Television

Watch PBS » | About WLRN TV » | TV Schedules » | Producing for WLRN »About WLRN Public TelevisionWLRN-TV Channel 17 is a PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) member station licensed to the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida. During an average month, Channel 17 reaches over 600,000 TV households in the Miami - Ft. Lauderdale area with a viewing audience in four South Florida counties, from Palm Beach to Key West. WLRN is South Floridas leading PBS Ready to Learn station airing thirteen hours of award-winning childrens programming daily. WLRN-TV also presents the best of the PBS nationally recognized series to compliment locally produced content. Our prime time schedule features an eclectic array of arts, performance, science, and WLRN original documentary specials to address the diverse interests of the South Florida community.Printable Monthly Schedules »WLRN Original DocumentariesProducing award winning original programs remains a high priority for WLRN. Take a closer look at some of the incredible stories that we have had the pleasure of producing for our South Florida viewers.Learn More »

A Glimpse of Florida History, One Snapshot At A Time

WLRN 91.3 FM | By Mia Laurenzo

Published April 13, 2018 at 2:48 PM EDT

FLORIDA SNAPSHOTS - A WLRN Original Production - Short stories that capture Florida's unique and colorful past.

CLARK GABLE GOES TO WAR - Clark Gable enlisted in the army to fight in WW II and trained in Miami.

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Clark Gable training as a gunner in the US Army.

At the height of his movie star fame, Clark Gable enlisted in the army to fight in WW II. He trained in Miami as an aviator and machine gunner. He was Adolph Hitler’s favorite actor and the Fuhrer offered a reward to anyone who could bring him in alive. After the war, he resumed his career as Hollywood royalty.

AMELIA EARHART'S LAST FLIGHT - Amelia Earhart’s last attempt to circle the globe departed from Miami June 1937.

History's most celebrated female pilot, Amelia Earhart, made her last attempt to circumnavigate the globe. She departed from Miami, June 1st 1937 with Fred Noonan, one of Pan American airlines most seasoned pilots and navigators. A month later, they were never seen or heard from again. The mystery of how and why Earhart and Noonan disappeared over the Pacific has haunted our imagination ever since.

ROSIE THE ELEPHANT - Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher built the city with the help of Rosie the elephant.

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Carl Fisher cleared the mangrove thickets off Miami Beach to build his playground for the wealthy with the help of a pair of young elephants, Rosie and Carl. He boasted Rosie would bring him a million dollars worth of free publicity. She was photographed with presidents, with opera singers, cancan dancers, and at birthday parties. Rosie was so famous she had her own fan club. No one knows what happened to her.

HOW SWEET IT IS - Jackie Gleason fell in love with Florida and moved his show to Miami.

Jackie Gleason first fell in love with Florida when he was invited to Lantana to play golf with friends. Hank Meyer, Miami Beach’s public relations magnate, lured Jackie Gleason to Miami Beach with a sweet deal – film his weekly TV show in South Florida and play his favorite game year round. In 1964, Gleason moved his show to Miami Beach and essentially became the pitchman for the Magic City for six years until the show ended in 1970.

SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR - Floridians had a penchant to have their pictures taken with stuffed alligators.

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Tourist photo of two women posing with a dead alligator

Floridians had a penchant at the turn of the last century to have their pictures taken posing with stuffed alligators. Families dressed up in their finest clothes for these portraits, but the cheeky bravado of the photographs revealed the profound unease Florida’s pioneer settlers felt with their strange new environment.