TALES OF THE CITY and the Fight to Save PBS
If you grew up in the 80s & 90s, you probably remember watching PBS for shows like Sesame Street, Carmen Sandiego, and The Magic School Bus. But your parents might remember PBS for very different reasons — the debauchery of I Claudius… the dancing men of Steambath … and the outspoken gay teenager on television’s first reality show. Ever since its creation, PBS has been the place to go for stuff you couldn’t find on commercial TV — educational, enriching, avant garde, and often super queer. But in the 90s, it nearly all went away. Republicans hatched a scheme to strangle PBS and sell it off for parts. And they used a gay love story, set in the bars and bathhouses of San Francisco, as a cover for their greedy scheme. This is the story of Tales of the City, and the fight for the survival of public television.
Watch bonus videos about Mr. Rogers saving the VCR, the twists and turns of Tales, the PBS’s other gay projects, and lots more: http://patreon.com/mattbaume
Subscribe to my newsletter: http://mattbaume.com
Connect with me here:
http://twitch.tv/mattbaume
https://bsky.app/profile/mattbaume.bsky.social
http://instagram.com/mattbaume
http://facebook.com/mattbaume
http://twitter.com/mattbaume
Comments are closed.