I am big fan of the late Douglas Adams. If you’ve read this blog for any measure of time, that’s probably evident. I first encountered his work on public television on shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. His style has influenced me to no end and his erudite wit and mastery of language is a high bar I continually strive to reach. That’s probably why videos like this pop up in my YouTube searches.
Prior to a day ago did I even know Adams delivered the 2001 keynote at Embedded Systems Conference? Considering I had never heard of Embedded Systems Conference two days ago, the answer must be a resounding “no.” But I delighted in watching. As I hope will you.
Just 21 years ago, here’s what was playing on your statewide North Carolina public television network.
As you can see, December 15 was a Saturday that year. The day began with kids programming (Just For Kids was the brand back then), followed by how-to. Some of the shows you’ll recognize from our current schedule, such as ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, THE BEST OF JOY OF PAINTING, CAROLINA OUTDOOR JOURNAL, TRAVELS IN EUROPE WITH RICK STEVES and MEXICO – ONE PLATE AT A TIME. Others have since dropped from our airwaves like THE VICTORY GARDEN, a long-running gardening series that ended in 2015.
At 6pm, we had a block of vintage TV shows (TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD, ED SULLIVAN, LAWRENCE WELK) and then the Britcoms that so permeated our schedule for decades. Next came Kieran Prendiville’s charming BALLYKISSANGEL, an import from Northern Ireland, and a repeat of MYSTERY! from Thursday night (this was back before MASTERPIECE THEATRE and MYSTERY! had been folded into one series).
To cap off the evening, we presented our local independent film series NORTH CAROLINA VISIONS. If you don’t recall, VISIONS ran for 14 seasons during the ’90s and ’00s and presented a selection of films by amateur and professional filmmakers. What impresses me here is that the first film listed on this particular December 15 is by actor, screenwriter, producer Danny McBride. McBride has since made a name for himself with projects like Eastbound &Down, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones but Eddie Noble And The Heroes was produced when he was a student at University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the short film was his thesis project. How cool is that? Who knows what future Hollywood stars you may be seeing when you tune into the services of PBS North Carolina!
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