PBS, You Be You, Boo

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by Julian Spivey
You know who’s really a bad boss bitch on Super Bowl Sunday?
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PBS.

Let me explain.

I was thumbing through my Twitter feed right before kickoff of Super Bowl LVI on Sunday afternoon and saw a tweet from former ESPN/MSNBC commentator/curmudgeon Keith Olbermann, who said he wished the NBA or NHL would have the guts to put just one game out there during the Super Bowl. I guess he wanted competition but is anti-NFL (there are honestly many reasons to be).

I recommended to him in a tweet that likely wasn’t read (how often do you think responses to famous folks on Twitter go unread?) that he should try out the wonderful double of British dramas “Around the World in 80 Days” and “All Creatures Great and Small” on PBS’s Masterpiece series. Hell, it may have come off as a weak joke on my part. After all, why would anyone want to watch British imports on PBS on Super Bowl Sunday. But I was serious. Those two programs are probably my two favorite shows of 2022 thus far and I can’t wait to get to the new episodes on my DVR. Also, I hope to get around to reviewing both of them, but both seasons are nearing their end (so who knows?).

Anyway, this made me realize how PBS is going to PBS no matter what Sunday of the year it is and that’s to be respected and commended. None of the networks schedule new programming opposite of the Super Bowl. It’s Nielsen ratings suicide. That’s why CBS went with a re-run of reality show “Big Brother” and ABC went with “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and I’m sure Fox aired re-runs of its slate of animated programs.

Hell, even NBC in the midst of covering the Winter Olympics told the ice and snow sports to get lost for the evening because big, old American Football was on, as well as the year’s most-watched 15 minute concert (which apparently has driven white boomer conservatives absolutely nuts!) and the last night of the year we don’t reach for the fast-forward button to get through commercials. By god there were too many cryptocurrency and electric car commercials this year! I just want cute dogs and Clydesdales!

But not PBS. PBS knows it’s audience! It knows we’re going to want our David Tennant circumnavigating the globe in less than three months and our kindly English vets saving farm animals. We will not settle for less!
It’s nice that PBS has our backs, especially on the one night of the television year that seems to say, “you must watch this game, this event really. You must submit!”

You know what, I actually like the game of football, so I was watching the Super Bowl, but again can’t wait for these shows on the DVR.

It’s just nice to have a network say: “Here’s our regularly scheduled British dramas. Suck it American Football!”

Don’t ever change PBS.

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