Here’s what we were airing on May 11, 1992, on what was then called North Carolina Public Television.
NORTH CAROLINA PEOPLE WITH WILLIAM FRIDAY was at 7:30, followed at 8pm by the series TRAVELS (this week heading to Barcelona, Spain). The premise of TRAVELS, if I recall correctly, was to follow famous (and semi-famous) people on interesting journeys around the world. It ran for four seasons and boasted subtitles such as A Day In the Life of Ireland, America With The Top Down, Last Train Across Canada and Ustinov On The Orient Express.
At 9, there was MILLENNIUM:TRIBAL WISDOM AND THE MODERN WORLD, a ten-part series. The Britcom ARE YOU BEING SERVED? ended the evening followed by THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (repackaged Jeremy Brett adventures, I believe).
And that’s what was airing on North Carolina Public Television a scant 31 years ago!
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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