WQED Pittsburgh: Media-Only Press Room

WQED MULTIMEDIA PREMIERES RICK SEBAK’S NEW PROGRAM THAT IS USUALLY CALLED “IT’S THE NEIGHBORHOODS”
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Rick Sebak, Producer
WQED Multimedia Pittsburgh

Rick Sebak makes unusual television programs.

His slightly wacky documentaries celebrate various aspects of modern American life and the unexpected charms of Pittsburgh. Audiences have learned to recognize his friendly narrative style and the unusual topics that he obviously loves.

His most recent effort is a program called IT’S THE NEIGHBORHOODS, full of unexpected stories about various aspects of a few neighborhoods in southwestern Pennsylvania. As usual, the stories are told primarily through the voices of the people involved, whether they be folks in Bloomfield bragging about their Little Italy Days parade or coffee drinkers at the Tazza D’Oro coffee shop in Highland Park or the feisty women from one neighborhood in suburban Collier Township who formed the Hi Neighbor Club in 1958 and have been meeting the fourth Tuesday of the month ever since.

Rick’s latest national project, a documentary titled A PROGRAM ABOUT UNUSUAL BUILDINGS & OTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS, premiered on PBS stations across the country in July 2004, while his 2003 Pittsburgh program called THINGS WE’VE MADE has also been airing on public TV stations across the country in summer of 2004.

He’s done an hour about hot dogs and hot dog shops across the United States. Another hour on flea markets. Ninety minutes about Pittsburgh’s great commercial neighborhood called the Strip. You can catch can his “Sandwiches That You Will Like” on public television or on DVD. He’s put together programs about pre-Disney amusement parks, really good ice cream places, “Stuff That’s Gone” in western Pennsylvania, and, in a special called “Shore Things,” he documented some of the non-environmental reasons why people like to go to the beach.

Rick’s programs may make you want to travel. The New York Daily News has said, “Rick Sebak is not a filmmaker. He’s a brainwasher. He’s a brainwasher because you can’t watch one of his effervescent films without having a very strong urge to follow in his footsteps and experience firsthand the places he presents so compellingly.”

He has put together seventeen individual special programs that make up what is called the Pittsburgh History Series, including a very popular 1988 program titled “Kennywood Memories” about the wonderful old amusement park near Pittsburgh, a show called “Pittsburgh A To Z,” one titled “North Side Story,” and a much imitated documentary titled “Things That Aren’t There Anymore.”

After his statewide special on “Pennsylvania Diners And Other Roadside Restaurants” aired on PBS stations across the country in 1994, earning good ratings without any significant promotional campaign, Rick began making national documentaries for PBS including “An Ice Cream Show,” “Great Old Amusement Parks,” and “A Flea Market Documentary.”

He has a way of quickly capturing the essence of a place and its people. His documentary “Sandwiches That You Will Like” delighted viewers, tempted their taste buds and, in the process, convinced them to contribute to public television.

PBS stations around the country often rebroadcast Rick’s programs because audiences respond so favorably to the quirky blend of Americana, places and personalities.

In 1990, Rick converted one of his local specials into a national program for PBS: "Our Neighbor Fred Rogers." In 2003, after the death of Mister Rogers, Rick rewrote the documentary which was reedited with new narration by Michael Keaton, and the resulting program titled “Fred Rogers: America’s Favorite Neighbor” has aired on PBS stations nationwide. For his work on the 2003 program, Rick was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming.

Before coming to WQED in Pittsburgh, Rick worked for 11 years at the South Carolina Educational Television Network in Columbia, South Carolina. His work there included the award-winning documentaries "Shag," about the official state dance of South Carolina, and "The Slightly Wacky Aussie Doco," a travelogue about Australia.

Photo of Rick available at www.wqed.org/press and at www.pbs.org/pressroom