Since 1983, Frontline has been bringing public affairs documentaries that address complex and controversial topics to light for PBS viewers. Back on October 30, 2007, Frontline aired an episode called The Undertaking, which showed viewers the world of Thomas Lynch, an undertaker whose family for three generations has cared for both the living and the dead in Milford, a small Michigan town, at his funeral home Lynch & Sons . Having lived in Milford for 20 years, it was exciting for my town to be included in this documentary. I mean, I drive by this funeral home everyday on my way to work and it's being included in a national, well-known series like Frontline... That's just cool!
The night the episode aired, my friend and I left our workout class and on our way home saw that one of the clothing stores on Main Street was still open. In a small town, this is unusual. Usually you're lucky if anythings open past 5pm. So we were really excited to go in and look around. We were the only two people in the store and the owner was very friendly and helpful. Since I was still experiencing slight shock that he was still open and the hours were not posted anywhere, I asked what time his store closed. His response was, “Well we usually close at 9pm, but today I’m shutting down at 8:30pm.” First I was blown away that he was usually opened that late, but then curiosity hit and I needed to know why today was different and he was changing his closing hours. When I asked, he told me it was because he had to go home and watch an undertaking special on PBS and needed to make sure he was home by 10pm. He began to tell me about the special and his connection to Lynch & Sons Funeral home. I told him I worked for Detroit Public TV and I knew of the special he was talking about. I thought it was so awesome that a business was determining its closing hour based on Detroit Public TV programs. Talk about appointment programming!
Laura Brandt
Corporate Production and Traffic Coordinator
