Tom Lehrer on a TV near you?

Some of the videos from The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel have been or could soon be on TV near you in full broadcast quality.

Lehrer is the copyright holder and owns the content on the master video recording. He must be asked if a TV-production company or a broadcaster wants to license out a portion of the performance, and he has said yes several times.

After the recording was rediscovered, Lehrer's songs on video have already been aired in Norway and in the UK, and also nationwide in the U.S. and in Germany.

The Lehrer TV-appearances in 2008

In April of 2008 the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK1 aired the song "Wernher von Braun" in a programme called "Golden Moments - guests from abroad". The programme was watched by nearly a quarter of all Norwegian viewers.

In December of 2008 viewers in England could watch Tom Lehrer in a programme that aired on BBC4 about comedy music and comic songwriting. Read more HERE. The BBC also had a programme about the sixties series "The Frost Report", where Tom Lehrer used to appear. Read more HERE.

The Lehrer TV-appearance in 2009

* In January 2009 Tom Lehrer appeared on TV nationwide in the U.S. on the series "Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America", hosted by Mr. Billy Crystal.

* On July 14th 2009 Tom Lehrer appeared on TV nationwide in Germany, when the ZDF aired the series "Der Raketenmann" ("The Rocket Man"). It was a 90 minute Drama Documentary made for ZDF by Zeitsprung Entertainment in Cologne and it traced the life of Wernher von Braun from childhood through to the Apollo moon landing in 1969. (Broadcast on ZDF at 20:15 on 14th July 2009 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.)"

Please use the link HERE.

Other appearances in 2009 or 2010

* In 2009 or 2010 the song "The Masochism Tango" will be aired in an American TV-documentary about the poet and musician Steven Jesse Bernstein. That song was one of Bernstein's favorites and the production company Creative Times New York have asked Lehrer for permission to use the song in their programme. Lehrer has agreed.

Read more about "Make 'Em Laugh - The Funny Business of America" on DVD, click HERE.