Friday, March 12, 2010

Public Broadcasting

What do you watch or listen to at night?

As the day winds down, I am in no mood for drama or excitement. I record anything like that for viewing at another time. When I am trying to relax I want to see or hear beautiful things or funny things - things that let me go off to sleep and have pleasant dreams. I often turn to PBS or NPR.

Weekends on PBS bring me lots of Britcoms. Love 'em.

I do have a TV in my bedroom, but it's been a while since I have watched it. "Watching" TV with your eyes closed isn't very satisfactory. I'm more likely to fall asleep listening to NPR's Jazz After Hours playing softly in the background. And I'd rather wake up to their newscasts and local weather than to TV's scary headlines and pitiful attempts at humor and entertainment. I keep the bedside radio tuned to NPR all the time.

I guess I started listening regularly to public radio all the time several years ago when my daughter started doing interviews with authors for them. Not that I could hear her from the opposite coast. I only could do that on line. But it did give me better insight into the quality and diversity of their programming.

I enjoy their daytime programs too, like All Things Considered, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and Car Talk, and some call in shows.

I don't think anyone can find fault with PBS shows like Nature, and the National Parks series. I'd so much rather watch their travel and science shows than the sorry prime time shows on the other networks. And it's so much better not having to deal with the commercial breaks. Don't even get me started on so-called "reality" shows.

There are exceptions of course. A few of the other network shows are very good. But I often wish for the good old days when we had only three channels available, and some truly great entertainers were giving their all for us. Pictures were sometimes grainy or snowy, but I enjoyed them a lot more.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

you are fortunate to be watching 'travel shows' and relax with music on, drift off to sleep! I can only find solace in writing poetry...

Ralph said...

I am right there with you on the reality shows. As for TV, you can't go wrong with the history or travel channels.
Ralph

Dianne said...

I love Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!
I enjoy NPR all around

I do enjoy network TV as well, I'm a sucker for cheesy dramas like Grey's Anatomy
and silly sitcoms too

Daryl said...

I was just thinking about this and I realized the only time I ever listened to the radio was when I was driving and now that I dont have a car I dont listen to the radio ... as for TV .. I have never watched more than a nano second of any reality show, I have enough reality in my life .. give me a good well written drama any day ...

Anonymous said...

Bobbie - which 'Britcoms' do you watch? My favourite TV shows are normally football (what you might call 'soccer') on Sat. nights; anything about religion or conspiracies (usually about mad-hatters!) on one of the documentary channels; or our nightly current affairs show, 'Newsnight'. I do have to see quite lot of The Simpsons and Futurama, as the kids like them (er...so do I...I know they are a bit vulgar)) and Frasier is very funny. The BBC often does some good music shows on Friday nights for us muso buffs, if I can get the kids to let me watch them. Mrs. Bear's favourite programme is 'Supernatural', a US show shown on the CW over with you.I think it's pretty good, though you may think it's awful. TV, in general, is hopeless. I used to listen to the radio all night long in the days when I couldn't sleep - some fine discussions go on at 3am! There's always Fox News if you want a good laugh!

Christine Gram said...

Have you listened to "This American Life?" That's my current NPR favorite.

Maia T said...

Good that you still have broadcasting good music. I have a very peaceful with the TV, I watch TV mostly with closed eyes.
I agree with you on the good old days when we could watch some films without violence.
Have a nice weekend!

dianasfaria.com said...

I listen to NPR everyday, mostly Soundcheck, Fresh Air (& Prairie Home Companion once in a while), & anything else that's on when I happen to be in my car.
& on TV, I love the Office & 30 Rock because they always make me laugh. Mostly I'd rather watch a movie I've rented than regular TV. But, blogging & reading is my favorite entertainment. Most nights I'd rather visit blogs than watch TV.
Listening to Jazz sounds like a great way to fall asleep.

Rambling Woods said...

i like PBS..i don't listen to the radio but i should...To let you know I was here reading and catching up....Michelle

me ann my camera said...

PBS, my kids grew up with it. We never had cable, or a dish. Two of my children today do not have cable or access to many channels, just like when they were kids. We could always get PBS, not always good reception though, but we lived fairly close to the Maine border and we got PBS channels from there. I first discovered Sesame Street from PBS and watched the series Roots when it was first broadcast, Also during the final months of my last pregnancy we watched Watergate in the evenings right up to the onset of my labourin October 1973 We loved masterpiece theatre with Allistar Cook? The greatest kids programn was the Electric Company. My youngest son taught himself to read from it. PBS was a great influence on my family. Today I don't watch tv much, but I like to fall asleep with the noise of it in the background. It provides a comforting familiarity. I like reality shows. It sometime is sort of theraphy in a way especially if I can identify with some sort of behaviour of my own. Today we have cable.
Ann