Anniversary Broadcast Tells Much About KPBS : Television: Marathon of local programming reveals predictability, conservatism that have dominated its shows.

KPBS-TV (Channel 15) has managed to put together a roster of shows that inadvertently illustrates the public-broadcasting affiliate’s dramatic weaknesses better than any scathing letter to the editor or independent analysis could.

The compilation is meant to celebrate the station’s 25 years of broadcasting by dedicating six hours of air time Saturday to show some of the best programs produced by KPBS over the years. The broadcast will coincide with a swanky “Under the Quarter Moon” anniversary gala that night at the Paladion.

To some, it will be amazing that KPBS managed to cull six hours of quality local programming for the segment, given its erratic history of production. Others will find it equally amazing that the station is actually dedicating six hours to local shows, which is certainly an unprecedented event for KPBS.

“We were trying to put together an overview of the type of programs that we’ve done over the years,” said KPBS producer Wayne Smith, who organized the series.

In that sense, he has succeeded better than he could have hoped.

As represented by the list, the quality of the local productions over the years has always been strong, but the quality of ideas has gone up and down. Most glaring, the series makes it clear that, in recent years, instead of getting better, KPBS seems to have fallen even further into the doldrums, contenting itself with a few quickie documentaries and serving as a conduit for the national PBS lineup.

It may not have been the station’s intent to contrast the earlier documentary work with the staid recent productions, but that is the result.

The series kicks off at 1 p.m. with a half-hour documentary produced in 1984 on the rebuilding of the Old Globe Theatre, “The Old Globe: A Theatre Reborn.” The ode to KPBS programming includes “Chicano,” a 1969 story on the local Chicano movement by Paul Marshall scheduled to air at 2:30 p.m., and “When Peace Comes” a 1968 piece scheduled for 3:30 p.m. described as “a historical look at San Diego . . . when peace in Vietnam was thought of as a possible threat to the city’s economy.”

The list also includes “Ballad of an Unsung Hero,” the 1983 documentary produced by Isaac Artenstein and Paul Espinosa about radio pioneer Pedro Gonzalez, which is scheduled to air at 3 p.m., and “Whales That Wouldn’t Die,” a 1980 documentary produced by Susan Kahnweiller Pollock, which reflects the days when the station had a science department. “Whales” is scheduled to air at 2 p.m.

Certainly these programs were all worthy efforts, but even they reveal a firmly entrenched conservative programming philosophy. The topics are solid, but unspectacular. There is no humor, no imagination in the style of the productions. None of the programs on the list can be described as controversial or challenging. Nor is there a single entertainment program included.

But the older programs shine compared to the recent productions in the series, which, for the most part, are typical of the safe, uninspired programming that characterizes the work of the station’s entrenched leadership. Nothing on the list produced in the last 10 years is remotely challenging or ground-breaking.

The current era of KPBS is represented by “San Diego Week,” a weekly panel show featuring nervous-looking print reporters conversing about local news stories, and “Seniors Speak Out,” the talk show focusing on seniors’ issues.

Smith said that some newer programs were excluded because they had aired recently, and the station didn’t want to repeat them. But followers of KPBS know that there hasn’t been more than a handful of non-talk-show programs produced in the last few years worthy of repeating.

Two of the recently produced shows on the list provide a hint of what the station can do when it dreams big, when it shows a willingness to even slightly break the staid form. “The Art and Vision of James Hubbell,” scheduled to air at 1:30 p.m., is an exceptionally simple but wonderfully executed piece on the sculptor, designer, painter and naturalist. Produced by Vern Kifer and Marshall, it relies on music and the stunning visual images of Hubbell’s work to involve the audience.

“The Art and Vision . . . “ is hardly a revolutionary piece, but at least it strives for a more lyrical tone than the standard three-interview KPBS documentary.

The other recent work worthy of note is a compilation of the forums on the presidency staged by KPBS and UCSD. For each of the three shows, the series brought together the chiefs of staff, press secretaries and campaign managers of recent presidents, providing unprecedented historical forums, which were surprisingly entertaining, thanks to moderator John Chancellor. The “best of . . . “ compilation will air at 5 p.m.

The presidency series is a dramatic example of the power of a public television station to operate as a catalyst of a significant event, to bring together divergent forces. But it also serves as a vivid reminder of how rarely KPBS utilizes this power, especially when it comes to more localized topics.

In recent years, the station has occasionally tackled social issues--”Victims at Birth,” a piece on babies born to drug-abusing mothers, comes to mind--but KPBS has shown little interest in pushing any boundaries or addressing any controversial local topics.

Even in the realm of KPBS, the recent years have been unproductive. Just look at the type of stories that don’t get done anymore, as illustrated in the compilation.

In 1970, Philip Coscor and Philip Hurn produced “Best for Most,” the story of two brothers who fought to save their small dairy farm in Mission Valley from encroaching development. Or “Don’t Dump on Me,” a 1982-piece produced by Gloria Penner and Patrick Perez about waste disposal and recycling.

Topics such as the Sagon Penn saga or the J. David scandal or the roller-coaster career of Roger Hedgecock cry out for documentary treatment. A controversial locally produced documentary on Penn that should and could have aired on KPBS ended up airing on a cable community access channel, and it won an Emmy. In recent years, KPBS has seemed more interested in avoiding controversy than being a true public forum. It’s much easier to do shows like “San Diego Week” and “Seniors Speak Out,” which give people only momentary pause while they jump through the channels.

Of course, documentaries are expensive to produce and studio shows are not.

“I do a whole year of ‘Seniors’ with the same budget it took for Paul (Espinosa) to do an hour on Tijuana,” Smith pointed out.

There is a willingness and desire to do different things, said Smith, a 20-year employee of the station who has produced several documentaries during his tenure. But recent cutbacks have made it more difficult to find the time. He devotes most of his time now to “Seniors Speak Out,” which airs nationally.

It is unarguable that the economy has made KPBS less effective now than it once was. However, KPBS currently has a $9-million budget. If it can only afford to produce studio shows, a few odds and ends and programs that receive huge outside grants, then some may argue that KPBS has turned into a self-perpetuating institution that has outlived its usefulness. That is unfair, but it is an argument the station will have to deal with if it can’t produce more interesting programming.

KPBS officials counter that the lack of local programming is exactly why they need a new facility, the current subject of a fund-raising campaign. The new building will allow for more locally produced programs, they say. And please send a check.

But attitude is more important than a new facility. No amount of studio space is going to make KPBS interesting if the station’s management is only interested in producing more talk shows.

Saturday’s compilation demonstrates that KPBS at one time had at least a glimmer of interest in doing more interesting local programs. It also shows that it has producers able to do good work.

Given the economic times, it might be wise for KPBS to rethink its attitude toward cutting-edge local programming. People might be less annoyed by the station’s relentless shilling during pledge breaks if they could see their money going for the type of local programming they can’t get from commercial stations, if the station was really more interested in serving all of San Diego.

Deserved or not, KPBS is often seen as a society vehicle for its management who are more interested in keeping wealthy patrons happy than really being a station by and for the public. The high-society fund-raisers have always seemed more a KPBS trademark than outstanding programming. In many ways it’s been a self-perpetuating machine for the last 10 years, doing just enough to keep up the veneer of being local, while primarily trading on the national programs it can offer.

Perhaps KPBS officials can discuss that over crepes at the Paladion on Saturday night.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

A SHARPER ‘BLADE RUNNER’

Devoted fans of the sci-fi thriller “Blade Runner”--and there are a lot of them, mostly designers, architects and depressed Trekkies--are raving about the recently released director’s cut of the 1982.

Unlike the earlier version, which received minor critical acclaim before dying at the box office, the updated edition, screening at the Park Theatre, reflects the wishes of director Ridley Scott. The cheesy narration by Harrison Ford is gone, and so is the happy-smile ending, which reportedly was sliced together from outtake footage from “The Shining.” Seventeen minutes of footage was also reinstated.

In other words, Scott’s version has more of the factors that made the film a cult classic--the gloomy sets and the harsh look at a future populated by evil “replicants,” genetically manufactured human beings. The elimination of the elements that Warner Bros. thought the film needed to make it popular has only enhanced its appeal to the audience that appreciated it.