A fall TV preview used to be a fairly simple and straightforward thing. But today, live TV is competing with a seemingly endless array of content and platforms. Consumers are now watching their favorite shows wherever and whenever they want. What shows are you watching and how?[View the story “The One Where Molly Ringwald Gets Delayed and Listeners Educate Us on TV” on Storify]
The One Where Molly Ringwald Gets Delayed and Listeners Educate Us on TV
Today was a great example of the perils and thrills of a live show. Our scheduled 10:00 guest, none other than the multi-talented Molly Ringwald, was stuck on an airplane. But our superstar listeners helped fill the gap with a great discussion on what t.v. they’re watching and where.
Storified by · Thu, Sep 06 2012 18:55:02
Here’s how we broke the news to our listeners and followers that Ringwald might not be on the show. Panic had already hit the office, now it was time to share that panic with the public.
Bad news. @MollyRingwald’s plane is delayed. We’ll only have her for a half if at all. We’ll keep you updated.KQED Forum
We scrambled to find guests who could talk about TV on a moment’s notice.
@UntitledProject — any chance you could join us for half hour radio segment on tv starting in 20 minutes. Yes, we’re serious.KQED Forum
@BastardMachine We’re trying to get in touch w/ you for 10 am segment. We want cranky pants! If u see this, cld you email jcampbell at…KQED Forum
Sadly, many could not.
@KQEDForum Sorry I missed the opportunity…Tim Goodman
But Willa Paskin, television critic for Salon.com and Reyhan Harmanci, culture editor/writer for The Bay Citizen, could. Paskin alerted Michael to a certain cult favorite.
.@WillaPaskin schooling Michael Krasny on why he needs to watch Battlestar Galatica. What do you recommend?KQED Forum
And our then our listeners and followers weighed in on their must-see t.v. And to reiterate the need for that certain cult-classic.
Love "Little Mosque" on Hulu. Set in the Canadian prairie, it?s a comedy about the trials and tribulations of creating a mosque and practicing Islam in rural Canadian. Funny and humanizing! Kathy Farquhar
As a fan of the Closer, the Wire and the Shield, I have to recommend "Veronica Mars" – a series that never got high ratings, but had devoted fans. It’s about a wise-beyond her years teenage detective set in Southern California. It had a great soundtrack too.Jen Coogan
Michael! You must watch Battlestar Galactica. But I came here to recommend Parks & Recreation, the most hilarious and uplifting sitcom I’ve seen in years. And all 4 seasons are available on Netflix. (I believe all of BSG is on Netflix as well..)Matt Danuser
All the while, Ms. Ringwald was rushing to the studio.
@KQED @kqedforum We are driving to you at super speed! (Well, super 50 which is the super speed limit..)Molly Ringwald
We continued taking TV suggestions from listeners.
Sports Night – was I think Aaron Sorkin’s 1st TV show, also possibly Felicity Huffman’s 1st. Loved that show, but it only lasted two seasons. Also loved My World and Welcome to It… Possibly my liking a show is its Kiss of Death?Heather Young
At the urging of some friends, I spent the summer watching the show Supernatural on Netflix. I was reluctant at first, thinking it was going to be way campy. Boy was I wrong! Sure, there is some camp in there, but there’s so much more. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the writing, the story arcs, and to the acting. I highly recommend this show to any sci fi and fantasy fans.Oana Stoica
i just recently watched the whole buffy series again! aside from some of the dated effects in the earlier episode it’s still so witty and even relevant.Carrie Elzey
Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, Newsroom, Doctor Who, Community are all on my fall list. Although not in the fall (spring actually), I’m really waiting for the third season of Game of Thrones.Young Park
HBO’s Treme is one of the most overlooked series on television. A brilliant show that captures the essence New Orleans post Katrina. Stacie Michelle Anderson
We also explored the many ways to watch TV without a television set.
I am a 24 year old and I do not pay for cable or satellite television. I always watch shows on Netflix and love finding new shows that way especially British shows such as IT Crowd, Shameless, and Downton Abbey that I would never have known about otherwise. I find it disappointing that I can’t stream shows selectively from channels such as HBO and Showtime. I would gladly pay to stream shows from them if the option was available.Betsy Rapp
@KQEDForum I have amazon prime, netflix, Hulu, and mls live season pass…. Most basic cable though.Daniel Tellez
I cancelled my cable a few years ago. I have a Roku, through which is stream a set of (8) Indian channels and use Netflix. The rabbit ears provide the local channels ( and got a fairly descent coverage of the Olympics too). The entertainment bill has come down to $40 from $120.Jimmy Jose
@KQEDForum TV shows on Netflix. News clips on YouTube/socially shared, then whatever HuffPo aggregates from the Daily Show. No in house set.Terry Parris Jr.
I cut the cable cord a long time ago. Between Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus and Netflix, I have no need for Comcast. My fav shows right now: Doctor Who (always!), The New Normal (watched the pilot – awesome!), Sherlock, and Grimm. And for those with access to BBC iPlayer, Parade’s End with Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) looks promising.Miriam-Jeannette Castañeda Handal
Don’t worry, we won’t tell on those of you who use BitTorrent.
@KQEDForum highly recommend Luther on the BBC. I scored the last season via BitTorrent *months* before it aired in the US (shh.. don’t tell)Jen Henrichs
One caller even received some advice on how to save money watching sports. (People helping people — social media is awesome!)
The woman whose partner is watching sports and pays $176 per month for cable can save more than half of that to watch those sports legally. All the big four sports have subscription services which permit you to watch online. NASCAR and Indy racing also have streaming services too.Kenn Fong
Unfortunately, during the show, Geek & Sundry, the YouTube brainchild of Felicia Day, was misidentified.
Sorry @feliciaday but @KQEDForum called your channel "Greek & Sundry" on their show today. :(Trevor Holland
@TrevHolland @kqedforum noooooo!Felicia Day
@trevholland Wait, what? We did? Horror! Embarrassed! Shame! Our sincerest apologies @feliciaday.KQED Forum
@KQEDForum @feliciaday To be fair, Michael was just reading an email from a listener so it may have been a typo in the email. :)Trevor Holland
All in all, the last-minute, thrown together television segment turned into a radio show we were pretty happy with. I think some listeners were too.
Enjoying this impromptu @KQEDForum talk on TV shows way too much. I watch too much TV.Joey Golaw
Then Ringwald arrived and the world rejoiced!
.@KQEDForum We’re listening. Glad she made it! Great so far, as always.SF Film Museum
Michael and Molly went on to talk about her novel, about Raymond Carver, and her next writing project. A few callers even gushed.
@KQED @kqedforum Thanks Michael for a great conversation! Sorry that it wasn’t the full hour, but we packed a lot in 25 min!Molly Ringwald
Thank you Molly! As for you, dear reader, if you missed the segment on television, you listen to that here. If you missed the Molly Ringwald interview, you can listen to it here. You can also listen to Ringwald read from her novel here.
Now, off to prep for tomorrow’s show.
Richard Aoki: Black Panther or FBI Informant? Join our discussion Friday at 9. http://ow.ly/dwPm9KQED Forum