PBS

“The good TV and the bad TV were often in conflict,” said Aaron Brown.

It was a recent Wednesday afternoon and the longtime television anchor and correspondent was sitting at a table in Harry’s of Hartsdale, a nearly deserted steakhouse, a few short blocks from his home in Westchester County. He was reflecting on his career.

Mr. Brown was dressed casually, in a short-sleeved black cotton polo, a bit of white stubble standing out on his well tanned chin. He leaned back in his chair and, by way of demonstration, tapped his right shoulder and then tapped his left. The angel speaking into one earpiece, the devil whispering into the other.  read more »

MONDAY

With all the local hype over The Real Housewives of New York City, we'd almost forgotten about their west coast predecessors and sister show, The Real Housewives of Orange County, which taught us everything we'd ever wanted to know about plastic surgery, Southern California Republicans and bad parenting. But now that summer's here, it's time to revisit Silicone Valley. Bravo's airing a Real Housewives mini-marathon starting at 5 p.m., followed by a sneak preview at 10 of the new reality series Date My Ex: Jo & Slade, in which twentysomething former Real Housewife Jo De La Rosa tries to find a new man with the help of her much older, career-advancing ex-boyfriend, Slade Smiley.  read more »

PBS executives announced today that they will be broadcasting extensive, "gavel to gavel" coverage of both the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer.

From the release:  read more »

A few weeks ago, facing the worst budget crunch of its 25-year history, PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" froze salaries at the show and put on hold company contributions to 401(K) retirement funds, according to a report today in the New York Times.

"The financial squeeze was precipitated last summer when Archer Daniels Midland ended its 14-year sponsorship of the program," reports the Times.  read more »

A documentary on the city's waterfront fights, City of Water, premieres this Saturday, April 19, at 1:30 p.m. on local PBS Channel 13. (Check out the trailer here.)

According to the Municipal Art Society:   read more »

Today, in the New York Times, Richard Perez-Pena notes that five years into the war in Iraq, "it would be hard to tell from a quick look at television news, newspapers and the Internet" that the country remains at war.

Tonight and tomorrow night on PBS, the producers at Frontline will do their part to thrust the subject back into the national spotlight.  read more »

Jim Lehrer, the longtime anchor of NewsHour on PBS is upset with an article in the New York Times.

No, not that article.

In his bedroom, this past Sunday morning, Mr. Lehrer pored over a piece in the Times by writer-at-large Charles McGrath, entitled "Is PBS Still Necessary?"

"I was stunned," said Mr. Lehrer.  read more »

The 2006-07 revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company will air on PBS (Channel 13) tonight, Feb. 20, at 9 p.m. This Company won the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards for Best Revival of a Musical. The musical starred the Tony-nominated Raúl Esparza as the confused bachelor Bobby and ended its run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre July 1, 2007 after 34 previews and 247 performances.

The TV production was directed by Lonny Price, who recently chatted with Playbill.com columnist Michael Buckley here. "When I was a kid, I saw the original Company. My parents called their ticket broker, trying to get me tickets for Applause, which looked glamorous," Mr. Prince told Playbill. "The broker said, 'We can't get those, but Company opened this week, and that's supposed to be good for kids.' [Laughs] So, for my 11th birthday, my grandmother, my sister, and I saw Company — which was amazing! It changed my life. The score's in my bones; it's sort of DNA to me."

For those who won't be able to catch up with the ticket race for Cyrano de Bergerac seats before the production ends on Jan. 6, we'll at least be able to watch stars Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner do their thespian thing on PBS's Great Performances. According to Broadway.com, producers of the show released a statement saying the taping began yesterday at the Richard Rogers Theatre for broadcast "later this year and future release on DVD."