Jim Lehrer of PBS could not be any funnier

To help promote its upcoming miniseries Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, PBS and Baltimore-based MGH have created this surreal spot featuring the deadpan delivery of Jim Lehrer. Not to tell them how to do their jobs, but the PBS marketing folks really missed a viral goldmine here. Just think how many hits they'd get if they had Lehrer act out great moments in obscene broadcast hilarity, such as "Bill O'Reilly flips out" and "Chris Berman is finger-waving mad."

—Posted by David Griner

Published on December 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Griner, PBS

'Car Talk' guys will be unfunny on TV, too

Which network would air an animated sitcom featuring NPR's Car Talk guys as characters named Click and Clack talking about “social and environmental” issues? Oh, please God, let it be Fox. Or at least Comedy Central or Turner’s Adult Swim. Those nets are inspired (and evil) enough to handle such fare with the postmodern disdain it deserves. But if the network is PBS ... d’oh, it is PBS! The show’s called As the Wrench Turns. Per the AP: “Storylines include Click and Clack’s loony fundraising efforts for their bankrupt radio network—which involves their joint run for the White House—plus outsourcing their radio show to India and creating the first-ever pasta-fueled motor vehicle.” (Hard to believe from that synopsis that Wrench suffered multiple rejections and took about seven years to get into production.) The series “plays out like a family-friendly Family Guy or The Simpsons,” which is one too many uses of the word “family” in the same sentence for the show to be any good. Maud Flanders must be rolling in her grave. After all these years, I still can’t believe they killed her off. Worst episode ever.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on July 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Gianatasio, PBS

'The Electric Company' is powering up again

"It's the old one, mixed with High School Musical and a Dr Pepper commercial." That’s how a PBS exec summarizes an updated version of The Electric Company set to air in January. And while the description doesn’t sound so promising, at least the remake of the kids’ literacy show from the ’70s will feature a cameo by original cast member Rita Moreno. PBS would do well to have her revisit her classic “Hey You Guyyyyys!” opening exultation. I used to bellow that phrase all day long–at maximum volume, just like Rita – in second grade. I never did play well with others. Here’s a clip of Moreno and Morgan Freeman (both Oscar winners!) performing “The Menu Song” from the original EC. I still sing it in my cubicle at work sometimes. Sorry, Human Resources, but some of us will never out outgrow the taste for a jellybean salad.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on May 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Gianatasio, PBS

PBS Sprout is back, but still without Melanie

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with our good friends over at PBS KIDS Sprout (totally SFW). You remember, they’re the ones who had the brouhaha last year over Good Night Show host Melanie, who had appeared in a few possibly racy—but definitely stupid—online comedy videos and was fired. Well, they hired a look-alike replacement, and now they’re breaking a new campaign from Red Tettemer that shows kids and parents combining to use their imagination, joy and kindness. That’s all well and good, but when the first image on the screen after each cute “slice-of-life” story is Barney (i.e., evil incarnate) or Caillou (aka, the world’s biggest whiner), it loses a little something. This is anecdotal, but in my house, Sprout has totally dropped off the preferred channel list ever since Melanie left. And it’s not just because Dad’s in charge of the remote. (I wonder if the “Save Melanie” petition is still active.)

—Posted by Aaron Baar

Published on May 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under PBS, Red Tettemer

PBS corporate underwriting is child’s play

The happy client. That’s every marketer’s dream. Now, it’s also a storybook from WGBH, the Boston public broadcasting flagship. The text and illustrations in The Happy Client follow a media buyer on his quest for corporate sponsorship dollars for PBS Kids programming. (They should dispatch Barney. The dude has a can-do attitude, and he’s so annoying, you’d buy airtime just to get rid of him.) The book was sent to the station’s contacts, and the Boston Herald reports that at least one activist group has bemoaned the effort as shameless shilling (but that’s what activist groups are for). Maybe ’GBH can send along one of its premium coffee mugs and some PBS brews to keep potential spenders awake as they pore over the sales tome late into the night. (And would it kill them to throw in a tote bag and an umbrella?)

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on April 30, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under PBS

Ways to stay awake while watching PBS

PBS has teamed with Green Mountain Coffee to offer its own branded java blend. Coffee and public TV may at first seem like an odd match. But you try staying awake through this lineup: Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose, Victor Borge, Roy Orbison, Celtic Woman: A New Journey, Antiques Roadshow, Pink Floyd. (They claimed Pink Floyd was “live,” but after five minutes, I wasn’t so sure. Or perhaps those were the Celtic women. Either way, I was comfortably numb.) Maybe the coffee will help viewers remain conscious long enough to write checks during pledge week. Forget the giveaways and product tie-ins: Most supporters would triple their pledges if PBS would just cancel Barney, bring back Carmen Sandiego and create CSI: Sesame Street.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on December 12, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under PBS

Why I should replace Melanie Martinez

Not having kids, my first reaction to the PBS-Melanie Martinez flap was: Who the hell is Melanie Martinez? Now I know: She’s the ousted host of something on PBS’s Sprout network called The Good Night Show, which is apparently designed to help parents get pre-schoolers to fall asleep. (For me, Anderson Cooper does the trick, but I’m way out of Good Night’s demo.) Anyway, Mel’s naughty vids surfaced, and PBS cut her loose. Cry no tears for Ms. Martinez, though. She’ll surface on Lifetime soon enough, stalked by Harry Hamlin in a movie of the week. Or pose in Playboy (or a Volkswagen ad) with a stuffed panda. Whatever. Here’s my point: I’m applying for the job. I’ll need a seven-second delay, owing to occasional potty-mouth, but PBS shouldn’t be concerned, as the target audience has a limited vocabulary. I’ve also expressed various opinions in columns and such over the years; luckily, toddlers can’t read, and my rants are largely incoherent, anyway. I won’t need a three-hour timeslot. Five minutes will do. I can get these kids to sleep fast. My mother supplied the script many years ago. When I would rattle the bars of my crib and screech “La! La! La!” into the wee hours, Mom would storm in with balled fists and scream, “Cut that out and go to sleep!” It worked every time. My version of Good Night would feature similar pithy dialog. And maybe a stuffed panda. Portrayed by Harry Hamlin. If your kids still can’t sleep, try turning off the tube and reading them a story. Or singing to them. I can preach because, as I noted earlier, I don’t have kids. Most people who’ve met me believe that’s a good thing.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on August 3, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (8)
Filed under PBS

Bring Melanie back, for the dads’ sake

So it’s not advertising, or even advertising supported, but it’s about time someone around here addressed the biggest issue among toddlers since Tinky Winky was outed. I’m referring to the firing of poor Melanie Martinez, who until a couple weeks ago hosted The Good Night Show over on the PBS-backed Sprout network. (First, let’s get it out in the open that it wasn’t just the children who liked Melanie. The consensus among the dads I know was that Melanie is, in a word, hot. Probably because of the way she says “chugga chugga” before introducing a Thomas the Tank Engine video.) For those not in the know, Melanie was fired for having appeared years ago in two videotaped skits that referenced (but didn’t depict) questionable sexual behavior. Check out the videos here and here. Now, I think we can agree that the biggest offense here is that the videos are not particularly good. Not really funny. Not really edgy. Just kind of stupid. Anyway, this whole to-do has many parents up in arms. (For the record, any 9-month-old who can’t get to bed without watching some TV has bigger issues.) An online petition has been started to bring Melanie back, and Sprout’s evening programming block has been without a host for the past couple weeks. But Sprout doesn’t seem to be budging. My theory? They discovered that Melanie’s Q-rating was higher among the dads than the kids. Either that or there’s something even more racy out there.

—Posted by Aaron Baar

Published on August 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1)
Filed under PBS