- If you love Pittsburgh and love television like I do, you've probably heard of Rick Sebak and his wonderful documentaries.

Rick and I have known each other for a long time.

We've worked together, traveled together and shared lots of meals, even Christmas dinner.

So when we figured out that Rick was approaching his 50th anniversary in public broadcasting, I realized there was a lot I still wanted to ask Rick about how he got here and why he loves his work.

So I'm calling this show A Few of Rick Sebak's Favorite Programs and hopefully a few of yours too.

- Okay, so let's turn the phone off - The floor is yours Minette.

- Alright, so we are here to commemorate or celebrate your 50 years in public broadcasting.

So my first question, I guess is how did you get started in public television?

Because I think a lot of people assume your work started here.

- No, my, I I, my work started because I studied television at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I have a double degree in English and what they then called R-T-V-M-P Radio Television Motion Pictures.

And because of that, my mom was aware that I was interested in getting into television and she sent me an article out of the Pittsburgh Press when Barbara Holsopple used to write part of the Women's Pages.

And it said, Josie Carey is doing a children's soap opera in South Carolina.

That's all it said.

I was in North Carolina at college and my mother said, you should, you know, check this out and you know, maybe send her a letter.

And I sent Josie Carey a letter.

I remembered her from WQED when I was a kid.

- Why?

Hi, how do you do?

Why?

Hi, I'm Josie.

Why Hi, how do you do?

- She responded and said, we'd like to meet you, why don't you come down on your spring break?

I was asking if I could be a summer intern and I went down on my spring break.

They said, yes, let's do this.

And so I spent a summer as a do-all and a regular on the children's show in South Carolina called we Wheee!

W-H-E-E-E exclamation point.

- Wheee, wheee, wheee, wheee!

- The ideal beach activity, of course is reading, weekends and vacations at the beach... - The combination of things that I did there was really interesting and fun.

And I did a series about children's books called Jump Over the Moon.

- Books, especially picture books designed for small children.

I did a show about the state dance, which is called Shag.

- In parts of the southeastern United States, people still do a popular dance, which began in the 1940s.

- It was really popular and fun.

And I remember there was some skepticism even in the, in the local press, you know, can a guy from Pennsylvania do a show about the state dance of South Carolina?

That started, you know, my interest in a longer form documentary and I was working with a cameraman, Buck Brinson and we ended up winning a little inside-the-business competition.

We got to go to Australia, we did a 90 minute program about the Spoleto Arts Festival in Melbourne, Australia, which was also in Charleston, South Carolina and Spoleto, Italy.

We also made a little documentary about our trip and that's called the Slightly Wacky Aussie Doco.

- Okay, you need to know that when Australians use this word to describe something Australian, they don't say Aussie, they say Ozzy, like Ozzy and Harriet.

And when they talk about a documentary, they often shorten the word to just doco.

And since this documentary covers a lot of things Australian, but none too seriously, we thought it might best be called a Slightly Wacky Aussie Doco.

- (singing) All together now!

Tie me kangaroo down sport, tie me kangaroo down!

Tie me kangaroo down sport, tie me kangaroo down.

(singing ends) - It's September of 1986, it's spring here in the Southern Hemisphere.

- It was about that time that I heard that there was this opening here at WQED.

There was an ad in Broadcasting Magazine that a friend suggested I respond to.

I didn't have any great desire to come back to Pittsburgh.

Yet, I answered the thing with a sort of flip letter and I sent a copy of the Slightly Wacky Aussie Doco and they contacted me from here at WQED and said, we'd like to meet you, why don't you come visit your parents?

So that's what got me here and I had nine interviews in one day and then they offered me the job that day.

So I was stunned several times.

- Transplant Town... - When I first got here, I, I think the very first thing I did was Transplant Town.

It was because the organization called Trio -- Transplant Recipients International Organization was having an international conference here and WQED wanted to have a show while they were here in town.

- ...and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Pitt Medical School.

I started that.

I loved everything that I got to learn because Pittsburgh in 1987 was the world capital of organ transplants.

- Starzl, Dr.

Thomas E Starzl, in 1981... - Dr.

Starzl was here and we were especially known for liver transplants and multiple organ transplants.

The thing that I think some people remember about the show, which is still fine with me, was, I don't know at what point I just realized, oh, the music for this show should be all organ music.

- You have a really good story about the idea behind the mon, the Al and the O?

- We're calling this program The Mon, the Al and the O.

- Well actually that was an assignment too that I think another producer had started.

It was called Three Rivers.

And Nancy Lavin, who had hired me said, I'd like you to finish this.

And at that same time, Prince Charles, now King Charles, came to Pittsburgh for a big conference called Remaking Cities.

- Hello, I'm Rick Sebak.

Remaking cities is a huge task facing urban communities around the world.

Many people consider Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the archetype of the decaying industrial city.

- I remember that Prince Charles, at the time, spoke at the Benedum and he did questions and answers at the end.

And a guy from Philadelphia stood up, identified himself and said, all I hear about is the Mon, the Mon, the Mon.

What about the Al and the O?

And I always thought, oh, that's kind of fun.

Nobody says the Al and the O here.

But that became the title for the show.

The Mon, the Al and the O.

- This program is part of WQED'S Pittsburgh History Series.

- Were your programs always known as the Pittsburgh History Series or is that something that evolved?

- I think we'd done Kennywood Memories, We'd done the Mon, the Al and the O and when we did Holy Pittsburgh, there was an article in Current, which was the newspaper for Public Television... - It still exists.

- Still exists, yes.

And Nancy Lavin, who hired me said, there's always little bits of history in your shows, we should call your shows, the Pittsburgh History series.

And so we made that little logo for Holy Pittsburgh, liked it, and we put it on the earlier shows and then continued and we still do.

It's sort of my brand, the Pittsburgh History Series.

- This program is part of... - It's that little bite of swing music and then the logo sweeps into the screen that I, I just love.

- It's actually a big band intro to the song The Smoke... or Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

(music plays) - I didn't know that - which I thought was was kind of Pittsburghy too.

I think it's Tommy Dorsey's Band.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

- So in those early documentaries, Kennywood Memories has got to be one of the best loved of all of them.

- On summer mornings.

Kennywood doesn't open to the public until 11 o'clock, but the people who take care... - I just thought having grown up in Bethel Park and knew what importance was attached to the Kennywood Day for everyone growing up in Pittsburgh, Kennywood Park has been a whirling, screaming, high flying part of Pittsburgh summers since 1899.

So in the summer of 1988, Nancy Lavin said, why don't you look into that kennywood thing?

And I called Kennywood, you know, without prep or anything and I said, you know, I'm a producer at WQED, we'd like to do a documentary about Kennywood.

And Andy said, yeah, sure, come on out.

You know, I said, there's six of us who would like to come tomorrow and you know, check things out.

And he goes, no problem.

And so six of us went out, we had a great time and you know, we started to shoot and I think we shot 25 days at Kennywood.

- When you go to Kennywood, you can't see it all.

You never know what goes on behind the rides.

And while you're trying to taste all the kinds of Kennywood cuisine, you don't stop to think about all the history that's made this place such an extraordinary Pittsburgh institution.

And maybe you've never been there on Italian Day.

It doesn't matter.

If you've ever been to Kennywood, you know that the best things you take with you when your parents force you to leave at the end of the night, are memories.

(Fun Screams) - So that was fun.

I just gathered things on and on and when it came out, people paid attention.

- Brian Bartley and Gino Chamboredon have come here to make sure all is safe on the park's 1980's steel coaster, the Laser Loop.

- One of the joys of my life has been encountering people who come up to me and say, Hey, I'm in Kennywood Memories.

Because, you know, we were just trying to capture the, the joy of it.

And in, you know, some people got a little tiny taste of immortality by being in it.

- Wet, greasy wood can be like ice.

- You alright Gino?

- Yeah.

- Sure you're all right?

- And it's, it is astounding and I'm very lucky.

I also, you know, know that there's a, a set of programs from later... - Not my top 25... - 25 things I Like About Pittsburgh.

I've lived most of my life here and I've made a lot of television programs about great things in Western Pennsylvania.

If we had the time, I could probably tell you a million things I like about living here.

These factors... - Pittsburgh A to Z, (man yelling) A History of Pittsburgh in 17 Objects... - Why not a prime number like 17, just an arbitrary number that would let us look at almost a dozen and a half things that were like keys to some aspects of Pittsburgh's past.

- All those stories seemed that they could fit anywhere, but that's just the desire to, you know, tell good stories and celebrate Pittsburgh.

- That leads me to my next question.

There's a, a bunch of shows that I like to think of as the neighborhood shows.

There's Downtown Pittsburgh and Houses Around Here, The Strip Show and North Side and South Side.

What is it about Pittsburgh's neighborhoods that make them so special and so memorable?

- It's our topography, first of all, that makes the neighborhoods have sort of a separate identity.

And I think anybody that lives here quickly learns that your neighborhood is an important part of your story.

- Hospitals, a couple of food places and the stars above, they just all happen to be on the North Side and that's why we're gonna call this program North Side Story.

- North Side Story was made possible by the Buhl Foundation.

- I can't thank the Buhl Foundation enough.

They gave us money to do North Side story and then were happy.

And so we continued with South Side and then There's Something About Oakland and you know, on and on, we did neighborhood stories because people are proud of their neighborhoods.

- It's hard to say exactly what makes a neighborhood work.

- So I counted and there was this super busy period between 1994 and 2002 where you produced around 16 documentaries, which is a lot, including some of my favorites.

So Happy holidays in Pittsburgh.

- We shot it in 2001 and released it in 2002.

(Singing) - Deck the halls with boughs of holly - But since ancient times people have worked and partied hard to fight the darkness.

People use lights and celebrations, decorations and family gatherings to brighten the early winter nights.

- My dad said there was no such thing as an ugly girl or an ugly Christmas tree.

- We, we were able to go out with our cameras and capture all the activities around the holiday season.

- Tell you what, it's exactly what I was looking for and how often do you come and find what you're looking for?

- Not just Christmas, but Hanukkah and Kwanza and all the other different things that happened at that time of the year.

In fact, in 2001, Ramadan happened at the same time.

So that concurrence was a good thing.

Celebrating the fact that everyone is celebrating.

- How about The Strip Show?

- Oh, The Strip Show is great.

When I grew up, the Strip was not a place that I think people frequented, but it became that I'm, I'm gone from Pittsburgh in the seventies and I think that's when The Strip starts to develop as a place where people love to go shopping and get great food and you know, just wander around and make it a Saturday morning thing.

- This program is about a neighborhood in Pittsburgh called the Strip District or often just the Strip.

It's a marketplace, produce yards, restaurants, a hot night spot and a very historic part of town.

- All roads lead to the Strip all year long.

- I think there's a energy down here too.

- What do you want?

How much and goodbye.

- Nobody has a strip like Pittsburgh.

- It's a show about The Strip District and we're gonna call it The Strip Show.

- Three shows that I think is a perfect summer lineup for any summer Sunday -- An Ice Cream Show, A Hotdog Program, and Great Old Amusement Parks.

- Those three are all national shows.

And that happened because of Pennsylvania Diners.

- So sit at the counter, order some pie, get ready for Pennsylvania Diners and Other Roadside Restaurants.

- Which happened because of the Pennsylvania Road Show.

- When you drive in Pennsylvania... - At the screening of the Pennsylvania Road Show here at WQED, Chris Fennimore said "I could watch a whole hour on diners", and all along all the shows we did here, we would send to PBS in Washington and say, would you consider airing this nationally?

And they, they would always say, oh, it's so local so only you people in Southwestern Pennsylvania care about this until we did Diners.

And then they said, oh, let's show this nationally, everybody knows this kind of restaurant.

- You don't really feel like stopping at a fast food joint.

You know what would be ideal?

A diner.

There are diners all over Pennsylvania, not always near the interstates, but diners are good places to go if you want to find a little local flavor as well as some decent grub.

- It got great ratings across the country.

They said, what other shows would you like to do nationally?

And I, I remember putting together a list of 10 topics, which included the three you mentioned.

In the middle of making all of these programs that unintentionally I realized... - Sylvia, here we go.

- I think the connecting element is a celebration of small family-owned businesses.

- His son Jimmy works here too.

(women singing) - I searched heaven for you.

No matter what we did, it was involved a small business and I love that.

- Well it's one of those places where those two ideas collide - In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the part of the city called Oakland.

You'll find the Original Hotdog Shop.

- The last story is the O in the Hotdog program.

I mean, which we assumed I think would be here forever.

Not only celebrates what it was, but it celebrates the fact that it was here and it's now a historic document.

- A man named Sid Simon opened the O in 1960 and his daughter Terry Campasano... - That can show people, oh this is the hotdog place that used to be in Oakland that everybody knew and loved.

- I saw the fries.

And I'm like, there's only me, there's just me that's going to eat these.

- But what is it about going out on the road that you love?

- No, there's, there's an allure to it that I don't know, but still I feel it in my car.

I always want to, I love a drive.

And I think our rule sort of became, if our story was east of the Mississippi, we would drive.

And if it was west of the Mississippi, we would think about flying.

- We're gonna check out a few markets around the country from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale, from LA to DC.

- Ah, even you don't make a lot of money.

But you know, you met a lot of people.

You see, - You meet a lot of really nice people and some weird.

- Flea markets is like a show.

You never know what you're going to see.

- It was also this separate thing that - You are in Juneau, Alaska.

- Let's always include either Alaska or Hawaii.

Because sometimes I think people forget that those are also real states in the United States and everybody liked going to those exotic places.

Being on the road, I liked being in the van, we would talk, just became a magical trip, you know?

And we were always aware of it.

I think a little bit.

It's only now that I realize like, wow, how fortunate we were to get to do these things, to get to travel all across the country.

And, and of course when we did the Lincoln Highway, there was no flying.

- It goes completely from one coast to the other.

There's no end to it.

- We think the Lincoln Highway is first and the best and the longest and all that stuff.

But - Before the Lincoln Highway you just didn't jump in your car and, and, and take off any distance.

- The Lincoln Highway is really a, a great way to learn about the geography and the history of the United States.

- I think it's the second biggest thing on earth - When I look at the amazing things that we did, not only before the internet when we had to like just make contacts with people to get suggestions as to where we should go and what we should do.

But also before cell phones.

There's lots of pictures of us in phone booth.

- Yeah.

- You know, in 39 years here at WQED we've seen some changes.

- There was A Program About Unusual Buildings and every time I see a giant donut I think of that show.

- I think I have a great picture of you at the Giant Donut in LA.

Right.

And I remember we, I had wanted to make our rule that the building had to be able to be stepped into.

- Alice offered to give us a tour of the goose.

- Come on in.

I'll be glad to show you round.

- The giant donut in LA, you could walk into the donut shop underneath.

The shoe house here in Pennsylvania.

You can actually go into it.

And I wanted that to be in the, the big fish up in Northern Wisconsin.

- Yep.

- But at the same time we, I, it's A Program About Unusual Buildings and Other Roadside Stuff, because we also love the Green Giant.

- Yeah.

- That we encountered by accident.

That's part of the joy of those national programs was finding things that you didn't know about or that someone would suggest to you while you're shooting something else.

And that's always a joy.

- I think what I, you started, what was your first series in 2010?

It's Pittsburgh and A Lot of Other Stuff?

- Everybody hates the Squirrel Hill Tunnels.

- Yes they do.

And they should, I hate them as well - Unless the traffic is flowing and it's not rush hour, then they're okay.

- Well if we didn't have 'em, you'd have to drive around - Having a title like it's Pittsburgh and a lot of other stuff, We were able to use it to have new stories, to also reuse a story or to use a story that got cut from another program.

- You're not even supposed to build roads like this.

- I stopped at a Sheetz the other day and a guy was getting in his car and he goes, Hey, I just wanted to tell you I love that Dirty Dozen show.

And I said, oh did I said, did you do the Dirty Dozen?

He goes, no, I couldn't even consider it.

He said, I just love that show.

Yeah.

And the fact that, you know, there are bicyclists who can do the 13 steepest hills in Pittsburgh.

- I was aware there was a movie the Dirty Dozen with Ernest Borgnine, but I don't think we took it from that.

- Danny Chu was the guy that started that.

I, I love the fact that times change.

Businesses go out of business, people pass away.

But video has a way to keep things alive.

I love that ability of video to give people life beyond their lives.

- It's also I think the place where the North Park versus South Park story... - Like how did that start?

Frank sent me a text that said, Hey did you know North Park is a whole lot bigger than South Park?

And I responded with like Yeah but you know what?

We have some bison and you don't.

- This sounds like a TV show.

I thought.

And here we are.

This is a special edition of It's Pittsburgh and a Lot of Other Stuff.

- I think programs can start anywhere and you know who knows how they end up.

- A history and celebration of two big parks near Pittsburgh.

- You did the series Nebby - And this is a Kickstarter pitch - Produced and financed in a completely unusual way of the way we usually do things.

- I remember people were excited about Kickstarters.

It was a new way to raise money via the internet.

I recognized that it was like public television.

It was asking people to support something that they might like.

And just in thinking about what I might do with it, I thought, oh let's make it very Pittsburgh.

And I thought about Nebby, meaning nosy, and we raised $150,000, which I think surprised a lot of people.

- Uh huh.

- And we made eight programs, many of which I am so proud of.

One of which you co-produced with me about the The Vintage Mixer.

Yeah, love that.

- And so we came up with this idea of the mixer.

We wanted it to have some atmosphere.

We wanted it to just there to be a fun vibe.

We wanted there to be a bar.

- And we wanted something that was strictly vintage.

And when you go there, you know it's all just gonna be vintage and it's gonna be good stuff that's been really well curated.

- I loved it too.

You had a crew and I had a crew and we knew that we would be working all day and halfway through the day we switched crews.

- Yeah, - It was excellent.

- This program in the Nebby series is - The Nebby programs I'm very proud of.

I also had an accident while producing Nebby, which meant my leg in a brace.

No bending the knee or weight on my left leg for weeks.

- Tripped and ruptured my quadriceps tendon, ended up in Magee Hospital for seven weeks during the Nebby period.

And because of that I ended up doing some unusual shows, including the two half-hour follow ups to Kennywood, That Kennywood Summer and Don't Stand Up.

- Let's start in Westmoreland County on a foggy fall morning.

- Meat Pittsburgh.

The first story in Meat Pittsburgh at Jamison Farm, which was a lamb producer.

I remember that morning very well because when we got out there to near Latrobe, it was so foggy and Frank was the cameraman, Frank Caloiero, and I said, what are we gonna do?

And he goes, this is perfect.

And it is, I think, one of the most beautiful sequences we ever got on a lamb farm near Latrobe.

- That was the best thing I've ever shot in my life.

- Then there was the podcast that you and Rich Capaldi did called Gumbands.

- Okay, this is Gumbands episode, whatever it is with Rick and Rich.

- Seven?

- Take one.

- It was totally Rich Capaldi's idea.

He said, you know, we should do a podcast.

And the Buhl Foundation helped again.

- This Gumbands podcast is made possible by the Buhl Foundation.

- I think we did 12 episodes.

I'm proud of them all.

They're longer interviews than I used to do or that I'd done before.

- Your grandfather's recipe, is that what you said?

- Yes.

My grandpa Jack was a cook in the army and was a really good cook.

- My grandfather bought me the player piano roll of "The Entertainer" and also the real sheet music.

- Let us celebrate individuals in Pittsburgh who had made splashes in various different ways.

- This episode of Lucky to Live in Pittsburgh, we feature some fine folks.

- So now we're in the lucky years and Lucky to Live in Pittsburgh is the series you're currently producing.

- It's a collect-all kind of title.

Let's me do any story that I can think about... - Near the house, there's a statue of him as a surveyor, but he played many roles in local, state and national politics.

- I mean some of the stories that we've done for Lucky to Live in Pittsburgh are all time favorites.

I think of the Weirton- Serbian chicken blast.

- I answer the phone at six - O'clock 'cause we've been selling out really quickly this year.

- What's happening now is after the chickens are done, and they measure the temperature and all that kind of stuff, then you have to get 'em off of the spits.

And these spits have four skewers on 'em.

- It is the best chicken.

- When they do chicken every Wednesday in the summertime in Weirton at the Serbian picnic grounds.

I think of the Mother's Milk Bank, which was an incredible story set here in Pittsburgh.

- All the immunological properties of human milk protects those little fragile babies that are... - I love that ability to just do a short story and combine them with others, unexpected.

- Driving up Route Eight near Butler, we were lucky to stop and find out what they do with this sandstone quarry called Raducz Stone.

And we were equally lucky to see what goes on at Weatherbury Farm in Washington County where they grow and sell ancient wheat.

- I am totally, constantly, grateful for cooperation from people that I have to ask people, you know, can, may we come to your house, may we meet at your business?

Can we interrupt things for a day?

I just think that, you know, we are a bit of an invader, but it may be for good.

- I'll take you back and we'll give you a tour.

- Mary invited us to see what goes on behind the shop.

- You know, talking with Rick about his past 50 years helped me remember how fortunate we are to be able to share his stories and to travel with him to all those fun and exciting places - Established in 1913.

- This is a medium sized piece of Mortadella.

- But most of all to meet the people who somehow feel like neighbors.

- Sing the menu for 'em.

_ What do you have?

What do you have?

What do you have?

Have your money in your hand and all in your mind.

- I am grateful for people's time, for their insights and for their enthusiasm.

- These Troy Hill Germans have a long history... - That's what we try to capture - There ya are!

- Since I was a kid, I've known that that red light down there... - Having been away for a while and coming back to Pittsburgh, I am aware that there is something unusual about this city.

- The ceilings were high... - Maybe it's history and the effect of all of that.

Maybe our terrain, the effect of all those factors on the people and make us, I hope a little friendlier and you know, grateful to be here.

- Action.

Ow.

- I've come to the conclusion that beach reading must be one of the highest forms of entertainment known to man.

- Australia is a lot like America, especially in its urban areas.

- George Debolt not only had the privilege of touring his hometown with the Prince of Wales, but he was also citizen advisor to the team of experts who came to study the Mon Valley.