The Remote Island : PBS

Of Course Prince Got Teased A Lot As A Child [VIDEO]

Jake Kalish — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:29:00 GMT

Prince was on PBS' Tavis Smiley Show Monday and Tuesday nights, and a running theme throughout the interviews was how much he got teased as a child. Must have been the raspberry beret. Seriously, can you imagine? The dude is five-foot-nothing, can't weigh more than a buck twenty, and wears cutoff shirts and assless pants. That can't have been a pleasant junior high school experience. Of course, being a musical genius can solve a lot of your problems.

There are a number of revelations in the Smiley interviews, including that Prince Rogers Nelson doesn't vote, had epilepsy, and believes in the loopy chemtrail conspiracy theory. But if you don't know Prince is batshit crazy, then you haven't been a Prince fan for very long. The guy's name was an unpronounceable symbol, for Chrissakes. So we kinda knew all that, although the details of his craziness are interesting. Mostly, we just dream of Prince The Jehovah's Witness one day knocking on our doors. We still wouldn't take the materials - and if he looked upset, we would ask him if this is what it sounds like when the doves cry.

PREVIOUSLY:

Bob Ross Lives On!

PBS Accidentally Airs Ballroom Vagina

How Charlie Rose Can Get His Groove Back

Bob Ross Lives On!

Olivia Purnell — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Cynicism is totally in fashion (and trust us we are fashionable). But we're always glad to put down our skepticism for the memory of this guy, Bob Ross, PBS Legend and The Joy of Painting Icon. Check his out his attitude. He could've cared less about appearing apathetic or aloof. Look at that big ass grin and his high-waisted jeans! He loved the shit out of painting happy clouds, cheerful mountains, and prarie simulacra. Edgy and hip weren't really in his vocabulary. He just wanted to make soothing pictures and teach others how to enjoy playing with paint. We can't get enough of that.

And we ain't the only ones. 14 years after Bob's death, downtown hipsters are still loving his Happy Little Clouds.

Just this week:

A line stretched down the block—even after the PBR open bar had ended!—with a “Happy Little Raffle” to benefit a local arts charity, landscape painting tutorials, and the "world’s first official" Bob Ross look-a-like contest at Gallery Bar on Orchard Street.
“Now that we’re a little distanced from when he was alive, we have only begun to understand the significance of his unflappable joy,” said afro-wigged organizer Misha Calvert

It's true. At first we didn't understand the hipster revitalization of Bob Ross' legacy. Doesn't one have to be hip to be memorialized by hipsters? But, look at that picture of Bob. He is one jazzy snazzy mothafucka. And his happiness is mesmerizing. No one can resist his afro charms.

(observer.com)

Previously:

PBS Accidentally Airs Ballroom Vagina

General Motors Stops Funding PBS Documentarian Ken Burns' Films

Seth Rogan Shows Jay Leno His Skinny Butt Crack

PBS Accidentally Airs Ballroom Vagina

Olivia Purnell — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:00:00 GMT

They say what goes down on the dance floor, stays on the dance floor. Unless that dance floor is part of a nationally televised ballroom dance event. And unless what goes down is an almost fully exposed vag. Then it’s fair game.

See the PBS clip of bare Ballroom goodies after the jump.

NSFW, obvi

(buzzfeed.com)

Previously:

"Dancing With the Stars:" Here Comes Season Eight

STD Sunday: A Baked Vagina is Just Icing On The Cake

Ken Burns' Latest Documentary Sounds Way Too Educational

Jake Kalish — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:27:00 GMT

Ken Burns' latest film that will surely be shown in high schools and colleges across our great country is called The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Way to rid the Grand Canyon and Old Faithful of all their magic by actually making us learn something about them.

America's Best Idea will air in September, and cost Burns $15 million to produce, more than any of his previous mega-docs, The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, or The War, all of which, we have to admit, were great, so long as we had our thinking caps on. Watching a Ken Burns documentary without putting on your thinking cap first is like watching a 3-D movie without your 3-D glasses. But a 12-hour, six-part, highly educational series about parks? Don't you go to the park when you're done with your homework? We're only half-kidding - there's a Parks-Department run show on New York local TV called It's My Park, and it is deadly boring. Of course, this is Ken Burns running the show, not the NYC Department Of Parks And Recreation. And the parks he's talking about are some of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Here's Burns talking about the new project, and the importance of our National Parks:

"Europe had the cathedrals. What did we have?" Burns asks during a conversation near Yellowstone's Mammoth Hot Springs, where lava-heated water bubbles into green, blue and orange mineral pools stacked like a towering wedding cake.

"These are our temples. You can feel the ecstatic expansiveness Yellowstone provides. ... This is still the memory of creation."

All right, Ken, you got us. We may even take notes.

PREVIOUSLY:

Ken Burns Will Have Another Baseball Documentary, Covering Everything That's Happened Since 1994

The Senate Passes A Bill To Delay The Switch To Digital TV Until June 12th

Jake Kalish — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:35:00 GMT

Boy, everybody really screwed the pooch on this one. The four month delay will cost PBS an estimated $22 million dollars, according to PBS CEO Paula Kerger, because of increased charges to maintain over-the-air signals, and because many public TV stations have leases for signal transmitters that were due to expire February 17th, and now they're going to have to make new deals.

This whole thing is a giant mess - and now there's the possibility that TV stations will get the choice to switch to digital February 17th, or wait until June 12th.Ugh.

PREVIOUSLY:

No All-Digital TV Until June 12th?

Barack Obama Wants To Delay The Switch To Digital TV Past February 17th, And Thereby Ruin Our "Switch To Digital TV" Keg Party

The New "Electric Company" Makes Us Nostalgic Starting Today At 3

Jake Kalish — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:49:00 GMT

Well, it's finally here! As previously reported, there's a new Electric Company , and it premieres today with a 2-hour "preview" show at 3, before settling into its regular weekly Friday at 4:30 spot starting the 23rd. We can only hope the opening is as good as it used to be:

PREVIOUSLY:

Welcome Back, "The Electric Company"!!!"

Amy Sedaris wants to “Make ‘Em Laugh”

Olivia Purnell — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Ooooh, we love Amy Sedaris. Her appearances on David Letterman are the stuff of dreams. She has a magic, no?

While we are still anxiously awaiting Sedaris’ new TV project, our Amy is taking part in the PBS series Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America. It’s a six-installment documentary airing this January that “explores the currents of American comedy throughout a century of social and political change” (pbs.com)

Besides the whole ‘thought provoking television’ shtick that PBS is so keen on, we also love the fact Billy Crystal will introduce each episode while the fabulous Ms. Sedaris narrates. Cool, right?

But here’s the thing . . .

In abstract terms, it sounds like an amazing project. And we’re always down for Amy. In theory, we’re glad Amy wants to Make ‘Em Laugh . . . but for once she might kinda fail. Yeah. Blasphemy. We know. We didn’t want to believe it ourselves. But Amy’s scripted bits in the new online installment, "Teh Internets" (despite the amazing title) aren’t that funny . . .

Rough.

However, our fellow bloggers Tracie (formerly known as "Slut Machine") from Jezebel and Gabe from Videogum are quite lovely and charming.

Check the episode out HERE if you don’t believe us. Which you don’t. That’s fine. We understand. We lie a lot. And Amy is still fabulous.

Previously:

Sedaris is Back, Bitches!

PBS Is Asking Barack Obama For Money, Offering Him A Totebag He Really Doesn't Want

Jake Kalish — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:22:00 GMT

Public Broadcasting's money problems ain't imaginary...

PBS President Paula Kerger says in order to survive, PBS will have to turn to Barack Obama for assistance.

We have been working very carefully to reach out to members of the [presidential] transition team, to talk about the work that we're doing in many areas, particularly childhood education. But we're also realistic. These are very tough economic times, and although we provide an extraordinary service to the American public, we can't assume that just because we've done great work in the past that we should be recipients of funding going forward. So we'll be working very hard to make our case.

Good. But could you maybe not interrupt the Ken Burns documentaries ten gazillion times to talk about how great they are, and how, if we agree, we should give "a small donation" and we'll receive something like this?

Kerger knows how annoying the constant fundraising is, and says PBS will also rely heavily on the Internet for public outreach, rather than on-air begging. Thank you. Now, if we do contribute, rather than the coffee mug or totebag, can you please please please make Mister Snuffleupagus imaginary again? We'll bug you about this constantly. Quid pro quo, Paula Kerger, quid pro quo.

PREVIOUSLY:

How Charlie Rose Can Get His Groove Back

Welcome Back, "The Electric Company!!!"

Comfort TV For Hump Day: "Lidia's Family Table"And "Lidia's Italy"

How Charlie Rose Can Get His Groove Back

Jake Kalish — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie... Is everything OK?

'Cause we see you every night -- no, literally, every single night -- and we have to say: you been looking a little... what? Bored? Distracted? Sleepy? Not sure what it is. Maybe like everyone else in the world, you're still hungover from the election. Maybe you had some money in Madoff's Ponzi scheme that we didn't know about. Maybe Ellen Barkin won't respond to your Facebook poke. (Probably it's the recession forcing you to lay off people you clearly appreciated and relied upon.)

Well, whatever it is, get over it. We don't call you "Charles Rosé" around the Remote Island offices for nothin'. On your best days, you're suave, you won't take no for an answer, and you got the best job in the world and know it. So we've got a few ideas that'll put a pep back in your step in 2009!

1) Maybe that pig's heart you got installed in France in 2006 needs an update? We like pigs -- like us, they're loyal and they love to lay around in their own swill -- but maybe switch it up a little this time. We'd suggest going with either a monkey or a bear. Either one would be strong, but there are caveats. With a monkey heart, you might try to pick nits from your guest's hair, and with a bear heart, well, you'd probably never get Colbert on the program. So choose wisely.

2) Get more sexy womenz up in that piece! We see how you get when Angelina Jolie's at the table with you -- you're like a horny kid at porno Christmas. Well, keep at it man! And don't wait for Cate Blanchett or Jhumpa Lahiri's people to return your calls. Heidi Klum, the ladies of House, Madonna even! Heck, go crazy; Tila Tequila's got a book, right? Hell, dude, let the Real Housewives of New York bring their own liquor and you'll all forget there are cameras, know what we're saying? ("Orgy"; we're saying "Orgy".)

3) Mix up the hair a little. Just 'cause you're on PBS doesn't mean you have to look PBS. Maybe a faux 'hawk, like Maddox Jolie-Pitt, or slicked back like Bowzer of Sha Na Na. Grease for peace, Chuck, and next time Krugman starts going on about his Nobel, you can be like "Talk to the hand, Paulie" and lead Doris Kearns Goodwin off to your office's make-out nook.

4 ) Get just a little more hip. Look, you're not Larry King or anything, fawning over the Osmonds and Manilow, but when your producers book, say, Jay-Z, try not to use phrases like "rap music" or "the n word." Check with Louis C.K. about that last one. Perhaps you could have a producer in charge of hipness. While we're at it, know when folks are messing with you. You had Adam Sandler on a while back, and you said "I was talking with Oprah the other day..." To which he said "Oprah who?" And you said "Oprah Winfrey." He was messing with you, Charlie. People do that sometimes to PBS broadcasters. Be ready.

5) We're not saying you need Botox or surgery or anything. You're an A1 mack daddy and a Grade A pimp and have forgotten more about clandestinely palming the asses of women than we will ever know. All we're saying is they're gonna charge you extra next time you fly with those bags under your eyes, so maybe drop by Kiehl's or something?

Lastly - and this is us thinking a little bit outside the box -brawls. Serious. Knock-down, drag out fistfights, Springer-style. They don't have to make sense - just surprise us. Like, Sir Ben Kingsley says something about preparing to play Gandhi and then someone flies out of the studio audience and tackles him. Henry Kissinger discusses the foreign policy changes the United States has to make and you suddenly hit him with your chair. Think of the excitement! Imagine the tension!

Intelligent conversation only gets us so far, Charlie.

PREVIOUSLY:

Charlie Rose And Bjork Make For Really Weird TV

Charlie Rose Going No Tie?

Welcome Back, "The Electric Company"!!!

Jake Kalish — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:29:00 GMT

Wonderful news if you are a young child, have a young child, or just behave like one - The Electric Company, that 70's literacy-teaching classic which ran in repeats well into the mid '80's, is back on PBS in January to educate the youth, with a brand-spanking new 2009 version. (No word on if Morgan Freeman will make a triumphant return.) The New York Times had a good piece on the new Electric Company when filming started in May, and the December 3rd New York Post featured quotes from Karen Fowler, executive producer of the updated EC. Here's what Fowler says about the goal for the show:

We want to start a revolution in playgrounds that says it's cool to be smart.

A revolution in playgrounds? Terrifying! We thought Easy Reader reminded us of someone.

Take back that "wonderful news" thing we said. Someone stop this.

Comfort TV For Hump Day: "Lidia's Family Table" And "Lidia's Italy"

Jake Kalish — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:31:00 GMT

Everybody has 'em: the shows that may not be the most exciting or dynamic, but that hold you in their warm cuddly blanket and rock you in their loving arms. For us, these are the two Public Television cooking shows hosted by Lidia Bastianich: Lidia's Family Table (aired from 2005-2007, repeats are on constantly on PBS) and Lidia's Italy, her current show. Bastianich is a Beard-Award winning chef, successful restauranteur, and doting mommy/grammy to food lovers. She's kind of the anti-Paula Deen -- no schtick, all talent.

So why is this show so calming? Maybe its the dim PBS lighting, or Lidia's confident, relaxed, understanding, and catch phrase-free demeanor. Maybe it's that her unpretentious, unsexy food always looks incredibly delicious, and that she seems to know exactly what she's doing. She's good -- as in chosen to cook for the Pope good. It was once said about Joe DiMaggio that "he never dove for a ball, because he never had to," the idea being: if he wasn't already in the right place, he always easily and gracefully got there. Lidia Bastianich is like that as a cooking host. And that level of competence and skill, combined with her warm, maternal manner, makes for extremely cozy television viewing.

Any other good ones out there?

-- Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights

Lee Atwater, The Father Of Modern Dirty Politics, Tonight On PBS

Jake Kalish — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:27:00 GMT

Hey everybody, you remember that election last week, with the socialist guy who hangs around with a terrorist and a scary black preacher, the one whose wife hates America... you know, "that one"? But then "that one" said he wanted to "put an end to this kind of politics"? And somehow, as if the whole country was suddenly tripping acid, he actually won?

Well, Karl Rove is today's master of "that kind of politics," but he had a teacher: Lee Atwater. whose terrifying and awesome resume included 1988's infamous "Willie Horton" ad. PBS is airing Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9. [Ed.: Yesssssssss!] It's a fascinating - and important - story of a man who greatly influenced 2 decades of politics. Atwater's story has the feel of a Shakesperean tragedy -- after a strange and tragic childhood, he develops a passion for Republican politics and destroying all who opposed it on behalf of Strom Thurmond and Geroge H. W. Bush -- only to develop an inoperable brain tumor at the age 40, and, racked with guilt, spend much of the last year of his life looking for forgiveness.

Click through for the trailer.

-- Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights

Election Night On TV To Look Like Vegas Stage Show

Jake Kalish — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:29:00 GMT

Brace yourselves for one hell of an Election Night extravaganza - in case you thought commercial television might get all Jim Lehrer with its election coverage, think again. According to David Bauder of the AP, there will be holograms. And virtual reality. Magic Walls and launchpads. (But sadly, no Siegfried or Roy.)

NBC is leading the high-tech charge, imprinting an electoral map on the Rockefeller Center skating rink, and turning states blue or red as they're called. Banners for McCain and Obama will climb up the outside of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, showing the candidates nearing 270 electoral votes. ABC has more of a big brother approach, with three giant video screens over Times Square. And CNN will have a virtual reality Capitol, tracking the DNC's Donkey Kong-like assault on the Congress. Also: they'll have a hologram Wolf Blitzer. The New York Observer already made a Star Wars reference regarding this, so we'll have to just move on.

This insanity has even spread to our reliable and generally-unfancy friend Mr. Lehrer; Lehrer's PBS correspondents will be posting reports on Twitter. And Lehrer himself will be livevlogging in sequins and pasties. Oh, how would you know if it's true or not? You'll be watching holo-Wolf along with us anyways!

-- Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights

Remembering Paul Newman, the TV Star

Ben Kallen — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:45:00 GMT

As you've probably heard, Paul Newman -- the movie star, philanthropist, race-car driver and all-around good guy -- died on Friday at the age of 83.

What you may not know is that Newman had a substantial career in television as well as film. He got his start acting in "Golden Age" dramas during the '50s, and took occasional TV acting roles throughout his life. (He won an Emmy for the 2005 HBO miniseries Empire Falls.) He was also a sought-after talk-show guest, and made quite a few visits with fellow racing enthusiast David Letterman.

We've collected as much footage as we could of Newman's half-century of TV performances. Take a look, below:

Newman had a small role in "Ice From Space," an episode of the sci-fi series Tales of Tomorrow, way back in 1952. (It's especially notable for the early special effects, which consisted entirely of a block of ice.) You can view the video here -- watch for him at about the 10-minute and 20-minute marks.

In 1955, Newman played young George Gibbs in a production of the Thornton Wilder play Our Town, which aired on the NBC show Producers' Showcase. You'll see a brief clip of it in this public-television documentary -- which also shows the actor, almost 50 years later, as the Stage Manager in a version of the play that aired on PBS and Showtime in 2003.

Newman demonstrated quite a bit of acting range as a soldier trying to get out of his military service in "The Army Game," an hourlong episode of NBC's Kaiser Aluminum Hour, in 1956.

Newman coproduced and costarred in the 2005 HBO miniseries Empire Falls, for which he won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor.

Here's a 2007 appearance Newman made on Late Show With David Letterman, where he enjoyed discussing his second career as an auto racer.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward is a half-hour documentary on the longtime married couple's lives and work. (The origin is unknown, but we're guessing it's from a 1997 BBC series titled Great Romances of the 20th Century.) This is part one; you can find the rest here and here.

And, just for fun, here are a couple of Newman's TV commercials. The first is a Burger King ad for his salad dressing -- with which he raised millions of dollars for charity -- and the second is a Nissan public-service announcement in which he reminds people to wear their seatbelts.

Rest in peace, Paul Newman -- 1925-2008

TV Orgy Tonight!

Ben Kallen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Er, we mean an orgy of TV, not an orgy on TV. But a huge number of new episodes and season premieres will be happening this evening. Here's what's in store for you, your couch and your TiVo:

ABC: Ugly Betty She'll have to decide between her two boyfriends, and maybe find out how many more years those braces need to stay on.

ABC: Grey's Anatomy Now that Dr. McDreamy and Dr. McSkinny are back together, Nurse McNobody turns out to be... well, it's kind of a spoiler, even though it's been in every ad for the past three weeks. Hope all the talking about it won't distract them from their complicated medical procedures, like always!

CBS: Survivor: Gabon Host Jeff Probst is worried about how he'll look now that the show's going high-def. Dude, you're not the one who's going to end up 30 pounds lighter and covered in filth. As for the contestants, we hope they've read this.

NBC: My Name Is Earl Seth Green alert! This show may not seem so new and fresh anymore, but it sure gets good guest stars. Plotwise, we think Earl's still working on that list or something.

NBC: The Office Woo-hoo! Amy Ryan's back, Michael's still nuts, Jim and Pam still can't put together a decent PB&J, and we can't wait.

NBC: ER Bad stuff happens! It's the last season! We haven't watched this show in years!

CW: Smallville Last week, Clark applied for a job at a major metropolitan newspaper and they made him a reporter, just like that! Did he even finish college? Don't they know blogs are where it's at these days? And when did Chloe become the hottest character on this show?

CW: Supernatural Spooky! (That's all we got.)

Fox: Kitchen Nightmares Our nightmare is that some jerkwad chef came over to our place and screamed for an hour, but that's just us.

PBS: American Masters: The Warner Brothers These guys went to Hollywood, and 100 years later they made The Matrix. Good times.