by Judy Frank
posted July 18, 2008
) Photo by Wes Schultz Marsha Bemko |
“The lines of people waiting to have pictures appraised were just incredibly long,” recalled the show’s executive producer Marsha Bemko.
But in Wichita, Kan., where the third show was held, hardly anybody brought pictures, she noted.
So what will people bring to the show scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Chattanooga Convention Center?
That’s the fun of the show, she said, the unexpectedness of the people who show up for the appraisals and the items they choose to bring with them.
She’s been with Antiques Roadshow for 10 years, and executive producer since 1999.
And over the years, she said, she and her 14-member crew have learned a lot about antiques and how to produce a show that people will watch.
She’s right, of course, as evidenced by the 11 million fans who regularly tune in to PBS’s top-rated show to see what treasures will be featured this week and – of course – how much those items are worth.
A sizable number of those fans live within traveling distance of Chattanooga and Friday afternoon some of them were already at the convention center, checking out the premises and trying to determine what to expect Saturday.
“They only let you bring two things to be appraised,” explained one excited Huntsville, AL woman who brought an array of treasures from her home to her hotel room in downtown Chattanooga. “Now I’ve got to back and figure out which two to get appraised.”
Even people who don’t have tickets are excited about the show’s visit to Chattanooga.
“I never miss Antiques Roadshow,” one woman confessed Friday morning during a visit to a local hair salon. “I just can’t believe that they’re right here in town.”
About 75 of the nation’s best appraisers – each of whom paid his or her expenses just so they could be here – will be on hand when the Chattanooga show gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Their specialties range from toys to jewelry to militaria to furniture to a catch-all category known simply as “collectibles.”
The show is incredibly well organized. For example, the long lines that once characterized roadshows are considerably shorter now, thanks to the fact that tickets spell out what time their holders are scheduled to attend.
Ticket holders assigned to show up at 8 a.m., consequently, are long gone by the time those scheduled for 1 p.m. arrive at the convention center.
Ms. Benko and her crew work hard year-round, not just during the summer months when they travel to six cities scattered around the nation and stage appraisal shows that routinely attract thousands.
Once this year’s appraisals have been completed, staff members will return to Boston and begin the long film-editing process and deciding what to show on the air.
The shows featuring this year’s tour will begin early in January, she said. It’s too early to know when the Chattanooga shows will be on air; that decision won’t be made until September.
But fans will have plenty of time to find out, she said. Once a decision has been made about when particular shows will air, fans can learn the exact dates by going to visiting the show’s website: www.pbs.org/antiques.
While they’re there, she said, they need to also check out a new feature added early this year when the website was redesigned: archives of the items that have been featured on the show over the years.
“For example, if you’re interested in antique chairs, you can just type in the word chairs and all the segments on chairs that we’ve done will pop up so you can watch them.”
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