I have to ask, What's with PBS in the US? Friday night after dinner my darling Danish Princess turned on PBS Detriot, to watch a show called 'The Great American Songbook'. She is after all a Gay Man trapped in a woman's body. Her words not mine so calm down besides I'm just a Lesbian trapped in a decaying male body. Let's get back on point here. So here's this show, telling how great American music became during the early years of the 20th century. The time of Berlin, Hart etc. etc., well I agree but I did find some irony there. What I found amusing was that the Great American Songbook was written mostly by Russian Jewish immigrants that basically stole their musical style and subject matter from Black Americans. They then added enough White Bread American references that it would be deemed palatable to the rest of the country.Okay maybe I'm being a little harsh on Irving and the other kids he worked with, after all I do enjoy some of the music. It just struck me odd that here is this show polishing over the fact that a lot of what they produced was 'borrowed' from a culture within a culture. The irony was that it is still being done today in popular music. Take EMINEM please. Next up on Detriot PBS was a ridiculous show about the history of Irish America hosted by Patty Duke. I don't know who dressed poor Patty or who did her hair and make-up and then supplied her with a terrible pair of glasses but they should be taken out back and shot. They took poor Patty and gave her middle America hairdo from the late sixties. Unbelievable! Then there was the show itself, Reetty Deetty Dumm Deery Dootie, crap. Again they proceeded to dumb down American History and put it to shamrock music including jigs.
That's when I lost it. I had to look at their programming for the next few days. More of the same sad shit pushing the concept the "Good Ol' Days" and how great America is especially if we package it in sugar and put music to it. I checked the other PBS Station from Seattle, same story, other coast. After checking three days of programming on both stations we realized that there was nothing on these stations to challenge you. There was nothing on these stations to create discussion, stir up a little controversy and engage you mind. Is this a Bush Mandate Holdover, stay the course, America support the troops? Has the commercialization of Public Broadcasting in the United States actually dumbed it down so much it has to play Victor Borge once week until they can save up to buy and play the latest Barry Manilow concert until we all puke and beg for more Victor?
I had a look at Knowledge Network and it's programming list for the next three days. Yes, there are some borrowed English Dramas but all in all it was an engaging lineup. Especially when we saw that at 10pm they were playing 'Wigstock the Movie', a gay romp in the world of drag queens.
That's when it felt good to live here with Knowledge Network asking and answering questions. CBC with Passionate Eye, Doc Zone, Market Place and more, all making us sit up and shout about stuff. That is democracy in action. When will America remind itself that there was more going on in the sixties than Ed Sullivans' Rock & Roll, or that while Big Band Swing Music flourished the world was at War. Have the specialty channels taken over this job in the United States? But what about Bubba and Lou-Anne that can't afford no fancy cable TV Specialty Channels? That's where publicly funded television is important. Look corporate sponsors, just fund the stations and stop dictating their content then we'll see PBS come back to life.
There is a faint pulse of hope if you listen, they do have Tavis Smiley.
