tv

My PBS station has no clue

I watch a lot of PBS. We have two channels here in Miami and I watch them both, but one, I watch more than the other.

I mentioned to a cousin one time that I watch a lot of PBS and she asked, “You like to watch nature shows?”

No. I like to watch all the British tv – Britcoms, dramas, things like that. And I watch a lot of cooking shows. I can barely boil water, but I find them relaxing. When I ran into Lidia Bastianich at Whole Foods in NYC not long ago, I was excited.

I didn’t approach her, but we did rub elbows – literally – it was very crowded in the store that day.

Anyway, I’m writing about PBS’s lack of marketing knowledge, or at least one of my PBS station’s lack of being able to hold donations.

Two times they had money or access to donations from me and they blew it and didn’t make an effort to keep the donations going.

This bothers me no end because they take all their programs off the air for weeks on end and have these nonsense telethons, asking for money to support their stations. They literally antagonize their viewers by taking their favorites shows off and then asking us to donate to keep the shows on. A form of extortion.

Anyway, I was donating $25.00 a month to one of the local PBS stations but all at once, they took my two favorite shows off the air. Not just my favorite shows on PBS, but of all of tv – Doc Martin and Escape to the Chateau. I could watch those reruns of both shows forever.

It bothered me so much that I emailed the station and told them I no longer wished to donate due to the fact that they removed my shows.

I expected them to call me and try to keep me donating and I would then make a deal to split the cost and use half the money for a streaming service or something and let them keep the rest. But you know what they did? They emailed me back and said, “Done, starting next month you will no longer be charged.”

They didn’t even try to keep what they had – the first rule of business – keeping your current customers! And they didn’t call to see if it was really me wanting to cancel my affiliation with them.

And some months before, I was donating one of my cars. But they never came to pick up the car – a Mercedes! I waited a couple of weeks, but they never showed up.

I finally called them and told them they had to come by the end of the week and get the car because I was leaving town for a few weeks . They said they could not come and get it, so they lost the car. They didn’t even try to talk me into not canceling the donation.

So twice, they had donations that they are on tv begging for non-stop and when they had these donations in hand, the cavalierly just gave them up.

I don’t ever like to use this word, but they were STUPID. Totally Stupid.

That’s how you don’t run an organization that relies on charity to stay in business.

Receive an email each time I publish this blog by clicking here

Skip intro

I was watching something on Netflix and when “Skip Intro” came on, I thought of this.

I don’t watch many streaming services, but luckily I got this idea from one, you know, when you skip the intro to the tv show and get right into it.

I pay for many streaming services, I just don’t watch them. I need to do that thing where you delete them and just pay for them when you want to see something.

There are things I want to see, but I find myself watching tv the old fashioned way – on cable. Yes, I guess cable tv is the old fashioned way.

I remember many years ago, maybe in the 1970s, when I had seen something on tv; I don’t remember what the show was, but at the end I said to my mother, I wish I could just snap my fingers and be in California so I could see the show again when it came on in their time zone.

I didn’t think of taping it with a VCR because there were no VCRs yet. Hard to imagine a time when you had to see the show when it was on and possibly see a summer re-run, or you missed it for good, or wait until years later when they were all on streaming services.

Today, I still watch tv when the shows are on, you know, Thursdays at 9 on CBS on Tuesday at 8 on Bravo or whatever. I do DVR things and watch that, but I don’t really dabble in streaming services. I just overpay for them every month, along with the cable service, which I have to cancel soon.

I know I can do it online at their websites, but I want to speak to a person because I may be able to get a good deal to stay.

I just have to make the call, which I am dreading. You know, you try to make a fast phone call and it ends up being a frustrating hour or so.

Receive an email each time I publish this blog by clicking here

New York Comic Con

Went to NY Comic Con yesterday, opening day.

The usual cosplayers were there, but this year I didn’t see Spider-man, Superman or Batman, at least not many. In years past, there were so many of them.

But still it was fun. It seems to be more about video games and movies and tv, not so much about comics, as was the original premise.

I ran into my cousin, who is there all the time, at the booth for the company where he works, it’s an auction house for original cartoon art. I’ve purchased some things from their auctions.

We kibitzed for a bit and then I walked around to check out some other comic booths.

It’s sold out for the year, but if you ever get a chance to go to a comic con in any city, I highly recommend it.

Receive an email each time I publish this blog by clicking here

Morning Joe, and Mika

I came up with this cartoon years ago. I redrew it for publication today. It just made me laugh when I blurted out “Morning Joe it alls” one morning a few years back while watching the show. I do watch it almost every morning – not the whole thing, but maybe an hour, from 6 am to 7 am, first thing in the morning.

I do like Joe and Mika, although Joe does shout a lot and it’s very early in the morning, so I have to lower the tv quite often when he’s off on one of his tangents. There are a couple of regular guests who put me to sleep the moment they open their mouths, so I turn the channel when they are on, but I do enjoy Morning Joe.

My mother started watching years ago. I believe it premiered in 2007, so back then, she would say to me, “You don’t watch Morning Joe?” as if it was must see tv. I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I knew she was addicted to politics and she would go on and on with the goings on in Washington whenever she could.

She wanted to discuss the world events so badly and finally she finally found a comrade to discuss things with when my niece’s husband chimed in that he was addicted, too. So the two of them would rattle on about the goings on in DC, and so much of it included what Joe and Mika had to say. They agreed with each other and with Mika and Joe, so there were no shouting matches.

So while it’s still dark out most mornings, I turn the tv on in the living room at 6 am and I watch and listen to what the crew on Morning Joe has to say – the “Joe it alls.” And I agree with them most of the time, so I don’t mind Joe screaming at me in the cold, dark mornings. Like he did this morning.

Receive an email each time I publish a blog post by clicking here

Seeing celebs

I saw this random picture on Facebook the other day – Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Ann Miller, and Lauren Bacall, and I realized I saw two of these ladies in person – in real life situations.

Carol Channing was in front of me in Gristedes once, in NYC and Ann Miller was leaving her Broadway musical called “Sugar Babies.” With Ann Miller, I was walking down the street and a door opened and two white poodles ran out the door, across the sidewalk and into a waiting limo, and right behind them was Ann Miller. I hadn’t seen the play, I was just walking by.

With Carol Channing, I didn’t realize who she was until she opened her mouth and I recognized the voice. I didn’t say anything to her, she just did her thing and left.

I was watching Beat Bobby Flay the other day and Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Carla Hall were guests. Here they are with Bobby. And oddly enough, I’ve seen all three of them in person. Not together, but I’ve seen them.

I saw Bobby coming out of store a few years back, I saw Jesse in a one man show on Broadway and I saw Carla at the Union Square Green Market a few years ago. All three in NYC!

Another supermarket person I saw was Mary Wickes who was in front of me in line at a Grand Union in Miami some years back. She spoke to me, mentioned something about what I was buying, just small talk. The thing about her was that we usually picture her with jet black hair, but it was snow white that day.

I was thinking of all the people I’ve seen in person, you know, people from tv and movies, but what about everyday people? How many thousands of people do we see in our lifetime (millions?) and we just pass by them? But when we recognize them it’s a whole different experience. But so many people we pass are probably so important, but they aren’t celebs, so we don’t notice them.

We might have passed and brushed elbows with guy who is on the verge of curing cancer, or an astronaut who may go to the moon soon or someone who invented something that we use every day. It reminds me of those old American Express commercials – “Do you know me?” Where you know the name, but not the face.

I’ll tell you about the time I had a mini traffic altercation with Madonna or the experiences I would have almost daily with the Burn Notice guys, who filmed the show in my town. And some others . . .

Receive an email each time I publish a blog post by clicking here

2023 Hail and Farewell

CBS Sunday Morning had a nice tribute to the people who left us this year. So many people it seems.

Receive an email each time I publish a blog post by clicking here

Last train home

As usual, I am posting my favorite Christmas commercial from Publix. It may be my favorite commercial of all time.

It reminds me of my youth, for a number of years, from 1987 to 1996, it ran every season.

The music in Last Train Home is from Still Life (Talking) an album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1987.

To this day, when Pat Metheny is performing, he’ll refer to the song as, “The Publix song.” Publix has a new Christmas commercial every year, but I always hope they will bring it back for nostalgic value, so when I hear it come on, like I did in the “old days,” I would just drop everything and run to the tv to watch and listen.

Receive an email each time I publish a blog post by clicking here

Walking in the air

The last few years there has been a Sarah Brightman Christmas special on PBS and in it she talks about an animated 1982 British movie called The Snowman, based on a children’s book.

There’s a haunting song that she features about and has a boy from her choir along with the original singer Peter Auty.

This is a scene and the song from the movie.

Receive an email each time I publish a blog post by clicking here

Norman Lear

I saw this cartoon by Bill Bramhall and it really brought memories back of Norman Lear. It’s sad that today’s generation doesn’t know so much about our history, including television history. I still pay for cable! I want to cut the cable, honest, but I can’t figure out if I’ll miss it or not.

Bill Bramhall is the excellent cartoonist for the New York Daily News, you can see his cartoons daily at GoComics here.

I grew up watching all of the Norman Lear shows from All in the Family to Maude to Sanford and Son and of course Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. And there were so many more. He basically created 1970s tv. For awhile there, All in the Family was must see tv. Norman died on Tuesday, he was 101!

I googled a list of Norman’s shows here.

I think our favorite was All in the Family. My mother and I used to mock Archie Bunker all the time. There was one thing that Archie did when Edith would over-talk, he would make believe he was killing himself. He would slowly load a gun and then shoot himself. Or he would tie a noose and hang himself. My mother would do that when I overtalked. She would just suddenly mime one of the actions, and we would both bust out laughing.

There was a period when Mom used to cut my hair and I would quote Archie. There were a few episodes when Archie was out of work due to a strike or something, and Edith would cut his hair, so when my Mom would ask me how I wanted my hair cut, I would say, “Without blood, Mom, without blood.”

And I would also say, “Go around the back, take some off at the top and when you get to an ear for Gawd sake, stop.” I would say God, the way Archie said it, Gawd.

Archie was a bigot and politically incorrect, we knew it. But so did the 40 to 60 million people who watched All in the Family each week.

Here is a list of Archie’s top 10 most politically incorrect comments.

I’m just thinking now, what Norman Lear would have been an excellent person to interview for my 10 With Tom series.

Receive an email each time I publish a blog post by clicking here

I gotta rock

This recent cartoon is a play on words from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” You know, the “I got a rock!” part.

I got a t-shirt recently with the Peanuts characters and Charlie Brown is shown saying that as the kids go trick-or-treating. I plan on waring it at NY Comic Con on Thursday.

I was wearing the shirt the other day and one of my neighbors, who reads this blog, by the way, asked me what it meant. She didn’t get it.

She’s not big into pop culture. But this cartoon been playing non-stop every October since 1966, so I don’t understand how she didn’t understand it. She’s about my age, so we have had plenty of years to see the tv show. It was funny, because I was explaining the scene to her. She asked, “You mean every time he went to another house he just got a rock? Why?”

“Because he’s Charlie Brown,” I responded.

You can get the shirt here on Amazon if you like it. It comes in different colors.

Looks like Apple tv still has the rights to the Charlie Brown specials unfortunately. I miss having the shows on CBS with Dolly Madison and Coca Cola sponsoring them.

Receive an email each time I publish a blog post by clicking here