman — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:32:48 -0800

It's like gunning the engine of a car. The recent documentary Unnatural Causes examines the health consequences societal inequalities have on people. The PBS series has a couple dozen embeddable video clips exploring atomic testing, Native American Health, Latino Health and more. One clip examines why when African women come to the U.S., within one generation, their daughters suffer higher rates of premature babies and poorer birth outcomes. One group is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into alleviating health disparities in 14 communities across the country. More videos and information at the PBS website for the program. Get the DVD.

Because It Is There

aheckler — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:58:05 -0800

PBS's Frontline has just released Storm Over Everest, a new report that chronicles the 1996 Everest disaster. The story was most notably told by Jon Krakauer in his award-winning book Into Thin Air, which ignited a flurry of letters (pun definitely intended) about the roles of guides and Sherpas on the mountain.

Anchors Aweigh

ericb — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:47:12 -0800

"Carrier is not the story of a ship, it’s the story of shipmates." The 10-part documentary series, filmed by 17 filmmakers, focuses on eighteen people during a six-month deployment overseas on the aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. The series premieres tonight on PBS. Opening of Episode One [6:02] || Preview of The Series [26:47]. Crew interviews and other clips. The USS Nimitz accomodates "about 6,000 persons...and reaches over 23 stories high from the keel to the top of the mast. The Hangar Bay extends for most of the ship’s length. It is used for major repair and shelters the aircraft not needed for that day's flight schedule. Four distilling units enable Nimitz engineers to make over 400,000 gallons of fresh water a day, for use by the propulsion plants, catapults and crew. The Food Services Department provides 18,000-20,000 meals a day. The Nimitz can stock at least 70 days of refrigerated and dry storage goods. One barber shop trims over 1,500 heads each week. The Post Office processes more than one million pounds of mail each year. Six doctors, including a general surgeon, provide everything from surgery to hydro-therapy. The ship also has five dentists. The Nimitz also features a 53-bed hospital ward, a three bed ICU, and acts as the hospital ship for the entire Nimitz battle group." ^*

Does the Nucleon come in Cherenkov blue?

cog_nate — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:22:49 -0800

Car of the Future , NOVA's latest episode, is fully online and includes a slew of extras including CC-licensed content, a brief historical overview of "innovative" automobiles, Amory Lovins flogging his Hypercar concept, the Car Talk guys making nuisances of themselves, and much more. (It's no Design for Dreaming, but really, what could be?)

Sick Around the World

aheckler — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:16:23 -0800

Sick Around the World, the newest documentary piece produced by PBS's Frontline asks: "Can the U.S. learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a health care system?" Having previously shared a Pulitzer Prize with The New York Times, and produced such quality programs as Bush's War, this should be well worth a mere hour of your time.

We're friends now!

miss lynnster — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:15:42 -0800

PBS Frontline explores Growing Up Online. Here's what they learned.

Mubetubafubiltuber

not_on_display — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:52:33 -0800

Write ZOOM, Z-double-oh-M, Box three-five-oh, Boston, Mass, OH-two-ONE-three-FOURRRR! C'mon and Zooma Zooma Zooma ZOOM! ZOOM was produced for PBS by WGBH in Boston, and originally aired from 1972 through 1978. It literally was television for kids, by kids -- the show's various segments were culled from thousands of ideas submitted by viewers (by mail to the address above). Sometimes these kids were featured in the clips themselves. From a 1972 Time Magazine article: "Virtually all the material is by children and is selected by the seven-member cast (ages nine through 13). The kids sing, dance. play games, talk in 'Ubbi-Dubbi'--a catchy code language reminiscent of past generations' pig Latin-show home movies and give laconic instructions in all manner of skills. The first show featured a filmed demonstration of how to build a raft from tree limbs, leaves and an old tarpaulin. A 4-minute karate exhibition aimed at defeating bicycle thieves was on the second. The third will include a thoroughly befuddling lesson in the game of "cat's cradle," with a perplexed young instructress tangling her string and admitting, 'I got it wrong.'" Ubbi-Dubbi? Well, let Wikipedia break it down for you. Wait, that was no fun... better yet, pbs.org has a Flash-based Ubbi-Dubbi Translator. I had it translate its own instructions into Ubbi-Dubbi: "Uball yubou hubave tubo dubo ubis subay UBUB bubefubore ubevuberuby vubowubel subound. Uband thubis Ububbubi Dububbubi mubachubine hubas bubeen prubogrubammubed wubith thube ubabubilubituby tubo rubecubognubize whubich vubowubels ubare suboundubed, uband whubich ubare subilubent!" You can hear Ubbi-Dubbi spubokuben fubulubentluby by nubatubives at the beginning of thubis clubip of the ZOOMers' production of the Mad Tea Party scene from Alice in Wonderland. Wikipedia also comes close to de-funnifying Fannee Doolee: "Fannee Doolee is a fictitious girl acted in the playhouse by the ZOOMers on ZOOM. During the play, Fannee Doolee does not face the audience and she does not speak; instead, Fannee Doolee's unheard dialog is exposed when the person she was seen talking to turns to talk with others. The play is a comedy and the repeating gag is that Fannee Doolee likes and dislikes things that are similar and the people around her are perplexed by this inconsistency. For example, she likes stools but not chairs; she likes coffee but not drinks; she likes rolls but not bread; she likes cheese but not dairy. (I bet she loves LOLLing but hates MetaFilter.) Here's a clip of the cool Fannee Doolee song'n'dance. Here are some segments: - Roll out the ZOOMBarrel: a game called "Cracker Whistle" - this clip made me laugh when I was young, and again now. Play "Cracker Whistle" responsibly. It's fun. - ...doo-wah-zoom-doo, Do A ZOOMDo! These girls show (not tell) you how to make Stained Glass Cookies! - Bernadette shows us how she does that thing with her arms. Bernadette has her own ZOOMstalgia web page, too. This guy gets all mushy, shooting an eight-minute Youtube about how Bernadette answered his email. - ZOOM's Play of the Week: A melodrama about two lost fishermen. Written by someone just like you were back before the web sucked all the imagination out of you. - A nice piece of music: "I am a City Child I live on the tip-top floor Of an old apartment building With a very creaky door" And, as a bonus, here's the first episode of ZOOM, before the rugby shirts were de rigeur: Part 1 - Intro to the Merrymac, Intro to Ubbi-Dubbi, the ZOOM Play of the Week (an absurdist classic) Part 2 - ZOOMovie (Rated R, "Ristricted"), ZOOM Guest (Roy West, wordlessly showing you how to build a cool raft), The Ubbi-Dubbi Weather Report Part 3 - ZOOMgame (A Merrymac), ZOOMrap (a really nice piece that has the kids talkin' about their experiences with doctors and hospitals), a song ("The Cat Came Back") Part 4 - The address rap (Joe's and Nancy's lines are the best), and Closing Credits. Rugby shirts, jeans, and bare feet. The second season won a daytime Emmy. C'mon and ZOOM! (ZOOM was revived by PBS in 1999, but we'll save that for an FPP in 2035.)