▁countries ▁– ▁most ▁commonly , ▁from ▁the ▁primarily ▁English - spe aking ▁countries ▁of ▁Canada ▁and ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom . ▁P BS ▁in ▁particular , ▁is ▁commonly ▁known ▁for ▁its ▁broadcast s ▁of ▁British ▁sit com s ▁( such ▁as ▁Mont y ▁Python ' s ▁F lying ▁Circ us , ▁F aw l ty ▁Tow ers , ▁Keep ing ▁Up ▁App ear ances ▁and ▁Are ▁You ▁Being ▁Ser ved ? ), ▁which ▁typically ▁air ▁on ▁its ▁member ▁stations ▁on ▁week end ▁even ings ▁( although ▁their ▁sched uling ▁is ▁at ▁the ▁dis cret ion ▁of ▁the ▁station ▁as ▁these ▁programs ▁are ▁primarily ▁synd ic ated ▁on ▁the ▁beh alf ▁of ▁outside ▁distrib utors ); ▁P BS ▁was ▁also ▁responsible ▁for ▁bringing ▁the ▁hit ▁period ▁drama ▁Dow nt on ▁Ab bey ▁to ▁the ▁U . S . ▁and ▁for ▁initially ▁popular izing ▁the ▁long - running ▁science - f iction ▁series ▁Doctor ▁Who ▁in ▁the ▁country ▁( the ▁latter ▁show ▁now ▁air s ▁first - run ▁episodes ▁on ▁BBC ▁America , ▁an ▁out let ▁launched ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 8 ▁that ▁was ▁specifically ▁designed ▁to ▁bring ▁BBC ▁programming ▁direct ▁to ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁although ▁it ▁continues ▁to ▁be ▁synd ic ated ▁to ▁public ▁television ▁stations ▁and ▁is ▁also ▁synd ic ated ▁to ▁commercial ▁digital ▁mult ic ast ▁networks ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Ret ro ▁Television ▁Network ). ▁ ▁Many ▁of ▁the ▁programs ▁imported ▁from ▁Canada ▁are ▁children ' s ▁programs ▁originally ▁a ired ▁by ▁channels ▁such ▁as ▁Y TV ▁and ▁Family ▁Channel ▁(