Twin cities pbs youtube biography

Almanac quietly celebrated its 35th anniversary last month.

The Friday night public affairs show on Twin Cities Public Television debuted on Dec.

7, 1984, a date that will live in infamy, according to Almanac producer Brendan Henehan, who has been with the show since the beginning.

The Reagan era was in full bloom, and there was certainly much political and cultural upheaval, including Walter Mondale’s presidential flop; the Bhopal disaster in India; Prince’s three Grammys; and the debut of Miami Vice.

Oh, also: It was George Orwell’s fictional year of the Thought Police.

But none of that led to Almanac, according to those who were there. Instead, public television executives at KTCA, then usually referred to as “Channel 2” — now TPT or Twin Cities PBS  — say they fought for a chance to build a new type of public affairs show, with a format that would inform and entertain.