Private Weblets and Public Whitewashing

You'll notice that I haven't commented on UPN and the WB in my roundup of television network schedules for the fall. The reason for that is simple. I don't watch anything on those networks, and I'd be hard-pressed to name three shows on either network without looking at my local TV guide. Also, they're still minor-league networks, kind of like Fox in its early days, so I don't really take them seriously enough yet. So if you want commentary on these two "weblets" (as they've been somewhat disparagingly called), I urge you to go to Web sites far more authoritative on the subject than mine.

You'll also notice that I haven't commented on PBS programming. I could try to convince you that this is because I respect public television too much to mention it along with commercial TV programming, but after some of the nasty stuff I've said about it in the past, I don't think you'll buy that. PBS doesn't have its own sitcoms and scripted dramas, and their documentary and concert programming follows a different calendar from the commercial networks. And besides, given PBS chief Kenneth Tomlinson's efforts to make public television more establishmentarian than it already is - might Jim Lehrer's news show feature regular commentary from Tucker Carlson? - I don't expect much from it in the near future. Under the current Republican adminstration, we should expect to see on PBS fewer documentaries on Frida Kahlo or Bob Marley and more programs like "American Masters - John Wayne." Not to mention more "American Experience" documentaries saluting Claire Chennault and Strom Thurmond (and other assorted fascists).