Question about PBS comedy shows

[anotherguyTN]

Since I had commented on British sitcoms and The Red Green Show in another thread, it got me to thinking of another question: Do PBS stations get shows like Monty Python, Red Green, etc. through PBS, or do they come from other syndicators that specialize in these types of shows and sell mostly to PBS stations? Thanks!

 

[Morgan Wick]

Some shows might be PBS while others are other syndicators, but I'm not sure.

 

[Apollo7979]

I'm pretty sure PBS is responsible for the recent resurrection of Monty Python on many PBS stations. It appears like it's ran on the national service overnights Friday/early Saturday morning.

As for the others, it's my understanding that they purchase the programs through syndicators or through the BBC itself.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

The best comedy show on PBS is when the local affiliates hold their annual pledge drives. No offense, but some stations have people on the air that....well shouldn't be on the air. While it is nice that people are willing to come in and volunteer their time to help the station, more staff members should be required to work during pledge drives; either on-air or answering the phones. Make it part of the job description.
At the PBS station in my city I've seen a number of staff members on during pledge drives that are camera-shy. They also don't use their radio personalities on TV as much as they should. Instead the viewing public has to endure "Thurston Howell III" and his phony accent begging for money. This is the same guy who, as station manager, makes $300,000 a year and gets a new SUV every other year as part of his salary package, which is one reason I refuse to donate a single dime to my PBS station.

 

[Mark Giardina]

The best comedy show on PBS is when the local affiliates hold their annual pledge drives. No offense, but some stations have people on the air that....well shouldn't be on the air. While it is nice that people are willing to come in and volunteer their time to help the station, more staff members should be required to work during pledge drives; either on-air or answering the phones. Make it part of the job description.
At the PBS station in my city I've seen a number of staff members on during pledge drives that are camera-shy. They also don't use their radio personalities on TV as much as they should. Instead the viewing public has to endure "Thurston Howell III" and his phony accent begging for money. This is the same guy who, as station manager, makes $300,000 a year and gets a new SUV every other year as part of his salary package, which is one reason I refuse to donate a single dime to my PBS station.

My former employer did use both radio and TV staff when it came to pledge drives, along with volunteers.

Like I once wrote on here, try to ad-lib for ten minutes straight and tell me it's a piece of cake. It is tough work. Kudos goes out especially to volunteers who can come in and face the TV cameras.

 

[Newname]

Most PBS stations get their British programming through subsidiaries of the BBC(or, in the case of certain dramas on 'Mystery!' or 'Masterpiece Theatre', through ITV).
The BBC's international syndication division used to be called 'Lionheart Television', as seen in end-of-program tags featuring that distinctive 'coat of arms' logo and psuedo-'royal fanfare'.
Sometime in the late '80s, the ID changed to 'Lionheart Television: the BBC in America'. Since then, the BBC has dropped the Lionheart name, and now all programming is identified as originating with 'BBC America'.

 

[Ultimajock]

...WTTW Chicago got one BBC comedy, "Dave Allen at Large," through Time-Life Television, which distributed the show in the U.S. in the late '70s. The show, which was pretty much a BBC variation on "Laugh-In," had been distributed to commercial stations as well as public (two other stations that carried it were WVTV/18 Milwaukee, now a CW affiliate, and WHA-TV/21 Madison, later the flagship for Wisconsin Public Television). I seem to recall that WTTW ran that show until the early '90s, and the run ended only after Allen himself had the BBC withdraw his 1970s material from distribution...

 

[brian77]

WTTW Chicago currently runs the British version of "The Office." But it's not on WMVS Milwaukee. I'm curious if any other PBS stations are running the U.K.'s "Office."

 

[genius]

WTTW Chicago currently runs the British version of "The Office." But it's not on WMVS Milwaukee. I'm curious if any other PBS stations are running the U.K.'s "Office."

My local PBS station KNME did, as well as the UK version of Coupling(US version failed beyond miserably). However, I noticed over the last two years or so KNME has really decreased the number of "britcoms". At one point they had a good four hour block on Satuday nights along with nightly airings of various shows. KNME even had classic Doctor Who a few years back. Now the only British imports(besides the usual) the station airs are As Time Goes By and Keeping Up Appearances.

 

[anotherguyTN]

The UK version of The Office has been on BBC America on cable.

I also found out that The Red Green Show is distributed by their production company, S&S Productions. I'd guess that there's nothing to rule out Red Green being picked up by commercial stations as well. I've noticed that it is on TV Land in Canada. I wish some US cable network would pick it up. There is only one PBS station in my area that carries Red Green and they only show it once a week at the present time.