KCET's 50-Year History, in Poetry

From classical, jazz, and rock concerts, to dance performances, to star-studded teleplays to today's "Artbound," the arts have been a consistent and powerful component of KCET's programming throughout the station's 50-year history. So it's perfectly fitting that Departures columnist Mike "The Poet" Sonksen offers his own artistic take on KCET's story, through an original poem.

KCET: 50 Years of Community Television

50 years of community television in Southern California

kicked off on KCET in 1964.

Public affairs programming committed to educating the community

ameliorated the vast wasteland of contemporary television

young filmmakers in the streets, unifying a city afraid of itself,

innovative producers like Sue Booker and Jesus Treviño,

Doin' it at the Storefront

broadcasting as the news unfolded

a vibrant civic dialogue, a passion for storytelling,

a link between neighborhoods, reinventing the public media,

advocating political issues and the particulars, celebrating local heroes,

Bukowski on Bukowski, the election of Tom Bradley, creating a new vocabulary.

PBS presents the American Family, Things that Aren't Here Anymore,

the Meeting of Minds, Carl Sagan's Cosmos, Camera 28,

Masterpiece Theater, Modern Math for Parents, Ralph Story,

the Friendly Chef, Citywatchers, Hollywood Television Theater.

A World Class Spectacular, the Cousteau Odyssey, the MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour,

the Olympic Arts Festival, videologs of California stories, Huell Howser, Bill Moyers.

KCET wins 14 Emmys in 1990, other honors like the Governor's Award

from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Signature series like Life & Times, California's Gold, California Connected,

A Place of our Own, Los Niños en Su Casa.

The KCET Store of Knowledge.

Personalities like Val Zavala

SoCal Connected, the launch of Departures,

Boyle Heights, reclaiming the LA River, CicLAvia,

Artbound as Transdisciplinary Media.

Live musicians in Studio A, interactive art projections,

Ozomatli to Cat Stevens, the rise of digital television

KCET.org, the online forum, winning more awards

Golden Mikes, the Peabody,

the curtain call of Huell Howser, Democracy Now,

the split from PBS, the merger with LinkMedia.

Leaving Los Feliz,

reborn in Burbank, inspiring a better state.

Broadcasting to educate,

salute to a half century of KCET,

50 years of community TV.