Pittsburgh A to Z

Dec 2, 2001

1h 26m

★ 0.0

Overview

Here are twenty-six Amazing, Beautiful, Captivating and Delicious pieces of a great medium-sized city! This unusual video includes everything from Fish sandwiches to Grant Street, from the History Center to our Interesting Islands. Pittsburgh A to Z is a delightful documentary that celebrates (in alphabetical order!) a wide variety of topics from Amateur Archaeologists (looking for arrowheads and other ancient American artifacts) to the zinging zaps of the Zambelli’s. It’s an amusing adventure, a tantalizing tour, a homey history lesson led by popular producer Rick Sebak. All that and much more!

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

WQED

Pittsburgh A to Z Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Rick Sebak

"The trauma of 9/11, the ideology of violent retribution, military service as a patriotic family tradition, the “unfairness” of today’s warfare – in their voice-overs, five young Afghanistan war veterans first establish familiar foundations. Joe, Torrie, Mike, James and Justin from Pittsburgh are slow to show us their faces. Physically unharmed but full of inner pain they have become the misunderstood upon their return. Their violent experiences speak a language that the people at home don’t understand.

10.0

A Flea Market Documentary

Jul 30, 2001

A Flea Market Documentary is a new PBS special and an all-American celebration of open-air shopping across the country. On any weekend, there may be no better place to find out what makes America great than at a flea market. A Flea Market Documentary is an unabashed celebration of the unusual people and the enticing things that can be found in parking lots, fairgrounds, drive-ins, sidewalks, and wherever else someone has posted a sign saying "Flea Market." It's capitalism mixed with craziness. It's amazing old stuff, great salespeople, the ancient tradition of the open-air market, and the possibility of finding a bargain, all uniting shoppers across the nation. Produced by WQED Pittsburgh, A Flea Market Documentary travels from the gigantic Rose Bowl Market in Pasadena, California, to the busy but modest- sized Eastern Market in Washington, DC, talking with organizers, vendors, food merchants and shoppers.

7.5

Tough Guys

Sep 15, 2017

10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.

0.0

Kennywood Memories

Sep 30, 1988

It’s roller coasters! French fries! And lots of good times! It’s a high-flying, double dipped, screeching, squealing, scream-your-eyes-out documentary about one of America’s greatest amusement parks, Kennywood!

0.0

Great Old Amusement Parks

Jul 21, 1999

On a Hot Summer day, there may be no better place on earth than a traditional amusement park. A place where you can hop on a classic wooden coaster, reach for the ring as you whirl by on the merry-go-round, or cool down on the Caterpillar. In this documentary, you get to visit some of America's most charming parks from Lake Compounce in Connecticut to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in California. You get to gallop on the Derby Racer at Playland, go with the flow on the Boat Chute at Lake Winnepesaukah, and rock on Deno's Wonder Wheel at Coney Island. And of course there are coasters, including the Thunderbolt at Kennywood, the Cyclone at Astroland, the Raven at Holiday World, and San Diego's Giant Dipper!

8.0

A Program About Unusual Buildings & Other Roadside Stuff

Jul 11, 2004

A travelogue featuring oddly-shaped buildings (and the folks who live in, work in, own and admire them) located along USA highways.

8.2

A Hot Dog Program

Aug 31, 1999

Enjoy an all-American celebration of what may be the country's most popular fast food. From Connecticut to South Carolina to California, Rick Sebak visits some of the nation's coolest hot dog places, taking viewers inside a giant hot dog-shaped building, stopping at some crazy late-night stands, and looking at how hot dogs are made. Wonder how and when hot dogs became so popular-or what toppings are tops these days? Tune in and find out.

0.0

The Strip Show

Jan 1, 1996

The Strip District is a delicious old neighborhood in Pittsburgh. On most Saturday mornings, its one of the best places on earth, full of hungry people, crunchy fruits, snappy vegetables, world-class street food, cool characters and tasty surprises of all sorts. This 1996 documentary is a tour of the Strip including big breakfasts, shopping along Penn Avenue and Smallman Street, warehouses, churches and nightclubs, along with some amazing history. Producer Rick Sebak says, "It ends up being a big commercial for the Strip, but the neighborhood deserves lots of loving attention. Its a great, great place."

0.0

Breakfast Special

Jul 14, 2010

This documentary from PBS travels throughout America in search of the best breakfast places the country has to offer. Along the way, the patrons, employees, and owners of such establishments give their take on what makes for great breakfast fare, and what keeps a customer coming back for more.

0.0

The Ocean - Five Years

Invalid Date

An early morning phone call in 2017 changed the lives of two teenage brothers bonded by their love of percussion. One died tragically in a car accident while the other determined to make sense of his loss through music.

0.0

Shore Things

Jul 31, 1996

People love going to the beach for lots of different reasons. The sun. The sand. The salt-water taffy. In this slightly wacky documentary, we consider all kinds of things that draw people to the coast: board walks, seafood, lifeguards, even metal-detectors and roller skates. From Nantucket to Venice Beach, people relax and bounce in the waves. From the Outer Banks to Oahu, beachgoers bring along their fishing gear and hope to catch some dinner.

7.0

Sandwiches That You Will Like

Jun 18, 2002

Maybe it's Pittsburgh's chipped-beef "Slammer" you're craving. Or Iowa's Maid Rite "loosemeat"? Louisville's "Hot Brown"? Escape fast-food sameness on a mouth-watering tour through America's distinctive sandwich landscape. Let veteran guide Rick Sebak (A Hot Dog Program, An Ice Cream Show) take you across the country to New Orleans for muffaletta, to Chicago for Italian beef, and New York City for pastrami on rye.

0.0

Wylie Avenue Days

Jan 1, 1991

The Pittsburgh History Series is an ongoing series of hour-long documentaries that highlight various parts of our city's history. Since 1988, these documentaries have captivated local audiences by mixing memories, old films, [mementos], home movies, snapshots and new interviews.

0.0

A Few Great Bakeries

Aug 25, 2015

Bakeries are popular places. They smell great. They are full of wonderful things to eat, from crusty breads to gooey and sweet treats. And they often become neighborhood meeting places, where bakers work hard and where people often leave with good feelings as well as fresh baked goods. In this documentary, we celebrate A Few Great Bakeries across America, never claiming that this is a list of "Best Bakeries" but rather just a few warm ones worth checking out. All of these places seem connected by early mornings, long hours of hard work, delicious products and customers who love them. We happily celebrate these few bakeries and hope that everyone will be inspired to look for more great ones all across America.

0.0

A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway

Oct 29, 2008

The Lincoln Highway was established in 1913 as America’s first coast-to-coast paved highway. It connected New York City with San Francisco and passed through towns and cities in 13 states. It was an adventure for early motorists, and drivers today still love its hidden charms and all the stuff along its several paths. A RIDE ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY considers some of the history of the road and shows some of the joys of finding and riding along the various alignments of the highway today. Along the way, we meet highway historians and enthusiasts from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Evanston, Wyoming, and many places in between. We check out the cottages at the Lincoln Motor Court near Bedford, PA, stop for lunch in Mount Vernon, Iowa, meet some folks in Eureka, Nevada, and even walk out to the end of the Berkeley pier in California. It's a great trip.

7.0

Things That Aren't There Anymore

May 31, 1990

Remember when Forbes Field was the world’s greatest ballpark? When the Dips roller coaster at West View Park came out to Route 19? When everyone went to the Allegheny County Fair? When streetcars ran all over town? They’re all parts of this warm and winsome program about Pittsburgh’s past, this heartfelt tribute to great and old places where people used to go to have fun.

0.0

Return to Downtown Pittsburgh

Jan 28, 2016

In this sequel to his 1992 documentary Downtown Pittsburgh, Rick Sebak takes viewers on a tour of a twenty-first century Pittsburgh that's both changing and charming.

No Image Available

0.0

Maxo Vanka’s Masterpiece: The Murals at St. Nicholas Church

Jan 19, 2012

The magnificent murals at St. Nicholas Church in Millvale, painted by Maxo Vanka in the late 1930s, are legendary. Filmmaker Kenneth Love conveys the significance of these images and the impact they have had on art historians, parishioners, and the public.

0.0

The Green Creature Within

Invalid Date

This film tells the story of an adolescent psychotherapy group that met at an outpatient clinic for two hours a week over a period of two years. Art and drama were the major therapeutic tools, along with music, movement, poetry, and filmmaking. The varied expressive modalities are demonstrated in this film, as well as the different roles the therapists played in facilitating the group process. In addition to telling the story of the group, this film also includes detailed case studies of two of the members. It is a rare example of multimodality group therapy unfolding over time.

0.0

Houses Around Here

Jul 1, 1994

Looking in other people’s houses can be fun. And in southwestern Pennsylvania, it doesn’t matter if you live in a city neighborhood like Friendship or in rural Washington County, you can find wonderful houses not far away that reveal much about the history, the culture and the people in this comfy corner of the state.

Pittsburgh A to Z

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Pittsburgh A to Z Trailers