I Hate PBS Pledge Week
It upsets my whole viewing schedule.
No, I DON'T want to see Celtic Thunder or the 2,000th airing of the Mamas and the Papas singing California Dreaming, or Jay and the Americans, or Jews on Broadway, or the 40th program about the Doors appearing somewhere, or Celtic Women, which is 10x worse than Celtic Thunder. Or Doo Wop or ...excuse me .. A Pink Floyd tribute band? What is this, YouTube?
by Anonymous | reply 73 | August 25, 2018 9:24 AM
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WEEK???
March is a whole pledge MONTH!
by Anonymous | reply 1 | March 13, 2013 11:00 PM
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In my area PBS stations would rotate weeks for Beg-A-Thons. Now they're simultaneous. Good time not to watch.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | March 13, 2013 11:13 PM
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It means I miss out on seeing Jean and Lionel's wedding for the gazillionth time ... oh well ...
by Anonymous | reply 3 | March 13, 2013 11:18 PM
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Tonight is a Doors concert so I will be watching regardless. I use pledge breaks as bathroom breaks.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | March 13, 2013 11:27 PM
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My station show those infomercials about "brain power" and other things; you gift for donating is a copy of the book written by the presenter.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | March 13, 2013 11:33 PM
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I am missing NOVA, Nature, History Detectives, Market Warriors, Death in Paradise, DCI Banks, inspector Gently and Doc Martin, which I didn't see when it first aired.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | March 14, 2013 12:01 AM
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I used to love PBS, but now I only sometimes like it. There are too many stations and therefore too many talking heads. All this pledge shit is simply talking heads begging for enough money to keep their jobs.
PBS should be set up like MPT in Maryland. Have one PBS channel per state and then there would be more than enough money. Here in CA, I think we have a PBS station for each county.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | March 14, 2013 12:07 AM
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I love the rock and roll showss they do.Where else can you see some of those groups.Eric Burdon is still coll and Peter Noone actually ahs gotten alittle soul and Jefferson Starship was great but they ONLY show those programs during pledge week,and when is AETN Great Performances going to film a performance of HAIR?That would be far-out and groovy.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | March 14, 2013 12:08 AM
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I'm rockin' to Daniel O'Donell.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | March 14, 2013 12:50 AM
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Daniel O'Donell is so dull and bland.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | March 14, 2013 12:58 AM
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Why are you watching PBS if you take issue with it? Do you only get a couple of networks at home?
by Anonymous | reply 11 | March 14, 2013 1:10 AM
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I've got only basic cable,r11. I watch PBS all the time.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | March 14, 2013 1:19 AM
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Who are the PBS pledge MCs in your area?
In San Francisco, we have balding semi-bear Bud Gundy (who PBS also trots out for Pride Month), and tight lipped, poodle-cut Andrea Marcovecci.
They are good.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | March 14, 2013 1:22 AM
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I don't know who mine are,r13. They rotate them every day.
I'm watching a recorded pledge drive. I recognize the patter from the 3 other times they've aired Daniel O'Donell.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | March 14, 2013 1:29 AM
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Andrea Bocelli in Portofino coming up here.
I guess I'll change the channel. Nothing against Bocelli but I've already watched this and, frankly, I found O'Donell more entertaining in a he's so bland he's good kinda way.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | March 14, 2013 1:33 AM
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I think they run pretaped network-wide MC's these days?
by Anonymous | reply 16 | March 14, 2013 1:35 AM
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What I've never figured out about these pledge periods is this: Do the same people who love NOVA, Masterpiece, Frontline, etc. want to see all those self-help, old-time singers, etc. programs? And do those who watch the pledge programming watch the regular good programming?
by Anonymous | reply 18 | March 14, 2013 3:49 AM
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One of the pledge hosts on my local station is the heinous conservative radio host Mark Simone. His ideas are as ridiculous as the wig that sits atop his head.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | March 14, 2013 4:03 AM
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Wish they would rerun the pledge drive for "Keeping Up Appearences" with Josephine (Elizabeth) Tewkson in the studio.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | March 14, 2013 11:46 AM
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Typical of Armenian men, Mark Simone gets uglier and fatter as he gets older.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | March 14, 2013 11:47 AM
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I give to PBS once a year but I totally understand OP's frustration.
They are forever begging for money, like an evangelist. No matter how much they raise, they don't have enough.
There is a giant new state of the art PBS headquarters in Boston and I've had a few friends who work there when I lived in Boston; they're very generous, pay well, etc., which is fine, but they don't really run themselves like a non-profit.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | March 14, 2013 12:01 PM
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I never understand why they show so many crap shows during pledge time--if they want people to pledge, it should be for what they like, not what they can't stand.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | March 14, 2013 12:02 PM
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The Boston PBS station has or had a hot Irish-looking guy, last name O'Leary I think. I'd put up with Bocelli or worse to get a look at him
by Anonymous | reply 24 | March 14, 2013 12:04 PM
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WHYY in Philadelphia refuses to air the metroploitan opera broadcasts yet overdoses on Andrea Bocelli and Jackie Evancho pledge specials! Ugh! What was their old slogan? If PBS doesn't, who will? (Something like that)
by Anonymous | reply 25 | March 14, 2013 12:05 PM
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I enjoyed the "Hullabaloo!" retrospective.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | March 14, 2013 12:44 PM
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Is it true that years ago a radio station started playing Kate Smith singing God Bless America and said they wouldn't stop until they met their pledge goal? According to the legend they made their goal in something like 14 hours.
I drove across Iowa a couple of years ago, and Public Radio was having their fund drive. They were begging to $5 and $10 donations. I came across a Fundie Christian station that was having their fund drive at the same time, and the Fundies were getting callers who were sponsoring entire days. They had to have out-raised the Public Station 5:1 or more. It was very depressing.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | March 14, 2013 12:54 PM
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Please remember to give generously during all PBS pledge drives.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | March 14, 2013 12:57 PM
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Just give PBS a few million bucks and it might cut down on the pledge drives.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | March 14, 2013 6:47 PM
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Yeah, in the 70s they'd have cast members from Upstairs Downstairs, Poldark, I, Claudius and other shows in the studio during pledge week. You only see Dan Stevens and Patrick Stewart in pre-taped 30 second messages randomly placed on PBS year-round.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | March 14, 2013 6:55 PM
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They called my house the day after airing the Jews and Broadway show and asked for my partner, who has pledged before and has a Jewish name. He said, "That was smart of them to target the audience for a specific show that aired last night."
He pledged $50.
I agree it was smart. I wonder if they target members with Italian last names after they show opera. Or with Irish names after the Celtic crap.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | March 14, 2013 6:59 PM
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My local PBS channel dropped the Britcoms a couple months back. Boo!
by Anonymous | reply 32 | March 14, 2013 7:03 PM
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I actually want to donate, but how can I do so without my PBS station hounding me for the rest of my life and beyond? I hate receiving all the junk mail crap. I donated a small sum once to a hospital 10 years ago and they're still sending me glossy mail even after repeated requests to stop. All that money and paper on crap mail that I toss.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | March 14, 2013 7:12 PM
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What R33 said; If you give them $50, or $500, they will hound your ass constantly with junk mail.
It's as if they put all of that money right back into mailing crap.
I personally think PBS has become gluttonous, like most organizations.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | March 14, 2013 7:48 PM
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If you watch even one second of PBS without donating you're a THEIF
by Anonymous | reply 35 | March 14, 2013 8:57 PM
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I'll give them money when they bring back the tote bag.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | March 14, 2013 9:05 PM
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Tonight, my local is airing the "Les Miserbles 25th Anniversary Concert."
Jealous,wenches?
by Anonymous | reply 37 | March 14, 2013 11:13 PM
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"I personally think PBS has become gluttonous, like most organizations."
Seems that way to me, too. I donated for about 15 years and found that every renewal notice included a "suggested donation" that was 50 percent higher than the previous year's. Whose income goes up that much? Not mine.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | March 15, 2013 1:43 AM
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Elmo knows where you live.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 39 | March 15, 2013 1:59 AM
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I'm now watching 60s Pop Flashback and singing along
Jealous much OP?
by Anonymous | reply 40 | March 15, 2013 2:42 AM
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The Beg-A-Thon for 50s music with host Nick Clooney still airing was taped in 2006.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | March 15, 2013 11:40 AM
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[quote] I'm now watching 60s Pop Flashback and singing along
[quote] Jealous much OP?
No, because if I'd wanted to, I could have watched it 20 times in the past month.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | March 15, 2013 12:43 PM
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Pssst. Hulu, Netflix and PBS.org have all your pledge survival viewing resources.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | March 15, 2013 12:57 PM
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PBS is virtually the only network that gives a damn about viewers over 50. During its pledge drives, it features musical shows with artists that appeal to older viewers: Andre Rieu, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Datalounge darling Chris Mann.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | March 15, 2013 1:39 PM
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[quote]PBS is virtually the only network that gives a damn about viewers over 50.
They got the idea into their heads that my Mother was likely to leave them something in her will, so they wined and dined her, sent her endless estate planning packets, and invited her to all manner of little meet and greets with people like Rick Steves.
All for nothing as it turned out, but they tried like Hell.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | March 15, 2013 3:46 PM
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I like "Death in Paradise." It makes me want to go to the Caribbean (in spite of all those murders).
by Anonymous | reply 46 | June 20, 2013 3:23 PM
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[quote] I actually want to donate, but how can I do so without my PBS station hounding me for the rest of my life and beyond? I hate receiving all the junk mail crap. I donated a small sum once to a hospital 10 years ago and they're still sending me glossy mail even after repeated requests to stop. All that money and paper on crap mail that I toss.
This times 1000.
What we need to do is invent an iPhone app that donates money to these organizations (whatever one you choose) without giving your address (because they will hound you till you die).
Or what we do at Whole Foods where they ask us to round our amount up and they give the rest to an organization. That kind of thing.
The problem is, I can only ever give these folks about $25 a year, and they'll spend three times that hounding me for more.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | June 20, 2013 3:28 PM
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Not to mention the endless viewings of one version or another of Les Miz.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | June 20, 2013 4:53 PM
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[quote]I actually want to donate, but how can I do so without my PBS station hounding me for the rest of my life and beyond?
Or even making you sit through more fundraising pleas once you've already given for that drive. WQXR (radio) in NYC is trying to get people to donate by then giving them access to an online music stream *without* pledge breaks and pitches, but so far I don't see that working for television.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | June 20, 2013 5:04 PM
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R30 If they re-ran those shows (Upstairs Downstairs, Poldark, I, Claudius) during pledge week I'd probably donate.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | June 20, 2013 5:25 PM
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I totally agree the programming is terrible and totally repetitive. It has a negative effect. ask for a donation at the end of programs in a quick effective manner that does not play 60's music over and over. Channel 21 is the worst! There has got to be a better way!!
by Anonymous | reply 51 | June 16, 2014 1:37 AM
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The thing I find scary is that PBS airs the shows that pull in the big donations.
There's apparently a big market out there for the lightest-weight 60s and 70s music, Celtic thunder, Lawrence Welk retrospectives and all the rest.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | June 16, 2014 1:45 AM
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Old people give lots of money to PBS.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | June 16, 2014 1:56 AM
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It's a disgrace.
Even as the pledge week hosts are begging and arm-twisting, they're smug and flowery about the "glorious and fascinating and informative programming you simply won't find anyplace else."
CUE: Another three-hours of Suze Fucking Orman taking questions from nonagenarians about 'what's a good rate for a ten-year bond' only to have Suze respond by asking if she still looks pretty in her shit brown leather coat; followed by hours of charlatans selling the elixir of life.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | June 16, 2014 2:00 AM
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But, if you donate to any charity at all, you will forever be on their mailing list.
I donated to the Vietnam Wall foundation because I am a Vietnam vet, but they never stop with the begging and the big, fancy "certificates of appreciation" and the invitations to some function in Wash DC. At least I get a nice Vietnam wall calendar every year. I donate maybe two times a year.
St Jude's, Diabetes, Heart Disease, some Indian Catholic School, Animal rescue groups...I am on all their lists. It never stops. I get calendars from them too.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | June 16, 2014 2:24 AM
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I don't understand why PBS needs pledge drives, the government funds it. Remember? That terrible old Mitt Romney wanted to de-fund PBS and take Big Bird off the air forever, remember? Huh? Remember? The Republicans wanted to take it away forever, but Super Obama won and now we have PBS and they keep asking for money but I thought Obama was going to pay to keep Elmo on the air?
by Anonymous | reply 56 | June 16, 2014 2:31 AM
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R56, at one time the US funded PBS, but Ronnie Raygun cut way back on their funding so he could arm the Contras. We've had incessant pledge drives ever since.
Romney was going to cut their funding completely.
Wasn't he going to be in for a big surprise when he discovered how many Republicans are making big money as PBS executives. I figure that's where most of the money goes when the PBS affiliates are always begging for money. I would probably give more to them if they were more transparent about where they're spending our donations.
They're putting out a good product some — definitely not all — of the time but I have a feeling they've got a major racket going.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | June 16, 2014 2:44 AM
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Since the phone company charges for an unlisted number, I’m listed. I get tons of calls from all kinds of organizations asking for money. There is one sure way to get them to hang up and never bother you again.
I tell them (in my case it happens to be true but I’m sure it will work even when it’s not true) I’m disabled and live on SSI & food stamps. I don’t have enough to pay both my rent and utilities and I go hungry the last week of the month. Since you raise money can you please do something to help me? They cannot get me off the phone fast enough and many just hang up on me. Not one as ever called me back a second time.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | June 16, 2014 2:45 AM
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[quote]at one time the US funded PBS, but Ronnie Raygun cut way back on their funding so he could arm the Contras. We've had incessant pledge drives ever since.
Oh bullshit, I remember pledge dries long before Reagan came into office.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | June 16, 2014 2:56 AM
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Why don't they just have pledge commercials throughout the year? Wouldn't that make more sense than milking money from their subscribers for a couple of weeks twice a year?
And after this is done, they will re-run all the shows that have new seasons starting late summer. I mean, who wants to pledge money for a summer of re-runs.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | June 16, 2014 2:57 AM
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My local PBS station has a pledge drive at least 2 weekends a month and every 3 months they stretch it out for a few weeks. The last drive, they said they were trying to raise money to buy new equipment to "expand their signal" in the area. Meanwhile, of the 4 PBS stations, 2 play the same programs at the same time and my signal constantly cuts out. I should look up who's in charge down there and drive by his house. If he's got a mansion, I'm going to steal their brand new satellite dish.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | June 16, 2014 3:08 AM
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I think they spread it out to give us a Britcom break, as there are only so many Hyacinth and Mrs. Slocum episodes to go around!
The Fort Myers station airs documentaries geared at the retiree audience about the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn, the orphan trains in the Midwest (couples picked kids to adopt kind of like getting popsicles from the Good Humor truck), etc. My folks LOVED watching that stuff while I visited. I think one of the pledge breaks was about musicals in the 40s/50s, which they loved, too.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | June 16, 2014 3:22 AM
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My local PBS affiliate is doing month-long pledge every three months. That means one-third of their programming is pledge drives.
R59, that might have been your local affiliate. That was not true where I lived at the time. I never saw a pledge drive until he made his cuts.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | June 16, 2014 3:23 AM
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PBS has NEVER been fully funded by government money.
Also, R61, are you planning to drive back in time to 1985 to steal that "brand new satellite dish"?
by Anonymous | reply 64 | June 16, 2014 4:03 AM
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I call home for Mummy to donate to my "pledge drive."
by Anonymous | reply 65 | June 16, 2014 4:16 AM
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R64, it differs according to the affiliate. Some affiliates get a major part of their funding from educational and other sources. The combination of those funding sources and what they got from the government meant they did not need to have pledge drives.
Where I live now, our local PBS affiliate gets funding from the state and local departments of education and a major state university along with what it gets from the federal government and pledge drives.
Other PBS affiliates have different funding sources.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | June 16, 2014 4:19 AM
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[quote]They are forever begging for money, like an evangelist. No matter how much they raise, they don't have enough.
Ha! I worked for a phone bank in high school, and one of the companies we called & harassed people on behalf of was…PBS. I still remember the script going like this: "Hi, my name is _____ and I'm calling on behalf of PBS to say THANK YOU for your donation!" At this point people would often cut me off and say, "Oh you're so welcome!" or "What a nice phone call!" or something similar…not having any idea I was about to hit them up for more money. The computer would then either tell me their three favorite PBS programs (assuming they'd been contacted before) or, if it didn't, I'd simply ask them & then type in their responses. This data collection wasn't because we gave a shit…oh no…it was to use against them in the next paragraph of my script.
I'd then have to say, "Mr/Mrs ______, we hate to have to call our donors back again, but PBS is currently in the red which means shows like (favorite #1) (favorite #2) and (favorite #3) are currently in jeopardy. To ensure future episodes of (favorite #1) (favorite #2) and (favorite #3) can we count on you for another donation of, say $500? Or even $250? (It KILLED me having to ask for these ridiculous amounts--especially considering these people had ALREADY donated--but if Q.A. overheard us not asking for top dollar, we got pulled into the back room & scolded). If they said no, we'd ask, "Can we count on you for $125, or would $100 be better for you today?" If they said no to that then we could finally say, "Well any amount helps--what can we count on you for?"
I'd always cringe when people would say to me, "It's so nice of you to volunteer!" Honey, I wasn't volunteering--I was being paid on commission and God only knows how much of the funds I raised actually went to PBS and how much was skimmed off by the call center. Non-profit my ass.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | June 16, 2014 4:37 AM
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Shit, that's good to know, R67. This is why I love DL.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | June 16, 2014 4:44 AM
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My PBS station now seems to do 2 weeks of regular programming and 2 weeks of begging.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | June 16, 2014 4:45 AM
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You pay for HBO. Pay for PBS. It's quality programming not offered elsewhere.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | June 16, 2014 4:49 AM
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I don't pay for HBO but I do pay for PBS.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | June 16, 2014 5:51 AM
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PBS needs to use some of those raised funds to start bringing in new talent for the Newshour. Some of the more *senior* females either speak at inaudible levels or sound as if they have been hitting the gin.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | January 12, 2015 11:18 PM
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Many of the PBS drive shows are informercials for senior citizens. There is only so much of Suze Orman that I can take.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | August 25, 2018 9:24 AM
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