Passport
Introducing: What We Watch!
January 27, 2017 Leave a Comment
With so many great programs on Wisconsin Public Television, it’s hard to pick favorites – especially for the people who work here! Meet some of the people behind the scenes at WPT and see what gets us excited in this new blog series, “What We Watch.”
First up: Diane Agans, major gifts manager, who has worked for WPT since 1986.
With two busy teenagers, Diane enjoys programs the family can watch together and discuss – which includes a lot of public television programming!
Diane’s top three, catch-whenever-I-can picks:
I totally watch Charlie Rose, several times a week. It’s nice to be able to get him on either WPT or The Wisconsin Channel; I’m still an old broadcast person, rather than streaming. He’s contemporary, a wonderful interviewer. It’s always about the personalities.
FRONTLINE has been wonderful, particularly with what’s been going on in politics. My kids are 14 and 18, and my daughter just voted for the first time. We view it together; they seem to appreciate and get what’s covered. It’s a font for a lot of discussion in our house.
American Experience. You learn the world from history. I tend to like the autobiographical shows, so if it features an interesting personality, I’ll check it out. Same with American Masters.
Other favorites we watch together:
Masterpiece evokes history, which is a point of discussion. They’re at the age where they’re figuring out the world around them; history is starting to go into context. A lot of stuff we’re seeing on public television is making them realize the place of things in the world.
Every minute of Sherlock is so well-performed and moves so fast; it’s so contemporary for them. They had no idea about the Sherlock series before this, so it’s an introduction to some literature, too – done very differently.
Great Performances: It fascinates me. They watch the Tommys and the Final Forte because it’s their peers; that surprised me! They were all over Hamilton. Personally, I love stuff like the Broadway shows.
There was a time when Nature was a real big deal for us, and an occasional NOVA. Their lives are busy! But with what’s been going on in politics, with the last two years running up to the election, it’s heightened their awareness. They’re getting more sophisticated history stuff in school; they’re able to gather the context. What they see on WPT gives them a view outside of school and enhances their learning.
My kids grew up on PBS Kids. As they evolve into young adults, they’re coming back to public television with a different set of lenses. Public television is helping them put the pieces together.
