PBS Kicks Off the New Year With First-Rate American History Programming

PBS Kicks Off the New Year With First-Rate American History Programming

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- PBS, the leader in television programming about American history, kicks off 2008 with a wide-ranging lineup of programs that explore our nation's past. PBS delves into the stories of Americans' ancestors with two high-profile series: AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, featuring Henry Louis Gates Jr., who returns to PBS to lead a group of famous African Americans on a journey to discover their ancestry, and THE JEWISH AMERICANS, which traces the history of a tiny minority as it made its way into the American mainstream. With these programs and an in-depth examination of America's PIONEERS OF TELEVISION, PBS helps viewers to understand the individuals and moments that define American history.

In addition to the great American history programming debuting in early 2008, including a new season of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE -- television's most-watched history series -- and a profile of one of the country's most controversial presidents in ANDREW JACKSON: GOOD, EVIL AND THE PRESIDENCY, PBS provides invaluable online materials for educators. As always, PBS Teachers (pbs.org/teachers) provide teachers with lesson plans, teaching activities, on-demand video assets and interactive games and simulations related to these new programs about American history and other PBS programming.

Broadcast Premieres:

WORDS AND MUSIC BY JERRY HERMAN
Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 9:30-11:00 p.m. ET

This special chronicles the life and career of one of the American musical theater's iconic figures: the composer and lyricist of the smash hit shows Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles. Jerry Herman and an all-star cast (including Angela Lansbury, Carol Channing and Michael Feinstein, among others) chart his rise from witty, topical off-Broadway revues in the 1950s to his first Broadway triumphs in the 1960s -- Milk and Honey, followed by the record-breaking Dolly and then Mame -- through the 1970s (Dear World, Mack & Mabel, The Grand Tour) to his 1983 hit, La Cage aux Folles, which made social and political history. The program features never-before-seen stills and archival footage from the original shows -- and a great Jerry Herman score.

PIONEERS OF TELEVISION
Wednesdays, January 2-23, 2008, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET

PIONEERS OF TELEVISION, a four-part documentary series, melds compelling new HD interviews with irresistible archival clips to offer a fresh take on television's first stars. Each of the four one-hour episodes focuses on a different genre: sitcoms, late-night, variety and game shows.

ANDREW JACKSON: GOOD, EVIL AND THE PRESIDENCY
Wednesday, January 2, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

A biography of America's seventh president, ANDREW JACKSON: GOOD, EVIL AND THE PRESIDENCY explores whether Americans should celebrate Jackson or apologize for him. Viewers discover that Jackson fought in the Revolutionary War when he was 13 years old and that he used the skills learned in battle to kill a man over a gambling debt; that Jackson led the American army to the most surprising victory in its history in the Battle of New Orleans, but that he also launched an unauthorized invasion of Florida; that Jackson was the first great champion of the common white man and owned more than a hundred black Americans; that Jackson dramatically expanded the United States and did so by brutally wresting vast regions of the south from Native Americans; that Jackson, in one of the boldest political strokes in history, founded the Democratic Party, yet was viewed by his enemies as an American Napoleon. Martin Sheen narrates.

THE JEWISH AMERICANS
Wednesdays, January 9-23, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

This three-part series examines the struggle of a tiny minority to make its way into the American mainstream. While the story of Jewish life in America is emblematic of the American immigrant story, it is also a unique story of ongoing discrimination and stereotyping coupled with some of the most remarkable accomplishments in American history, the arts, commerce, science and academe.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "Oswald's Ghost"
Monday, January 14, 2008, 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET

The assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, left a psychic wound on America that remains today. Few Americans then or now accept that a lone, inconsequential gunman could bring down a president and alter history. That event gave rise to a culture of conspiracy that points to sinister forces at work in the shadows. This film features interviews with authors Norman Mailer and Edward J. Epstein, politician Gary Hart, news anchor Dan Rather, activist Tom Hayden, attorney Mark Lane and others. Drawing upon these interviews and rarely seen archival footage, "Oswald's Ghost" takes a fresh look at Kennedy's assassination, the public's reaction to the tragedy and the government investigations that led to a widespread loss of trust in the institutions that govern American society. http://www.pbs.org/amex

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "The Lobotomist"
Monday, January 21, 2008, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET

The lobotomy was hailed by The New York Times as a "surgery of the soul" and "history making," a groundbreaking medical procedure that promised hope to the most distressed families and desolate mentally ill patients. Championed by a young and ambitious neurologist named Walter J. Freeman, what began as an operation of last resort was soon being performed at some 50 state asylums, often with devastating results. Only a decade after his rise to fame, Freeman was decried as a moral monster and the lobotomy as one of the most barbaric mistakes of modern medicine. Through interviews with medical historians, psychiatrists who worked with Freeman and the desperate families who sought his help, this program tells the gripping tale of medical intervention gone awry. Campbell Scott narrates. http://www.pbs.org/amex

AMERICAN IDEALIST: THE STORY OF SARGENT SHRIVER
Monday, January 21, 2008, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET

This is a biographical documentary about Robert Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps, VISTA, Community Action, Head Start, Legal Services for the Poor, Youth Corps, Job Corps and more. All but forgotten today, Shriver initiated social programs during the 1960s that helped shape an era that dared millions of young Americans to live out their ideals.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "Buffalo Bill"
Monday, January 28, 2008, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET

William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's legendary exploits helped create the myth of the American West -- one that endures today. Born in an Iowa log cabin in 1846, he fought Indians, worked as a Pony Express rider and earned his nickname while hunting buffalo to feed the construction crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. After the Civil War, he scouted for the U.S. Army along America's vast western frontier. In 1883, just as that frontier was disappearing, he transformed himself into a master showman, creating and starring in a world-famous traveling show that brought the "real" Wild West to life. Part circus, part history, "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" toured for three decades, playing to enthusiastic crowds across the United States and Europe. Though Cody made a fortune from the show's success, he was nearly bankrupt when he died in 1917. This program draws upon rich archival materials of the period to explore the man behind the legend, revealing the complexity of Buffalo Bill's extraordinary life. Richard Ben Cramer narrates. http://www.pbs.org/amex

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "Grand Central"
Monday, February 4, 2008, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET

On the morning of January 8, 1902, a southbound commuter train traveling through a smoky, congested tunnel in New York City's Grand Central Depot slammed into the rear of another train, instantly killing 17 people and injuring 38. Screams filled the darkened tunnel as firemen arrived on the scene to search for survivors. The tragedy in New York that day, and a self-taught engineer's innovative response to the crisis that ensued, ultimately gave birth to one of America's greatest architectural and technological monuments: Grand Central Terminal. This program recounts the dramatic story of the famous landmark's construction. When Grand Central Terminal opened on February 12, 1913, the press heralded it as the greatest railway terminal in the world. By 1947, more than 65 million people -- the equivalent of 40 percent of the population of the United States -- had traveled through the station. Today, it remains one of New York's and America's most famous spaces and a living monument to the nation's great railway age. http://www.pbs.org/amex

AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2
Wednesdays, February 6-13, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

The critically acclaimed PBS broadcasts AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES (2006) and OPRAH'S ROOTS (2007) shone a national spotlight on the powerful process of discovering one's family history. In February 2008, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. will guide an all-new group -- poet Maya Angelou, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio host Tom Joyner and rock 'n' roll legend Tina Turner -- on a journey to discover their ancestry in AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2. The new four-part series will draw on DNA analysis, genealogical research and family oral tradition to trace the lineages of the participants down through U.S. history and back to Africa. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/

INDEPENDENT LENS "Banished"
Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET (check local listings)
This is the story of three counties that forcefully banished
African-American families from their towns 100 years ago - and the
descendents who return to learn a shocking history. Co-production of
ITVS in association with NBPC. By Marco Williams.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens

Encore Presentations:

AMERICAN MASTERS "Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned" (Repeat)
Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET

In the late 1950s, a shy Chicago accountant who was trying to pick up some extra cash began doing local radio sketches. By 1960, The Button-Down Mind -- recorded before he even stepped onto the stand-up circuit -- hit gold as Album of the Year and won a Grammy for Best New Artist. Engaging the average guy in all of us, Bland Bob's deadpan and mildly nervous humor, exemplified in "The Driving Instructor," helped spearhead the explosion in American comedy -- at clubs, on records and television variety shows -- and by permanently pushing the boundaries of the sitcom genre. "The Bob Newhart Show" and, later, "Newhart," portraying the quintessential sane man caught in a world of zany characters gone mad, were among the most popular viewing staples throughout the 70s and 80s. Newhart still performs up to 40 stand-up dates and was recognized with a 2004 Emmy nomination for his first dramatic role on "ER." With a legacy particularly familiar today in the routines of Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres, his appeal was always seminal: Richard Pryor once bragged, "The first album I ever stole was Bob Newhart's!" http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters

OPRAH'S ROOTS: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES SPECIAL (Repeat)
Thursday, January 3, 2008, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET

When AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES premiered on PBS in February 2006, the series was hailed by The New York Times as "the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time." Audiences and critics were especially drawn to the powerfully moving discussions between Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., series host and executive producer, and TV pioneer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, which revealed the struggles and accomplishments of Winfrey's ancestors. Now, combining new genealogical and historical research with state-of-the-art DNA analysis, Winfrey and Professor Gates continue their dramatic and illuminating quest to discover a fuller history of Winfrey's ancestry.

SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA (Repeat)
Fridays, January 11-February 1, 2008, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET

This groundbreaking series chronicles the institution of American slavery from its origins in 1619 -- when English settlers in Virginia purchased 20 Africans from Dutch traders -- through the arrival of the first 11 slaves in the northern colonies (in Dutch New Amsterdam), the American Revolution, the Civil War, the adoption of the 13th Amendment and Reconstruction. With such unprecedented breadth come entirely new perspectives on and facts about slavery. These new perspectives challenge many long-held notions (such as the idea that slavery was strictly a southern institution; it was, in fact, a national institution) and highlight the contradictions of a country that was founded on the principle of "liberty and justice for all" but embraced slavery. Morgan Freeman narrates. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/

THE MARCH OF THE BONUS ARMY (Repeat)
Monday, January 14, 2008, 10:30-11:00 p.m. ET

In 1932, a remarkable event occurred in Washington, DC. In the darkest days of the Depression, thousands of unemployed World War I veterans marched to the capital city, looking to Congress for an advance on the bonus compensation promised to them years earlier. After camping and lobbying throughout Washington for two months, the veterans were driven out by force, as rising military figures General Douglas MacArthur, Major Dwight Eisenhower and Major George Patton cleared out the "Bonus Army" and burned their camps. By the time the clash was over, two marchers were dead, thousands were tear-gassed and countless homeless veterans, many with families, were driven violently from the capital. The Bonus Army incident had become a political liability for President Herbert Hoover. Still, it laid the groundwork for later social legislation, including the all-important GI Bill for WWII veterans.

AMERICAN MASTERS "Marilyn Monroe: Still Life" (Repeat)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET

There are the movie roles, but it is the still images -- the iconic face, the expressions and poses -- that make up our collective memory of Monroe. She was, arguably, the most photographed person ever. This program tells her story through such artists as Richard Avedon and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Inge Morath and Andy Warhol -- her relationship with their cameras produced an enduring body of work that still dazzles and moves us, evoking both desire and pathos. These photographs are an ageless testament to her grace, guts and sexiness -- her humor and vulnerability. She understood their power and she exploited it. She created, and curated, her own image -- lips puckered to the lens, she invited the viewer to kiss her back. She would have turned 80 in 2006. She died more than 40 years ago, but Marilyn persists in her image. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/monroe_m.html

THE MORMONS (Repeat)
Monday-Tuesday, February 11-12, 2008, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of America's fastest growing religions, and its influence circles the globe. The church has more than 12 million members today and more than half of them live outside the U.S. Yet the birth of Mormonism and its history is one of America's great neglected narratives. This four-hour documentary brings together FRONTLINE and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE in their first co-production to provide a searching portrait of this fascinating but often misunderstood religion. Produced by award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney ("Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero," "John Paul II: The Millennial Pope"), the film explores the richness, the complexities and the controversies of the Mormons' story as told through interviews with leaders and members of the church, with leading writers and historians and with supporters and critics of the Mormon faith. http://www.pbs.org/mormons/

About PBS

PBS is a media enterprise that serves 355 public noncommercial television stations and reaches nearly 73 million people each week through on-air and online content. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is a leading provider of digital learning content for pre-K-12 educators, and offers a broad array of other educational services. PBS' premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (www.pbskids.org), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.

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