Lawrence Welk

Flashback: 1 February 1992

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Here’s what we were airing 32 years ago on what was then NCPT (North Carolina Public Television)…

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Flashback: 12 October 1991

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Saturdays have changed a bit since 1991 on the broadcast service of PBS NC. Back then we were North Carolina Public Television and there was nary a British detective in sight!

If you look at the day’s line-up, you’ll see there was some early morning kids programming. That’s been a constant, I believe, in our schedules for decades. But some GED telecourse shows followed, something we used to air quite a bit of (eventually, it was determined that audience could access much of that material online once the Internet became omnipresent). The afternoons brought about some how-to and travel, much like today. At 7pm, we got to see some fauna on WILD AMERICA and WILD, WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS. THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW (another longtime Saturday eveining staple) was on at 8pm, followed by some music with MICHAEL FEINSTEIN AND FRIENDS, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS and THE REAL PATSY CLINE.

Flashback: 15 December 2001

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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!

Flashback: 27 October 2007

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October 27 was a Saturday 15 years ago and here’s a look at what we were airing on then UNC-TV.

As you can see, the schedule overall greatly mirrors what we broadcast on Saturdays these days on PBS NC. A few exceptions here and there (LAWRENCE WELK in the early evenings then, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW in the afternoons now) but we start out with kids programming in the morning, how-to programming in the afternoon, British imports in the evening and music overnight.

I will note that where today our UK lineup is mystery/drama back then it was primarily Britcoms. (Aside: I find it sad that for the first time in years we currently have no British comedy series in our schedule.) The POLDARK in question was the original program from the 1970s as the Aidan Turner version was then still a few years away from debuting. The DOCTOR WHO episodes are from the current series since we dallied with some of those episodes for a while (unfortunately, not all of them).

Were you watching us in 2007? If so, thanks for viewing, thanks for supporting. Stick around. We’ll see what the schedule looks like 15 years from now.