October 5th - PBS is the Coolest

On this day in 1970, the greatest TV station in the history of great TV stations went live. You might be thinking HBO. Good guess. But that was two years later. FX has some good stuff. But that didn't start till 1994. No, if you have kept up with these markings at all, you know that I'm talking about PBS. The station you grew up with. Big Bird, although he has been supplanted by Elmo, Mr. Rogers, and Bob Ross. If you watched PBS as a child, no matter how messed up your home life was, there is a good chance you are at least moderately well-adjusted. You can't get too crazy when Bob tells you to paint some happy trees or Mr. Rogers informs you it is a beautiful day. But PBS isn't just about valuable life-lessons as you mature. It is also about blowing your mind with new facts. It's about Ken Burns and a 12 hour movie on The Civil War or baseball. Or Charlie Rose talking to every noteworthy person who has lived in the last few decades. It's getting stellar BBC shows or learning that Walt Disney had balls bigger than Bill Brasky or learning that time-travel is theoretically possibly, but only to the future. PBS is like that friend you have--not the most popular, perhaps not the most fun, but he/she cares about you, and every now and again he/she pulls something out of left field and you realize...this may be the coolest person I know. I mean the Christmas Parties alone...Bob Ross chugging wine while Fred made out with Mrs. Rogers under the mistletoe. It doesn't get cooler than that.

This Day has been Marked.

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