Creator / PBS

Be more.

"I'm talking about hopes, dreams—the magic of television! Especially public television. Puppets can say what men cannot."

— Callum Crashaw, Pressing Issues (GTA Radio)

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is America's publicly-owned TV network, though its history dates back much further than the government's involvement with it. It is not so much a traditional network as a consortium of non-commercial, educational TV stations.

The NET era (1952–1970)

PBS' first incarnation was the Educational Television and Radio Center in 1952, originally a private network set up by the Ford Foundation's Fund for Adult Education in order to serve as an educational television service complementing the entertainment programming of the commercial networks. Unique among American networks, content was produced not by the network itself, but by the individual stations — a model similar to that of the (then West) German public broadcasting, which had been imposed on them at the end of World War II by the Western Allies. This led to content that was very in-depth in its subject matter, but also very dry, academic, low-budget and dull. As a result, ETRC floundered in its early years, earning the nickname "The University of the Air". ^note (It also earned the less-kind nickname of "The Bicycle Network" for its low budget and distribution of programs to affiliates on kinescope by mail, a practice known as "bicycling" that the commercial networks [especially DuMont] also used to air programs on affiliates that could not broadcast them live.)

In 1958, ETRC changed its name to National Educational Television and Radio Center (NETRC), and then to just National Educational Television (NET) in 1963. Under new network president John F. White (formerly the station manager at WQED in Pittsburgh), it tried to shake off its ultra-academic reputation and become America's "fourth network". It expanded from five hours of programming a day to 10, imported shows from The BBC and other international networks to fill those hours, and became more centralized. It created a slew of programming, such as the adult drama program NET Playhouse, the seminal children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and a hard-hitting, controversial TV Documentary series called NET Journal that frequently explored social issues like poverty and prejudice. This last program outraged NET's more conservative affiliates, especially those in the Southern United States, and despite its critical acclaim would lead to the network's downfall once it became government-funded.

In 1966, the Ford Foundation, having invested over $130 million into a network that was still dependent on their contributions and grants, decided to start withdrawing funding for the network, causing many affiliate stations to consider turning to the federal government for financial assistance. As a result, the government passed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, creating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a semi-private^note It is funded by Congress and its board is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. corporation to fund NET. While it did this for a few years, it soon became clear that NET's documentary programming had not only alienated many of its affiliates, but also angered Richard Nixon, who saw NET's documentaries as nothing more than propaganda against his administration. As a result, the CPB created the Public Broadcasting Service in 1969 as a new entity to take over network operations, and in 1970 NET was dissolved and merged into WNDT in Newark, New Jersey (which became WNET), ending its existence as a formal network. NET's decentralized system was retained by PBS, largely because the existing commercial networks and conservatives in Congress did not want an American version of the BBC.

Please note that National Educational Television is not to be confused with Japan's Nippon Educational Television (also abbreviated as NET), which would later become TV Asahi.

The PBS era (1970–present)

PBS has gone largely unchanged since then, though for the first couple of years it only operated Sundays through Thursdays, and it didn't broadcast a regular Sunday morning schedule until 1977. Programming and the stations themselves are sponsored by donations from corporations, charitable foundations and Viewers Like You. The federal government chips in as well, by means of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which also funds NPR and public-radio programs. Instead of interrupting programs with commercials, PBS stations run a sponsor tag at the start and end of each program, and hype their other programs during a five-minute break at the end of each show. For a week or two every however-many months, they also run a pledge drive, during which viewers are asked to donate money to help the station stay on the air. This is usually when they drag out their highest quality programs, such as concerts by The Grateful Dead and David Gilmour, and performances from the Austin City Limits festival, though this is also where you'll see endless self-help and financial gurus; it's just a matter of getting through the lengthy pledge breaks or predicting when they will end and put up the next show. Some stations take off programming for a few days to air an auction of products, services and trips where funding goes to the station, or "friends" of the station, a concept where an outside third party or a board of volunteers are the ones who makes programming purchase and scheduling decisions rather than station personnel.

In 2011, PBS launched a UK cable and satellite channel, carrying a broad cross section of its U.S. programming.

Each PBS station sets its own schedule with a mix of local productions, national programs and foreign imports, but they tend to follow a rough pattern with their scheduling:

• Children's shows in the daytime. Over the years, this block, known as PBS Kids since 1993, has included Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, WordGirl, Bill Nye the Science Guy, The Magic School Bus, Arthur, Dragon Tales, Cyberchase, Barney & Friends and Teletubbies. PBS has generally placed a strong emphasis on education and moral lessons with its kids' shows, even when children's programming on other networks started getting more geared towards selling toys. People who grew up before children's programming started proliferating on cable (or even after, if they had parents who objected to the Merchandise-Driven nature of many Saturday morning cartoons or did not have the money to afford cable or satellite) were probably raised on PBS.
• News in the early evening. Their main news programs are the PBS NewsHour nightly newscast^note  the show had its' origin in anchors Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer being teamed for PBS' coverage of the Watergate hearings in 1973; WNET-13 in NYC then gave MacNeil his own half-hour program, The Robert MacNeil Report in October 1975, focusing initially on local, New York-area issues and with a half-hour runtime. Soon after, Jim Lehrer became co-anchor from Washington (WETA in Washington became co-producer), the show was renamed to The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, and now commenced national PBS broadcasts. In September 1983, the program was modified to be more competitive with the "Big 3" newscasts, and became the The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour; it was renamed in 1995 to The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer after MacNeil retired following a massive reorganization, including the shuttering of NewsHour headquarters at MacNeil's home turf in New York, prompted by threats from House Speaker Newt Gingrich to zero out funding for PBS earlier in the year; and in 2009 it was renamed as the PBS NewsHour, given it's status as PBS' most notable newscast, plus Lehrer's decreased prominence and a return to rotating co-anchors, setting the stage for his retirement in 2011. and the award-winning Frontline documentary series (not to be confused with the Australian series). Nearly all stations also run the Nightly Business Report. Some stations also air BBC World News America, and a few stations might air local news broadcasts, such as WNET in New York, which, as a result of being licensed to Newark, NJ, airs semi-sister station NJTV's nightly news broadcasts (which with commercial station WWOR making a mockery of its Jersey programming commitments (thanks, Fox), is a downright public service to the Garden State). On Fridays, stations run the news talk show Washington Week, which was shown on Thursdays when it premiered on NET in 1967 and during the network's five-days-a-week phase in the early '70s.
• Prime Time brings entertainment for mature viewers, such as Masterpiece on Sundays and Antiques Roadshow on Mondays, along with science documentaries on Wednesdays such as NOVA and Nature. Educational, instructional or documentary programs like This Old House, The Joy of Painting, The American Experience, and any Ken Burns series, are also typically found on stations' early evening and prime-time lineups.
• Late night brings more public affairs programming. This block was severely affected by the #MeToo movement and resulting Weinstein Effect, which saw mainstays Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley get the boot in a span of three and a half weeks. The current inhabitant of the block is CNN, which produces in association with WNET sister station WLIW an hour-long daily program Amanpour & Co., featuring British CNN personality Christiane Amanpour and other PBS public affairs personalities, including Hari Sreenivasan. Stations have also been known to run BBC World News, Nightly Business Report, The Whole Truth with David Eisenhower, Great Decisions in Foreign Policy, NHK Newsline, Asia Insight, and Democracy Now, among others, in this block as part of their own local programming.
• The late night graveyard slot is full of prime time reruns, though most stations just use the feed given to them by PBS regardless of what they had themselves run during prime time that night. A notable exception is KQED, which does repeat its own prime time programming in the late night. Some stations carry telecourse programming, while others will throw on encores of popular pledge programming without the pledge breaks.
• Saturdays and Sundays usually bring out content meant for older audiences, such as repeats of The Lawrence Welk Show, BritComs such as Are You Being Served? and Keeping Up Appearances, and Canadian sitcoms as well (usually The Red Green Show) that have been run so much by the stations that the tape is probably nearly worn out by this point. Various Cooking Shows also may be featured, particularly in the afternoons.

Some local PBS stations create their own content, but most buy content produced by others. The largest content producer in the country is Boston's WGBH, which has produced shows like the science documentary series Nova and the edutainment show ZOOM.^note Their content is so ubiquitous that the channel’s tagline is “Produced in Boston, shared with the world.” And while we're on the subject, WGBH's ident (which remained unchanged until 2020), and features theme music from synthesizer pioneer Gershon Kingsley that the station has used since 1971) happens to be pure Nightmare Fuel (as were some of PBS's own early logos). WQED in Pittsburgh was historically another major provider, but it gradually petered out (with the end of the Neighborhood in 2001, it ceased to produce nationally-distributed programming). Similarly, WTTW of Chicago's output has dwindled in recent years; in the past it provided Siskel & Ebert their first TV series, The Frugal Gourmet, Lamb Chop's Play-Along as well as a revival of Kidsongs on television. It still co-produced The McLaughlin Group for both PBS and network stations until creator, executive producer, and host John McLaughlin's death in 2016. WNET of New York also contributes major programming, including Great Performances, American Masters, Nature, producing PBS NewsHour Weekend, and a large amount of PBS Kids programming. Some noteworthy programs broadcast throughout PBS' history include many of Ken Burns' documentaries and the controversial show An American Family in 1973, which is now viewed as the Ur-Example for the entire genre of reality television. (The irony of a network with a reputation as highbrow as PBS inventing the Reality Show is not lost on some of us.) Some PBS affiliates also let other companies use their studios for filming non-PBS programs. An example is Philadelphia's WHYY, who had among other things, Nickelodeon's quintessential game show, Double Dare, as well as sister series Finders Keepers and Think Fast, taped at their facilities until Nick moved to Orlando- and Universal Studios- in 1990.

Many PBS stations also rely on content from the BBC, leading to a joke claiming that the network's acronym stood for "Primarily British Series." For many years during its original run, several PBS stations aired Doctor Who. Two other popular British imports are Monty Python's Flying Circus and Are You Being Served?, which have been airing on a PBS station somewhere or other since they first acquired the programs in the mid-1970s. The sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf was also broadcast on some PBS stations, on occasion being the focus of the aforementioned pledge drives. Finally, the long-running Masterpiece Theatre (now known simply as Masterpiece) consists mostly of British productions (including some from ITV and Channel Four), the most popular of which currently are Downton Abbey and the revival of Upstairs Downstairs, which have been among the biggest hits the network's had in its history. PBS also imports some content from its Canadian counterpart, the CBC, such as the Degrassi shows and The Red Green Show (whose content is basically the opposite of PBS' generally-highbrow lineup), and from provincial public broadcasters such as Ontario's TVO (Today's Special was shown on some affiliates). Many PBS Kids shows, including Arthur and Cyberchase, are Canadian-made productions as well. Public television stations in some markets - for example, San Jose, California - also found cult audiences broadcasting anime, often in Japanese with English subtitles.

Despite being primarily American in its coverage, PBS has quite a few member stations that broadcast outside of the United States. Most famously, there are eleven US-Canada border stations: KCTS Seattle (also covers Vancouver), KSPS Spokane (also covers Calgary and Edmonton in addition to parts of British Columbia and Saskatchewan), Maine Public (also covers Southeastern Canada), Prairie Public Television (also covers Winnipeg), Vermont PBS (also covers Montreal and by extension most of Quebec on cable), WCFE Plattsburgh (also covers Montreal), WNED Buffalo/Toronto, WPBS Watertown/Ottawa, WQLN Erie/London, WTVS Detroit (also covers Windsor), and WXXI Rochester (covers populous parts of southern Ontario east of Toronto). Most cable systems in Canada carry at least one PBS station, and WTVS was seen coast to coast on cable starting in the 1980s thanks to carriage on the Cancom broadcast satellite, sometimes - though not always - supplanting other, closer affiliates (for example, WTVS replaced Duluth's WDSE on cable systems in Thunder Bay, but both WTVS and KCTS are carried on Vancouver cable to this day). In fact, many PBS stations in border regions rely on support from Canadian viewers to stay afloat, and many programs on these stations are underwritten at least in part by Canadian sponsors. In some areas, PBS also competes with domestic non-commercial public broadcasters operated by the provincial governments, including Ontario's English-speaking TVO^note Which for many years aired Sesame Street reruns while CBC had the rights to first-run episodes and French-speaking TFO^note Formerly known as La Chaine Francaise, British Columbia's Knowledge Network, Alberta's now-defunct Access Network (now a CTV2 affiliate), and Télé-Québec.

As a government-run television network, PBS has been subjected to fights within the government over funding as far back as The '60s (Fred Rogers' speech to the Senate in defense of the young network was a defining moment in television history for just that reason). The usual cry of public television's opponents is that PBS was created in a time when there were only three television networks in the United States as opposed to over a hundred, and that the public need for it no longer exists in today's world of cable, satellite and streaming TV. Supporters, meanwhile, argue that PBS is essential for rural viewers and those who can't afford cable/satellite or streaming, that it provides things like science documentaries, hard-hitting investigative journalism and educational children's programming that would never last a day on commercial television, and that commercial educational and niche programming channels are vulnerable to Network Decay.^note The experience of the Discovery Channel, The History Channel, Nick Jr., TLC, and BBC America in the last several years bears that out pretty well. The large degree of control given to local affiliates is also a point of contention, with some people arguing that this is an outmoded, inefficient structure that should be replaced with something more centralized, and others saying that it's necessary for the community involvement for which PBS stations are known. Also, despite the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 prohibiting political bias in PBS broadcasting, it has been accused of such by both sides over the years. On at least one occasion, the reverse has happened: In 1982, Congress asked PBS to abandon its official neutral position in order to air the program Let Poland Be Poland, which criticized the Soviet-enforced declaration of martial law in Poland in 1981.

Currently, they have branched out to the Internet, creating a well-received, informative Web Video series on YouTube, The PBS Idea Channel. Other TV ventures include several diginets, including World, offering PBS' current affairs library 24/7, and Create, focusing on DIY-type and cooking shows; these digi-nets are not operated by PBS, but by close ally American Public Television, which syndicates various programs to several PBS stations and educational independent stations. (Previous PBS digi-nets included PBS YOU, which was the predecessor to Create and carried college tele-courses, and V-Me, a Spanish-language network that has since broken away from PBS.) PBS has a home video and digital distribution division, PBS Distribution (formerly named PBS Home Video).

The radio equivalent is NPR.

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Shows aired on PBS stations ^note supplied either by the network or outside syndicators include:

• PBS Idea Channel
• PBS Kids (the channel's famous children's programming block)
  • Sprout (digital cable channel it formerly co-owned)

Live-Action TV — Documentary

• 20 Days in Mariupol
• The American Experience
• The works of Ken Burns
  • The Civil War
  • The Vietnam War
• A Chef's Life
• Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
• Finding Your Roots
• Great Museums
• Nature
• Nova

Live-Action TV — Fiction

• 'Allo 'Allo!^note Premiered on PBS in 1986.
• American Playhouse
• Annika (2021)
• Are You Being Served?^note Premiered on PBS in 1987, with the original roster consisting of a mere 24 stations, the first two to pick it up being KAET in Phoenix, AZ and KCET in Los Angeles, CA.
• As Time Goes By
• Astrid
• Barbara^note Premiered on PBS in 2002.
• Blake's 7
• Butterflies^note Premiered on PBS in 1982.
• Call the Midwife
• The Cobblestone Corridor^note A Connecticut Public Television original drama distributed by APT
• Death in Paradise
• Degrassi^note PBS actually came up with the show's title, not CBC. The Kids of Degrassi Street was originally a series of unconnected Afterschool Specials, but when PBS bought the US distribution rights, they wanted an umbrella title for all of them, so they named it after the main filming location on De Grassi Street on the east side of Toronto.
  • The Kids of Degrassi Street
  • Degrassi Junior High
  • Degrassi High
• Doc Martin^note Broadcast on PBS stations courtesy of APT beginning in 2007.
• Doctor Who^note While the original series was seen on practically every PBS station (in select markets), the new series ended up being another issue. The BBC first gave the US distribution rights first to the Sci-Fi Network then to BBC America, where, generally, they hung on to the new episodes for about a year before handing it over to PBS. But, even then, not all PBS stations aired the new episodes. Then in 2015, the writing was on the wall as Series 8 was the last of the new series to air on PBS. As of this writing, the only stations that still show Doctor Who in some shape or form are KBTC in Tacoma, Washington and Iowa PBS for the entire state of Iowa.
• Downton Abbey
• Eastenders
• The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin^note Premiered on PBS in 1978.
• Father Brown
• Father Ted^note Premiered on PBS in 2001.
• Fawlty Towers^note Premiered on PBS in 1977, with the original roster including KERA in Dallas-Ft. Worth-Denton, TX, KETC in St. Louis, MO, WNET in New York, NY, WPTD in Dayton, OH, and WQED in Pittsburgh, PA.
• Grantchester
• Hollywood Television Theatre
• House of Cards (UK)
• Inspector Morse
• Keeping Up Appearances^note Premiered on PBS in 1991.
• Last of the Summer Wine^note Originally broadcast on A&E before moving to PBS stations beginning in 1995.
• Little House on the Prairie^note One of several commercial programs shown by WVIA at some point.
• Magpie Murders ^note Co-produced with Brit Box
• Masterpiece
• May to December^note Premiered on PBS in 1990.
• Mercy Street
• Midsomer Murders^note Broadcast on A&E from 1998 until their Network Decay in 2002, and then on The Biography Channel until 2007; APT picked it up for broadcast on PBS stations in 2009.
• Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries^note Premiered on PBS in 2013.
• Miss Scarlet & The Duke
• Monty Python's Flying Circus^note This was the first BBC production shown on PBS in 1974, courtesy of KERA in Dallas, TX.
• Moone Boy
• Mystery Science Theater 3000^note A few episodes were licensed to APT by Best Brains and Shout! Factory in the New Tens.
• New Tricks
• Nightmare Theatre
• One Foot in the Grave^note Premiered on PBS in 1993.
• Only Fools and Horses^note Premiered on PBS in 1996.
• Open All Hours^note Broadcast on A&E beginning on September 3, 1982, the complete series has been broadcast on PBS stations since 1986.
• Poirot
• The Prisoner (1967)^note Former San Jose station KTEH was the source of one popular episode ordering
• Red Dwarf
• The Red Green Show^note Premiered on PBS in 1993, with the first station to pick it up being WTVS in Detroit, MI.
• RFDS (2021)
• Sharpe
• So Haunt Me^note Premiered on PBS in 1993.
• SOKO Potsdam (via Walter Presents as Luna and Sophie)
• Spooks (as MI-5)
• Spy (2011)
• Star Trek: The Original Series^note One of several commercial programs shown by WVIA at some point.
• St. Elsewhere^note Broadcast on a number of stations in the 1990s.
• Tales of the City^note Premiered on PBS in 1994.
• To the Manor Born^note Premiered on PBS in 1980.
• Upstairs Downstairs
• Upstart Crow
• Vera
• The Vicar of Dibley^note Premiered on PBS in 1996.
• Vienna Blood
• Waiting for God^note Premiered on PBS in 1991.
• Yes, Minister^note Originally broadcast on A&E before moving to PBS stations beginning in 1986.

Live-Action TV — Other

• 3-2-1 Contact
• A Capitol Fourth: A live concert broadcast from the US Capitol every July 4th that concludes with a fireworks show over the Washington Monument.
• America's Test Kitchen
• Antiques Roadshow
• The Carol Burnett Show
• The Computer Chronicles: A half-hour show produced from 1983 to 2002 originating at KCSM in San Mateo, near Silicon Valley, showcasing developments in computer technology
• Destinos: Edutainment show for Spanish-learners designed for classroom use, but funded in part by WGBH and aired on various local affiliates as well.
• Don't Look Now! (a short-lived 1983 spinoff of You Can't Do That on Television from the same creators, Roger Price and Geoffrey Darby)
• Firing Line: Conservative-leaning political discussion show airing on PBS (moving from First-Run Syndication) from 1971 until 1999 and revived in 2018.
• Frontier House (2002): A Historical Re-Creation show set in the American frontier of 1883, specifically Montana. The first goal assigned to the 3 families is establishing a homestead; the second is preparing for the unforgiving winter.
• The Joy of Painting^note Distributed by APT
• The Lawrence Welk Show
• The McLaughlin Group
• MotorWeek
• National Memorial Day Concert: A live concert that airs on the Sunday night before Memorial Day and features musical performances along with lectures about the holiday's importance.
• Newtons Apple: An edutainment show for kids about science that aired in the 1980s.
• Rick Steves' Europe^note Distributed by APT
• Robot Wars^note Aired on a number of stations early in its run.
• Sneak Previews: First hosted by Siskel & Ebert, it began on Chicago PBS station WTTW in 1975, went nationwide on PBS in 1978, then continued after 1982, when Siskel and Ebert left for First-Run Syndication, until 1996, with Jeffrey Lyons and co-host Neal Gabler, later replaced by Michael Medved.
• This Old House
• The Wonderful World of Disney^note Syndicated to several PBS stations in the mid-'80s.
• ZOOM

Western Animation

• Castle
• Cathedral
• A Charlie Brown Christmas^note by special arrangement with Apple and Peanuts Worldwide LLC
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving^note by special arrangement with Apple and Peanuts Worldwide LLC
• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown^note by special arrangement with Apple and Peanuts Worldwide LLC
• Pyramid
• Roman City
• Mill Times

Anime

Of course, this page wouldn't be complete without a list of anime broadcast by certain affiliates, including, most prominently, KTEH (and its then-satellite KCAH in Watsonville, currently known as KQED Plus while KCAH became KQET and its now a satellite of KQED). These include:

• Urusei Yatsura
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Sailor Moon
• Corrector Yui
• Cardcaptor Sakura
• Ranma ½
• Dirty Pair Flash
• Full Metal Panic!
• Magic Knight Rayearth
• Robotech
• Astro Boy
• Sakura Wars (2000)
• Tenchi Universe
• Key the Metal Idol
• Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
• Samurai Pizza Cats
• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Bubblegum Crisis
• Serial Experiments Lain

Tropes:

• Home and Garden: Furniture On The Mend, Furniture To Go, and Men In Toolbelts are a trifecta of shows that started on the channel before heading to TLC. All are hosted by Joe L'Erario and Ed Feldman and can be described as furniture repair mixed with Rapid-Fire Comedy.

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