Pleasant evening TV viewing hard to find

For ages, I used many batteries channel surfing trying to find something interesting on evening TV. As I clicked my remote I saw snippets of troubled people airing problems, home shopping presentations, with people promoting products like make-up, horrendous Christian rock music concerts, preteen shows, Sponge Bob Square Pants, political shows with people who have opposing political views talking simultaneously. sometimes yelling, 50-year old re-reruns, a program in Chinese with Chinese subtitles, to mention a few.

One evening I found an Italian mystery show titled, “Don Matteo,” a hit series in Italy. It is about a priest who solves crimes, helps criminals confess and accept responsibility for their misdeeds. The well-written series with English subtitles has a beginning, a middle and a happy ending. The writers develop their characters, have a plot and sub plot with likeable characters, some of whom inject comic relief.

The series is presented by KBTC-2 (PBS) at 9 p.m. on Channel 334. The Italian script writers for “Don Matteo” are able to hold the interest of viewers without foul language, sexual scenes or gratuitous violence. There are no commercials except occasional PBS fundraising so they can keep programs on the air without commercials. “Don Matteo” It is on every evening. During that time, if the phone rings, I do not answer.

For those who like to end the day with something pleasant, I highly recommend tuning in to “Don Matteo.” I wish American scriptwriters would follow the lead of the Italians..

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 8:34 AM with the headline "Pleasant evening TV viewing hard to find."