CETconnect.org

With all the advances in technology that have been embraced by CET over our 50+ year history one would think that we would be able to get our program listings right so our loyal viewers could log on to CETconnect.org to see what is being offered on any of our channels.  Well I have to be honest with you!  There is trouble in River City.

What might seem to be a simple process of listing our programs is actually a set of several processes and tacks that would make Rube Goldberg proud. The listings you see on CETconnect.org as well as those appearing on the on-screen guides from the cable company or satellite provider come from a national service operated by Tribune Media Services and TV Guide Magazine.  CET provides the information and the national services distribute the information.  The listings appearing on CETconnect actually comes to us from PBS,  who gets it from TV Guide,  who gets it from CET.  We have used this system because it can be automated with little or no staff time required to provide this program information.

There is a problem however.  There is a lag time between the time we inform them that we have a change and the time the information winds its way though cyberspace and updates our own listings on CETconnect.  In short, we look stupid because often any last minute changes do not get made to our own listings and the software does not allow us to make manual changes.

Heaven knows we already do enough to be perceived by some as stupid.  We don’t need another reason.  I am happy to tell you that beginning very soon we are changing the process and will no longer get the information from these national services.  Rather we will set in process a local updating that will allow us to provide more accurate information on all our channels.- Jack

You’ve probably watched a program on cable, satellite or over-the-air that had a guest on from Cincinnati. Chances are very good that the guest was sitting in the LaRosa Studio here at CET. In addition to providing great television, CET also does quite a number of remote interview feeds. These are interviews that feature the host of a program talking to another person not in studio.

I’ve had the pleasure over last ten years to crew many of these feeds, or “inserts” or “hits” as we call them. In a nutshell, we will get a call from CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, ESPN, the NFL Network, ABC, NBC or CBS, to name a few, asking if a studio is available at a certain time on a certain date. If it is, the network books the studio and they tell us who our guest will be. As the “hit” time approaches (i.e., the time of the interview), I or one of my colleagues go to the studio and prepare for the feed.

In the studio, besides a camera, is the S.P.U.C. cart. S.P.U.C. stands for Single Person Uplink Cart. The cart carries an audio mixer, a couple of telephones, a telephone/intercom interface, cables and a make-up kit. One telephone is for the guest in the studio to hear the program audio. A small amplifier is connected via a long cable to the telephone and an earpiece is plugged into the amp and inserted into the guest’s ear. The actual earpiece is clipped onto the collar of the guest behind his or her head. A clear coiled plastic tube runs from the earpiece over the guest’s left or right ear and inserted into the ear canal. The other telephone is for co-ordination purposes so that I can get directions from the network technical staff. I wear a wireless intercom beltpack so that I’m always in contact with the “head” end. I also lay out a microphone to clip onto the guest. Once everything is checked out, I go to the lobby to meet the guest.

I bring the guest back to Studio C and seat them in a chair on the set. If you’ve watched our program Focus on CET, you’ll know which set I’m talking about. I make two telephone calls and establish communications with the network.

Then I put earpiece in the guest’s ear and clip the microphone to their jacket or tie. The guest chats with the program’s producer and I talk with the program’s technical staff. They tell me how to frame the shot with the camera and if the audio level is too loud or too soft. If the guest has some shine on their face, a little makeup is applied. We wait for the interview to begin. Sometimes the interview begins on time and sometimes the segment is delayed due to breaking news. Five or so minutes later, it’s all over. I remove the earpiece and microphone from the guest and escort them back to the lobby. Then I go back to the studio to reset for the next feed. We always have it set up and ready to go.

A few years ago, a guest showed up in our lobby for a hit that we knew nothing about. We had them on the air five minutes later.

Paul Verhagen is a Production Specialist at CET. He is the station’s main audio mixer and also a videotape editor. He also gives the best station tours in town.

At CET we are fortunate to have access to a television pretty much anytime we want it. So at about 10 a.m. everyday I turn up the volume on the TV in my cubicle for Sesame Street. You may know that, not counting any Elvis specials, Sesame Street is my favorite show on CET. So I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when I get the Season 38 Press Kit and DVD Reel. 

You can take a peak at one of the segments here. It’s a clip of the adorable Elmo singing about signs with Chris Brown. Actually, this video caught the eye of our President & CEO and fellow blogger Susan Howarth who wasn’t sure who Chris Brown was. She has since found out he’s a pop singer, dancer and occasional actor. But he’s not the only musician to make an appearance on season 38. If James Blunt is more your musical style you might find this video clip a little more to your liking.

 Also, one of my favorite news guys, Anderson Cooper, will make an appearance on GNN, the Grouch News Network. Unfortunately there aren’t any You Tube previews for that one. And there are plenty of parodies to look out for including “A’s Anatomy,” “RSI: Rhyme Scene Investigation,” “Meal or No Meal,” “Dancing With Triangles” and of course much more from those witty Sesame Street folks. 

So if you were in charge what shows would you parody for Sesame Street? Or what singer, actor or other entertainer would you like to see visiting your favorite monsters? If it were up to me I’d like to see Zach Braff hanging out with the muppets. I’d also like to see my older brother do a scene with Ernie since he looks EXACTLY like Bert when he wears stripes. (I think I’ve about got him convinced to dress up like Bert for Halloween! Keep your fingers crossed he goes through with it!) 

And because I have mad love for Cookie Monster here’s a YouTube clip on him.

-Katie

There was an article by Jeff Zaslow in a recent Wall Street Journal that I found pretty amusing. Essentially, the gist was: kids are growing up with a narcisstic attitude and an air of entitlement. The blame for creating these little monsters is quite obvious: the  parents. Mr. Rogers.

I don’t disagree that there is a certain segment of our population that can best be described as self-absorbed brats (many I know are much older than college age). There have always been people wanting to put their own needs above others, this isn’t anything new.

Our culture can seem more individual-focused and the road to self-empowerment can lead to egocentrism if you make a wrong turn at self-esteem. Yet this isn’t a brand new problem and didn’t all of a sudden happen. Studies as far back as the late 1960’s have shown that many adolescents grow up thinking that they are the most important thing in the world. This can lead to more Veruca Salts and fewer Charlie Buckets.

But really… Mr. Rogers?

As would be expected, the article did raise up some dust. It became the most viewed and most emailed story in the last month. Many folks wrote back to Zaslow, telling him in no uncertain terms that Mr. Rogers shouldn’t be held responsible for kids (and adults) who grew up with a “Me First” attitude.

Mr. Zaslow does admit he used Mr. Rogers as a means of provoking and he does raise some very good points in the article. Unfortunately, he chose a target that is near and dear to many of our hearts. We’ve mentioned before the impact that Mr. Rogers has had. And it’s safe to say that there probably wouldn’t be public television as we know it without Fred Rogers, as this video clip demonstrates. In a world that grows increasingly scary each day, it’s reassuring to know that we can still find compassion, love and acceptance. And yes, darn it, we are special. While that doesn’t mean that we’re entitled to things like good grades or choice parking spaces, it does mean that there is only one you in the world just as there is only one me. And that’s a wonderful thought.

If that sort of thing is corrupting, then I invite you to corrupt your children with Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood every weekday morning at 7am right here on CET.

 –Brian

Sunday marks the return of Geraldine McEwan in the Mystery! series, Miss Marple. As an Agatha Christie fan and a book lover, I hold the text to be the definitive edition. Adaptations are good but they often lead to unnecessary changes. Sometimes these changes make my geek alarm go off, and, sadly, lead me to grumbling, stomping my feet and debating about it for hours. Mostly on the Internet.

Take Jurassic Park, or as I like to call it, Westworld With Dinosaurs. A plausible book with some interesting theories and ideas. Granted, the kids were annoying and the action was a bit graphic but a good book nonetheless. Enter the movie with a healthy helping of the Spielberg factor: kids made more annoying, the science becomes a bit more Disney-fied (are we really to believe that UNIX platforms can be identified via a GUI, let alone use fly over animation?) and everyone lives (except the lawyer, the black guy, the fat guy and the grizzled hunter)! The book had a much higher body count, the movie had better CGI.

And don’t even get me started on Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Right off the bat, I’m going to tell you to just read the book. Or better yet, listen to the original radio series.

Visual adaptations of books, being for the eyes, tend to leave out things like inner monologue and thoughts. That’s fine. You can’t have a character stop in mid-action and say, “Thinks: what’s Harry doing walking out the door with a sawed-off shotgun?” or “Thinks: Why Barcelona?”. Movies and TV can’t quite convey that sort of depth or insight without tedious exposition. That’s fine. Change can be good if it’s for the right reasons and it enhances the work. But when plots are changed or new characters are introduced or motivations are switched and these then lead to major upheaval of the original story… that’s what causes all sturm und drang amongst those who prefer the text editions.

Such is the case, at times, with Miss Marple. Series 1 changed the murderer in one story, motive were changes in others, and subplots added. Series 2 featured adaptations of books that never featured Miss Marple (By The Pricking of My Thumbs, for example, was a Tommy and Tuppence Beresford mystery). Series 3 is no different with Sunday’s story, Towards Zero, being based on yet another book Miss Marple never appeared in.

Granted, there are a finite number of Miss Marple books and there are only so many times you can adapt The Mirror Crack’d. And neither is this unique as everal of the Margaret Rutherford films from the sixties were adaptations of Hercule Poirot novels. And Murder Ahoy! was not even based on a Christie novel at all, causing the author herself to note at the time, “It got very bad reviews, I’m delighted to say.”

Quibblings aside, I guess I should put my cards on the table and say that these adaptations, while not completely faithful to the Christie books, are very good. Ms. McEwan’s performance is admirable and unique. She’s a stronger woman is our Miss Marple and the character is better for it. And the guest stars… Simon Callow, Dawn French, Joanna Lumley, Herbert Lom, the list goes on, a veritable Who’s Who of British celebrities. Incidentally, this Sunday’s episode features Tom Baker — the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who which can be seen Saturday nights beginning at 10:30pm on CET — as Miss Marple’s eccentric old friend Treves (that does sound like our Tom, doesn’t it?).

Miss Marple captures the zeitgeist of the original novels without devolving into parody and, at the same time, modernizes it for 21st century viewers. These changes can make enjoying the series a little challenging but, overall, it doesn’t detract from your overall delight of seeing Miss Marple solve another mystery.

Tune in this Sunday at 9pm for Mystery!: Miss Marple in Towards Zero right here on CET!

– Brian

Well, the Fourth of July is almost upon us as it usually is this time of year. And here at CET, that means it’s time for A Capitol Fourth. This annual concert broadcast live from the US Capitol in Washington, DC, is chock-full of patriotism and stunning music. The Cincinnati Pops’ Erich Kunzel leads the National Symphony Orchestra in this star-studded event. Scheduled to appear are American Idol’s Elliott Yamin, Grammy-winning singer Yolanda Adams, Bebe Neuwirth, Little Richard and, from the hit show Heroes, Hayden Panettierre. The evening will be capped off with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture complete with live cannon fire as well as fireworks over the Washington Monument (Because what’s classical music without some visual and acoustical pyrotechnics?). However, I don’t doubt that there won’t be a Stars & Stripes Forever thrown in. Let’s just say that I’m a sucker for some Sousa.

Trivia note: did you know that John Philip Sousa’s Liberty Bell March serves as the theme music for Monty Python’s Flying Circus? Did you also know you can see Monty Python’s Flying Circus right here on CET? It’s true: Saturday nights at 11:30pm right after Doctor Who.

This year’s festivities is hosted by Tony Danza. After the break, check out an interview with Tony Danza, himself. And don’t forget to tune in Wednesday night at 8pm, then catch the repeat performance beginning at 9:30pm right here on CET!

–Brian

Continue reading A Capitol Fourth…

This Sunday is the 32nd Annual Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies. Broadcast live from CET’s Studio A, this event honors local male & female high school student athletes and coaches for their achievements on and off the playing field. Five athletes and two coaches will be inducted into the LaRosa’s High School Hall of Fame.

Following the broadcast, segments from the broadcast will be available on CETconnect. Last year’s event was the most-watched video on our website.

More information about the event can be found here. And don’t forget to tune in this Sunday at 3pm.

 –Brian

By now, you may have seen short promo spots for Ken Burns’ new documentary, The War. This seven-part series, directed by Burns and Lynn Novick, focuses on World War II and how it affected this country on a human scale. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’m the son of a WWII vet so I greatly anticipate this documentary. To me, it’s more interesting to hear the people’s story rather than just the tactics of generals. I guess I’ve always been more sympathetic towards Willie & Joe than Patton & MacArthur.

I might add that CET produced its own documentary on the local effects of WWII. Hosted by Nick Clooney, Cincinnati Reflections: The War Years — Life At Home highlights how the tristate responded that day in December, 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. It really is a fascinating look at the sacrifices our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents made in order to help the US and the Allies achieve victory.

A PBS Preview of Ken Burns’ The War will air July 1st at 10:30pm. And starting July 4th, look for a special 60 second promo titled “In Extraordinary Times” to begin airing right here on CET.

One expects that, with Burns’ attention to detail, The War will become the benchmark for future WWII accounts. Ken Burns’ The War airs this September on CET. Keep checking in for more information and further updates.

–Brian

In a former life I was a newspaper reporter. The first part of that life was spent about an hour away in Owen County. Though it’s really only about 52 miles away from my hometown, it seemed like a world away.

While I only lived in Owenton for about a year I met a lot of wonderful people. Being one of the two-person news team for the entire county, I got around.

One of the articles I wrote was about a man named John Harrod. He just won Folks Heritage Award and I wrote an article about him and his work. Now he’s featured in Rhythm of my Soul: Kentucky Roots Music, airing this Tuesday.

 John is an extremely nice man who welcome me into his home, played fiddle for me and showed me some of his collection of bluegrass musicians’ recordings. I’m sure he’ll come across the same on this program.Be sure to tune in to Rhythm of my Soul: Kentucky Roots Music , June 12 at 10 p.m. on CET.-Katie

This past Sunday marked the return of Mystery! to CET. The long-running anthology series has had a home here at CET for nearly 30 years. While some folks were always drawn to the sleuthing prowess of Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot, the highlight of each episode, for me, was always the opening titles.

Now, you may not know this but those titles are based upon the artwork of a man named Edward Gorey. Gorey was an artist and writer known for his whimsically macabre illustrations featured in such books as The Doubtful Guest, The Unstrung Harp and The Haunted Tea-Cosy. Gorey’s stories featured seemingly disinterested characters inhabiting unsympathetic worlds and awaiting cruel fates, all created in a very meticulous style. A lot of detail went into Gorey’s illustrations, whether they were grand gothic houses or Dickensian squalors.  As much work went into the stories he crafted as well. Sometimes, passages were in verse, sometimes, it was straight narrative and still other times, in French limerick. He was really quite an eclectic artist and writer.

Perhaps, his most famous creation is the book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, a Dr. Seuss-as-envisioned-by-Stephen-King narrative in which children are dispatched alphabetically. The book is a particular favorite of folks with a taste for the darkside and it has been reproduced in the form of a poster. I had one that hung on my wall between a Cure poster and another featuring Ian Curtis of Joy Division. You could say, I was a fun guy in my younger years.

Gorey was a great fan of ballet and, for years, never missed a performance of the New York City Ballet. This love for ballet showed in his work as characters often inhabited ballet poses, a plié here or a grand jeté there. They hinted of movements both graceful and lissome whether it was of a deranged brute or a small child.

 Sadly, Gorey passed away in 2000. However, his voluminous work endures for new fans to discover, whether they’re reading Cautionary Tales For Children or checking out new episodes of Mystery!