Ever since I was a kid, I love watching PBS on the local station, OPB. I can remember watching everything from Square One, 3-2-1 Contact, Hometime, various high-school and college math courses (which would explain my elementary school years), and Doctor Who.

But, if there was one thing that would always spook me out was at the end of several shows. It all starts off with a black screen, then came a flash of orange and some odd, loud and electric sound that fluctuated… it was the WGBH identification and stinger. Not only that, but the next thing I would see is a picture of some forest with the words “Portland Nursery”. For a long time, I would immediately switch channels when either would come up, mostly when it lead to the introduction sequence for “Mystery!”

Back to the present, I now am anxious and sometimes excited to see and hear the WGBH identification and stinger, mostly after watching “Frontline”. The experience is even better on a large screen with the speakers turned up.

It’s interesting to look back and see how jarring it was when I was a child, but now that I’ve grown up, it is now the opposite. The same goes with the earlier Doctor Who theme (watching Tom Baker’s head fade in and out didn’t help keep me calm as a kid), in which I feel relaxed and settled listening to the latest incarnation.

It almost makes me want to use the stinger sound as my ring tone, though I may end up being physically harmed if I do so :)