Since we've had talk of a classic Disney channel and a classic Nickelodeon channel, what I would like most of all is a classic PBS channel. It would carry old reruns of Sesame Street from the golden era of the show (1969-1992), Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, The original Electric Company and Zoom, and maybe Square One and 3-2-1 Contact. They DID have old episodes of Sesame Street and other CTW shows on Noggin back in its heyday but all that retro programming was taken off in favor of new shows for teens. It could be on any of the PBS stations digital subchannels.
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We need a "Classic PBS" channel
- Thread starter ssetta
- Start date
...of course, that would be assuming that the station producing the individual program was able to adequately preserve those videotapes from that far back. Perhaps WGBH was big enough to preserve Zoom adequately, and it's a safe bet that Dick Cavett has been able to keep his WNET tapes in good condition. But how many seasons of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood does WQED actually have that are even playable, let alone in good enough shape to put back on the air?...
Apart from the culture shock kids would experience watching the original episodes of The Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact. It seems no one really wants learning to be educational & fun anymore. 
It's a shame really cause I would watch the hell out of those two shows even today.
It's a shame really cause I would watch the hell out of those two shows even today.
I'd watch it for "The Great American Dream Machine" for sure!
Add to that the Ken Burns classics like the Civil War and Baseball. Also American Experience must have a vault full of programs that aired over the years. These shows would sure beat out the same repeated movies airing on several cable TV networks every month.
Masterpiece Theater - "Upstairs, Downstairs" - an absolute Classic, on my TV every Sunday night without fail!
It would be nice. But PBS does not own most of the shows they've carried over the years. They are a distributor - not a producer. Member stations, the BBC, individual production companies own the shows and PBS or individual stations would have get the rights to run those shows again.
However, many of the shows mentioned are available on DVD or online from Netflix.
Mister Roger's archive is probably pretty complete since PBS was running old shows from as far back as the 60s in rotation with newer shows (only a few new episodes were added each year) until recently. After all, re-runs aren't an issue when your audience turns over every few years.
However, many of the shows mentioned are available on DVD or online from Netflix.
Mister Roger's archive is probably pretty complete since PBS was running old shows from as far back as the 60s in rotation with newer shows (only a few new episodes were added each year) until recently. After all, re-runs aren't an issue when your audience turns over every few years.
Actually, the selection of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" shows that PBS was rather limited. Remember that there was a 3-year "hiatus" in the middle of the show, and none of the shows from 1969-1976 were re-run after the mid 1990's.
I believe there is supposed to be a complete archive at the University of Pittsburgh, but who knows what shape those tapes are in. Probably not broadcast quality unless they've been carefully seen to.
I believe there is supposed to be a complete archive at the University of Pittsburgh, but who knows what shape those tapes are in. Probably not broadcast quality unless they've been carefully seen to.
I'd really like to see the Roots mini-series again
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
If I live to be 106, somewhere I will have drilled in the back of my head the correct
address to send a card or letter to ZOOM....
Write ZOOM
Z-double-o-m
Box 3-5-0
Boston, Mass
0-21-34
Can't get it out of there.....aaaaaarrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!
address to send a card or letter to ZOOM....
Write ZOOM
Z-double-o-m
Box 3-5-0
Boston, Mass
0-21-34
Can't get it out of there.....aaaaaarrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!
Roots was on ABC, not PBS.
And during pledge drives, they could do an NET's Greatest Hits show. Eleven hours of lectures by professors and one hour of NET test pattern.
And during pledge drives, they could do an NET's Greatest Hits show. Eleven hours of lectures by professors and one hour of NET test pattern.
Pab Sungenis said:
I remember seeing 1970-71 episodes of Mister Rogers (some of which included the NET logo on the building in the opening city scene) around 1986-87 on my then-local PBS station (WTVP Peoria, IL).
Also some other ideas for classic PBS: "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" (especially with the late fellow Illinoisian Lynne Thigpen--originally from Joliet and who has a school named in her honor there--as the "Chief"), as well as the "Square One TV: Math Talk" segments (I recall seeing one of those late one Friday night in college in the late '90s on Iowa Public Television, which also featured one with Jaime Escalante of "Stand and Deliver" fame).
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