10 Things You Didn't Know About PBS & PBS Shows

PBS was founded in 1969 but commenced broadcasting in 1970 — The French Chef being its first broadcast. The French Chef was a television cooking show created by Julia Child, and produced and broadcast by WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the first cooking shows on television and introduced French cooking to the United States at a time when it was considered expensive restaurant fare, not suitable for home cooking.

The pioneering series ran for five years, cementing itself as not only a vehicle to celebrate African American artistry, community, and culture but also as a platform for political expression and a powerful force in the fight for social justice. Mr. SOUL! portrays in exquisite detail a revolutionary time in American culture and entertainment through vibrant archival footage and interviews with numerous Black luminaries who appeared on “SOUL!,” or were impacted by it.

The famous sweaters were knitted by his mom, Nancy McFeely Rogers. She made at least one every month until her passing. When Mister Rogers' sweaters became too worn to wear on the show, he would donate them to charity events. One of his (and her) sweaters was later hung in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Kerger joined PBS as its sixth president and chief executive in March 2006, and is the longest serving President in PBS history. This year (2023) marks her 17th year as the head of the network. Under Kerger’s leadership, PBS has deepened its impact, from providing universal access to early learning resources through the PBS KIDS broadcast and streaming channels, to empowering educators with digital resources through PBS LearningMedia.

What is now 'PBS NewsHour' began with public television’s coverage of the U.S. Senate Watergate hearings in 1973 by Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer. In 2009, Lehrer transitioned the program from 'The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer' to 'PBS NewsHour.' Lehrer left the anchor desk in 2011 and in 2013, then rotating anchors Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, were named co-anchors and managing editors of 'PBS NewsHour.' Ifill and Woodruff’s appointment marked the first time a U.S. network broadcast had a female co-anchor team.

PBS provides more than 1,200 hours a year of children's, primetime, educational, and cultural programming from which its member stations can choose. Every day, PBS and its more than 335 member stations fulfill our essential mission to the American public, providing trusted programming that is uniquely different from commercial broadcasting. Each month, over 66 million people tune to their local PBS stations, more than 32 million consumers use PBS’s site and app and 48 million viewers watch PBS content on social media.

Bob was passionate about sharing his love for painting with the world and in 1982 along with his partners he launched 'The Joy of Painting' on public television. From 1982 through 1994, Bob recorded more than 400 episodes. Bob experimented and refine a wet-on-wet technique and ultimately created his own unique version along with the custom made paints, brushes and knives needed to follow it. The Bob Ross wet-on-wet technique is also known as “alla prima” or “direct painting”.

'A Chef's Life' is a half-hour character-driven documentary and cooking series that takes viewers inside the life of Chef Vivian Howard, who, with her husband Ben Knight, left the big city to open a fine dining restaurant in small-town Eastern North Carolina. This series won an Emmy, Peabody and James Beard Award.

POV (a cinema term for “point of view”) premiered on PBS in 1988. POV is television’s longest-running showcase for independent nonfiction films. POV premieres 14 to 16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 400 independently produced documentary films to public television audiences across the country.

From the cozy corners of English countryside estates to the bustling streets of Victorian London, PBS has adapted a number of classic and contemporary books into television series'. From 'Call the Midwife' to 'Tom Jones,' 'Downton Abbey' to 'Poldark,' a number of our favorite PBS shows were adapted from books into television classics we can rewatch without limits.