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GPB--mistake or is it about to leave again?


I was on zap2it and noticed on October 1st in AYBS timeslot is a show called "French Fields". It could be a mistake on the guide but I was wondering if anybody knows for sure if they're about to pull the series? I know it's been on for quite a long time, except for that time period from a few years ago when the rights were lost because of a contract issue.

Thanks for any/all replies! :)

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Looks like the guide was right. French Fields is on in Georgia.

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I haven't seen an episode of AYBS in over a decade, maybe two. Are you saying that it was in syndication in GA all this time? So weird that it hasn't aired here (Chicago) in so long.

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Our local PBS station in NC shows it Weds night at 11pm, they are almost up to the last season again

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I'm so jealous! I double checked it simply isn't airing here.

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I've gotten the first 6 seasons so far an burned to discs so I can watch whenever I want.

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I checked years ago, and they didn't have the whole series on DVD at that time. I see they do now, I'm just going to have to buy it for myself since PBS doesn't appear to be going to air it anytime soon.

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It ran for ages in our local Virginia PBS area, but was taken off just about two years ago, with budget issues being cited as the reason. We're down to only two britcoms now, a few years back they were airing six of them back-to-back on Saturday nights.

I don't know why they don't rum marathon airings of some of these comedies during their pledge drives: they're among the more popular PBS offerings, and marathons of these would probably draw a lot more subscribers than those endless extended Time/Life 'My Music' commercials they're airing these days would. Still, I suppose those are cheaper to buy than the leasing fees for britcoms, so we'll probably see less AYBS and the like in the future, and more of TJ Whatshisface and those clip shows instead.

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Yeah, it used to run here with Keeping Up Appearances (which still comes on, just not as regularly as it used to). But then they stopped years and years ago. I don't know why because I thought it was the funniest of the two shows. They do still show a block, four hours worth, of BBC shows on Saturday, so at least I have that.

I agree, I would LOVE to watch a marathon of AYBS instead of commercials during the pledge drive. I generally watch a lot of PBS, but my viewership drops off significantly when it's the pledge drive. They never air anything I want to see anymore during that period. Oh well, since they've been doing it for so long, it must be working for them.

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I've never gotten the appeal, and I'm a baby boomer myself. I enjoy the nostalgia aspect of them once, but when they air the same bloody ones ten times during a begathon, enough's enough. Same thing with The Lawrence Welk Show--I can't imagine what demographic it now appeals to; all of its original target audience are long dead, and it's the sort of program the boomers were reviling back in the day. An occasional episode of it is good for a laugh, but our outlet runs it faithfully week in and week out, and never pre-empts it even for pledge drives. I suspect the Welk estate must be supplying the program either for free or very cheaply to PBS stations that will air it, and maybe even throwing in a hefty contribution as inducement to those who do. I cannot imagine that there are that many people around who actually have an interest in the show to justify airing it otherwise.

Lucky you, though, that you're still getting 4 hours worth of BBC in your area. Here we're down to KUA and As Time Goes By--both of which I love, but they've been aired threadbare and I'd love to see some old favorites and some newcomers added to the lineup. But I don't think that's going to happen.

50 Is The New Cutoff Age.

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Yeah, I was the same way. I watched them the first time, and really enjoyed the music, even though I'm Gen X, and almost bought them, but after the 100x, it's too much! I have my theories on the LWS. I think it has more to do with the fact that his brand is still being utilized and so they using the LWS as a selling tool.

While I should count my blessing that I do have some BBC shows left to watch, I'm a little upset with how they've scheduled them. Saturday night used to be a prime time viewing night for me and because most of the episodes they air now are either ones I've already seen or ones that I don't care about, it's not. KUA used to be on at 7pm like clockwork, but currently it's off the air and has been for a few months. I suspect it'll come back some time after the new year (I looked at the schedule for the rest of the year yesterday). And with it will be ATGB at 7:30. Since they don't air the shows in order anymore, I'm not a real fan of ATGB, even though I love JD. Whenever I catch an episode, I'm lost as to what's going on, so it's hard for me to enjoy it.

The shows that I currently have available are also aired in no particular order (except Luther which appears to be about to go off air in a couple of weeks). So for Doc Martin, I usually end up seeing repeat episodes within a few weeks, when there's so much of that series that hasn't been re-aired. Father Brown and Death In Paradise I've seen almost the complete series of each. I've missed a few FB episodes from the new season because I didn't like the new DCI. IMO, they have gold with these shows, but someone in scheduling doesn't know what they're doing.

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I couldn't help noticing how the britcom block was getting shorter and shorter. They added a couple of dramas on earlier in the night. They play Father Brown, Rosemary & Thyme at 7 and 8 pm. 9 pm is the official start of the britcoms--they play Keeping Up w/ Appearances, As Time Goes By, French Fields and Miranda. They were getting to the end of the Miranda series so I'm curious to see if they'll play the last two episodes when the pledge season is over and go through another Miranda rotation or if they'll pull that series.

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Yep, it'd been playing over here. It's strange to me that you haven't seen it in so long! I know the different PBS channels play different things but I would've assumed they would've rotated something out and inserted it in for at least one rotation!

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