Watching 60 Minutes 2, and they are doing a bit on the Antiques Roadshow, and now it comes out... the bits that get on TV are like 1 in 1000, only the good ones make it, and they're all hand-selected. So now everybody in the country thinks they have some $10,000 piece of shit in the attic, and PBS is playing everyone for lotto-lovin' fools, who like a big money-fer-nothing story but need it to be "culturally correct".

That was never really hidden and is quite reasonable. In any show like that it is normal to select the highlights. They really do go after out-an-out fraud, like when one set of appraisers brought in a ringer with a Civil War sabre. I think the cutaways which show the large volume of people in lines and the occasional 10 second scenes where a baseball card collection or some minor find is describied should get through the point that "big finds" are rarities. At least to most intelligent people. Even some of the featured finds are of relatively low monetary value. They even stated that the appraisers compete for the spotlight but that "interesting" does not always mean high monetary value.

I find the stories behind the pieces interesting and even educational. I don't think they have anything to answer for.

Good concept, faulty execution.
 

Why isn't there more heartbreak as cherished heirlooms turn out to be nothing more than common-grade crap? Where is the violent disappointment of dreams ruined? When (oh when) is the show going to break out with a good chair-swinging brawl, and appraisers develop personas to match their naughty or nice nature?

Dammit, if I can't see a steel-cage appraisal over a Faberge egg end with the discredited merchandise being ground into the eyes of the appraiser who Ruined Someone's Life, I might as well just watch C-Span. What is PBS doing with my lack of contributions, anyway?

Well in this town PBS stopped getting my donations when they started airing Lawrence Welk on weekends. It was only after that I realized that WHYY is loaded anyway. They have a huge amount of space in one of the richest districts in town. They have fancy computer-animated staion IDs. They have a ton of really ritzy studio space that nobody puts much good use to. They really only care about who gives them donations and that demographic is not me. I want Frontline and Black Adder 24 hours a day and I'm really only willing to pay for Frontline.