PBS Announces New Programming at TCA Including 10th Anniversary "Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood" Marathon Leading Into Season 6 Premiere

PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger kicked off the fall TCA Press Tour with some exciting programming announcements.

(PBS/Fred Rogers Productions/WGBH Educational Foundation/Providence Pictures/Roberta Flack/Anthony Fauci)

[UPDATE 7/28/2022 9:00 am PT: This post has been updated to include additional announcements from Masterpiece.]

PBS Fall TCA Press Tour Announcements:

The Bigger Picture – August 9th
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Season 6 – September 5th, 2022
Final Performance of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra – September
Masterpiece “Magpie Murders” – October 16th, 2022
Masterpiece “Miss Scarlet and The Duke” Season 2 – October 16th, 2022
Welcome to Alief with Mo Amer – Fall 2022
Rogue History – Fall 2022
Masterpiece “All Creatures Great and Small” Season 3 – January 8th, 2023
Masterpiece “Miss Scarlet and The Duke” Season Season 3 – January 8th, 2023
American Masters “Roberta Flack” – January 24th, 2023
Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World – January 31st, 2023
Work It Out Wombats! – February 6th, 2023
American Experience “Zora Neale Hurston” – Early 2023
American Masters “Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci” – Spring 2023
Southern Storytellers – Summer 2023
Native America Season 2 – Airing in 2023
NOVA "Ultimate Space Telescope" Sequel – Airing in 2023

More information about each series can be found below.

“The Bigger Picture” (PBS Digital Studios)

The WNET Group and PBS Digital Studios have announced THE BIGGER PICTURE, a new digital series exploring American history through iconic photographs that have defined national culture and identity. The series, hosted by Harvard University historian Dr. Vincent Brown, will launch on the PBS YouTube channel on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, and will release new episodes every other week.
To explore these iconic images, Dr. Brown holds insightful conversations with experts such as activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis and photographers Andre D. Wagner and Thomas E. Franklin, discussing their making, meaning and historical significance. As a result, audiences are immersed in the cultural and historical moments that lead to these creations.

“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” Season 6 (PBS KIDS)

PBS KIDS and Fred Rogers Productions announced today that DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, the #1 animated series for preschoolers on PBS KIDS and first series inspired by the groundbreaking MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD, will kick off its 10th anniversary year on September 3 with a marathon of “Top Ten Tiger Tales” on PBS KIDS. The special programming event was voted on by fans and will lead into the highly anticipated sixth season, featuring a week of all-new episodes, streaming free on PBS KIDS beginning September 5.
Families are invited to “hop aboard” Trolley for a weekend of special anniversary programming featuring favorite movies like “Daniel Tiger Visits a New Neighborhood” and “Won’t You Be Our Neighbor?” “Top Ten Tiger Tales,” a five-hour marathon, will showcase 10 fan-chosen episodes from over the years – including the very first story, “Daniel’s Birthday”; classics such as “The Baby is Here” and “Daniel Visits the Doctor”; and newer favorites like “Daniel’s New Friend Max.”
The 10th anniversary celebration continues with the launch of Season 6 on PBS KIDS with four exciting new episodes that will showcase more preschool “firsts” such as having a new babysitter, going to a sleepover and trying a new activity. The episodes will feature fresh strategy songs to help families navigate these relatable situations and more. The full season will include 18 new 30-minute episodes. Full programming details are included below.
Series-inspired activities and resources that extend the fun and learning for “little tigers” and their families nationwide will also roll out on pbskids.org/daniel and the free PBS KIDS Games app, including “Daniel Tiger’s Nature Walk,” an all-new digital game that will debut in September. Kids and families can continue to play and learn with Daniel as they discover all the interesting things there are to see outside.
In addition, several new and exciting DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD products will be released to celebrate the anniversary at the end of August. Jakks Pacific will be launching the “Cuddle Up Daniel Tiger” plush, while Simon & Schuster will release the new board book, “I Will Always Be Your Friend!,” written by Angela C. Santomero, the creator of DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD. Pact Organic will also be launching Daniel’s Red Sweater to mark the anniversary—the first time Daniel’s iconic red sweater will be offered at retail.
When it debuted on PBS KIDS in 2012, DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, the first original show from Fred Rogers Productions since MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD, brought the children’s television pioneer’s legacy to life for a whole new generation of young viewers. Every episode of the well-loved series showcases two distinct stories starring 4-year-old Daniel Tiger and his friends, who invite viewers to join them as they explore the colorful Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Irresistible musical strategies reinforce the unique theme of each show; preschoolers and parents can sing along and incorporate them into their daily lives. Executive producers are Angela C. Santomero, Chief Creative Officer at 9 Story Media Group; Ellen Doherty, Chief Creative Officer of Fred Rogers Productions; and Vince Commisso, President & CEO, 9 Story Media Group.
The series has garnered a host of prestigious awards, including a 2019 Daytime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Preschool Children’s Animated Series, 2020 Parents’ Choice Gold Award for Television, 2018 Common Sense Media Seal of Approval and the Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming by the Television Critics Association in 2016.
DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD 10th Anniversary Content Details:
- September 2 – PBS KIDS Family Night (7:00-9:00 p.m. ET)
  - Daniel Tiger Visits a New Neighborhood
  - Won’t You Be Our Neighbor?
- September 3 – Top 10 Tiger Tales Marathon and PBS KIDS Family Night (2:00-9:00 p.m. ET)
  - The Baby is Here
  - Daniel’s New Friend Max
  - Daniel Goes to The Hospital
  - Nighttime in the Neighborhood
  - The Neighborhood Snowstorm
  - Daniel Visits the Doctor
  - It’s Not Okay to Hurt Someone
  - Neighborhood Thank You Day
  - There’s Time for Daniel and Baby Too
  - Daniel’s Birthday
  - Daniel Tiger Visits a New Neighborhood
  - Won’t You Be Our Neighbor?
- September 4 – Top 10 Tiger Tales Marathon (8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET) and PBS KIDS Family Night (7:00-9:00 p.m. ET)
  - Daniel Tiger Visits a New Neighborhood
  - Won’t You Be Our Neighbor?
- September 5-8 – Season 6 premiere
  - Daniel’s New Babysitter/Daniel Sleeps at the Treehouse
  - Daniel Feels Worried About Mom/Jodi Loses Benji
  - Jodi Tries Ballet/Daniel Tries Something New with Grandpere
  - Daniel Goes to Day Camp/Daniel’s Rainy Day at Camp

Final Performance of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera and PBS announce that the final performance of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will be filmed for broadcast on PBS. The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, gathered by the Met and the Polish National Opera, is comprised of recent Ukrainian refugees and other artists in a gesture of solidarity with the victims of the war in Ukraine. The orchestra will embark on a European and American tour on July 28 that culminates with a performance at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Saturday, August 20, at 8:00 p.m. ET. The broadcast version of the performance (final title TBD) premieres in September on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
The orchestra includes recent refugees; Ukrainian members of European orchestras, including the Tonkunstler Orchestra of Vienna, the Belgian National Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; and musicians from the Kyiv National Opera, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra and Kharkiv Opera, among other Ukrainian ensembles. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine is supporting the project by addressing the organizational issues of allowing male musicians to put down their weapons and take up their instruments in a remarkable demonstration of the power of art over adversity.
Under the leadership of Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, the orchestra will perform a program that includes Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s Seventh Symphony; Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Ukrainian virtuoso Anna Fedorova; and Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony.
Leading Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska will also perform Leonore’s great aria “Abscheulicher!” from Beethoven’s Fidelio, a paean to humanity and peace in the face of violence and cruelty.
The assembling of orchestras in the face of violence and in the name of peace has a long tradition. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has its roots in an ensemble founded in Palestine by Bronisław Huberman in the 1930s to help rescue Jewish musicians in Europe from the Holocaust. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded in 1999 by the conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Palestinian scholar Edward W. Said, brings together musicians from Israel and Arab nations. The Afghanistan National Institute of Music, long a target of the Taliban, had sent ensembles out into the world before the recent Taliban takeover of the country.
The U.K. concert agency Askonas Holt, one of the world’s leading management agencies, is organizing the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra tour.
The broadcast is executive produced by Deborah F. Rutter, Peter Gelb, Matthew Winer and Steve Holtzman. Kristin Fosdick directs with her team in the Kennedy Center’s multimedia department. Douglas Chang is the executive in charge for PBS.

Masterpiece “Magpie Murders”

A dead mystery author. An incomplete manuscript. Suspects galore. This juicy setup for Anthony Horowitz’s (Foyle’s War) bestselling novel, Magpie Murders, is coming to MASTERPIECE in an adaptation by Horowitz himself starring Academy Award®-nominee Lesley Manville (The Crown, Phantom Thread). Magpie Murders airs in six spellbinding episodes, Sundays, October 16 – November 20, 2022 at 9/8c on PBS.
Critics were transfixed during the show’s UK broadcast. “A satisfying dose of armchair detective fun,” applauded The Guardian. “Yikes, this is excellent,” raved The Times. And The Telegraph was dazzled: “In a grey TV landscape crammed with humdrum whodunits, Magpie Murders is a splash of vivid color.”
Also starring is Tim McMullan (The Crown, Patrick Melrose) as Atticus Pünd, the Poirot-like hero of the fictional series penned by irascible author Alan Conway, played by Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones). Michael Maloney (The Crown) is Alan’s astute publisher, Charles Clover. And Lesley Manville is Alan’s longtime editor, Susan Ryeland, who has thwarted his ambition to compose great literature, channeling his talents into compulsively readable whodunits. A very wealthy man, Alan nonetheless resents Susan’s heavy editorial hand.
Alexandros Logothetis (The Durrells in Corfu) costars as Susan’s Greek-teaching lover, Andreas; and Claire Rushbrook (Sherwood) is her suburban sister, Katie. Both Katie and Andreas knew Alan when he was a poor instructor at a private school with unlikely dreams of becoming a published author. Little did anyone know…
But shortly after turning in his latest Atticus Pünd blockbuster, Alan dies under suspicious circumstances. Plus the manuscript is missing its crucial last chapter! Since Charles is in negotiations to sell his publishing company, and Alan is its greatest asset, financial ruin looms for both Charles and Susan, who is in line to become the next CEO, if she chooses.
Thus, Magpie Murders presents two mysteries: What happened to Alan, and what happens in the last chapter of his new book, titled Magpie Murders? Susan informally heads the first investigation, taking place in the here and now. Meanwhile, Pünd and the characters in Alan’s novel enact a separate mystery plot, set in 1955.
In a clever blending of present and past, fact and fiction, some of the characters in Susan’s world are portrayed by the same actors in Pünd’s. This is because Alan wrote thinly disguised real people into his books, usually to even scores. Therefore, Daniel Mays (Line of Duty) doubles as Detective Superintendent Locke in Susan’s world and the dull-witted D.I. Chubb in Pünd’s. Matthew Beard (Vienna Blood) is Alan’s lover, James Taylor, and also Pünd’s slow-on-the-uptake sidekick, James Fraser. Pippa Haywood (Mr. Selfridge) is Alan’s underachieving sister, Claire, as well as the resentful Clarissa, sister of the brutally murdered Sir Magnus Pye (Lorcan Cranitch, Trigger Point).
One final mystery: Alan vehemently insists that the title of his book is Magpie Murders, not The Magpie Murders. Could that be a clue?
A mystery author dies under suspicious circumstance, with his last book seemingly unfinished. This leaves two mysteries: What happened to him? And how does his latest potboiler end? Oscar®-nominee Lesley Manville (The Crown, Phantom Thread) stars as the author’s editor, Susan Ryeland, who assumes the role of detective in the case. Meanwhile, Tim McMullan (Patrick Melrose) plays the fictional sleuth in the incomplete novel, whose investigation parallels Susan’s. Based on Anthony Horowitz’s (Foyle’s War) ingenious bestselling novel, the six-part series also stars Conleth Hill, Michael Maloney, Alexandros Logothetis, and Claire Rushbrook. “There is true satisfaction in watching the pieces of Horowitz’s puzzle click into place,” applauded The Telegraph (London). In addition, The Sunday Times (London) declared, “Yikes, this is excellent.”
Magpie Murders is an Eleventh Hour Films production for MASTERPIECE and BritBox UK and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television. The executive producers are Susanne Simpson, Lesley Manville, Pater Cattaneo, Suzanne McAuley, Jill Green and Anthony Horowitz. The director is Peter Cattaneo. The series is adapted by Anthony Horowitz.

Masterpiece “Miss Scarlet and The Duke”

Season 2 premieres this October 16 at 8/7c. MASTERPIECE is pleased to announce that there will be a third season of Miss Scarlet and The Duke, which will premiere on Sunday, January 8, 2023 at 8/7c on PBS.
Before Marple and Tennison, there was Scarlet—Miss Eliza Scarlet, private detective. Kate Phillips (Wolf Hall) stars as Victorian London’s brilliant, beautiful, and first-ever female sleuth, with Stuart Martin (Jamestown) as her friend and associate, Detective Inspector William “The Duke” Wellington.
Lighthearted yet gripping, the series features Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) as Eliza’s father, Henry Scarlet, who is also her mentor in crime-solving. Danny Midwinter (Casualty) plays the Duke’s profane but proficient sergeant, Frank Jenkins. And Ansu Kabia (World on Fire) is the shadowy underworld figure, Moses, whose motives keep the police guessing.
Also appearing are Andrew Gower (Poldark) as the companionable aristocrat Rupert Parker, who is living a double life; Cathy Belton (Philomena) as Eliza’s devoted housekeeper and former nursemaid, Ivy; and Nick Dunning (The Tudors) as the Duke’s insufferable boss, Superintendent Stirling.
Miss Scarlet & The Duke is set in London at the start of the Sherlock Holmes era, circa 1880. Eliza’s father, Henry, is a widowed retired police officer, currently a private detective running up bills and drinking through his occasional earnings. Nonetheless, he is a talented investigator, and he has taught his only child, Eliza, the trade since she was a girl. She is now determined to break into this male-only profession.
Fortunately, Eliza’s childhood friend happens to be a detective inspector at Scotland Yard: William “The Duke” Wellington. He gets his nickname from the most famous Englishman of the 19th century: the Duke of Wellington, victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Like that other Wellington, the Duke is cool and decisive in a scrape. And he is also a ladies’ man, which leads to interesting complications with Eliza.
Sometimes working together—but often at odds—Eliza and the Duke tackle a series of fascinating cases. On launching her business, Eliza’s initial challenge is not criminals or clients so much as getting society to take a female detective seriously, even one who has mastered wounds, poisons, motives, and red herrings. But she forges ahead and sees her first commission—a simple search for an older gentleman’s lost niece—turn into something very sinister, which she resolves with the Duke’s help.
And with that her career, if not her income, is off and running. Eliza’s exploits range from an open-and-shut murder case that only she realizes is not so clear-cut, to a dastardly plot that will make history if it succeeds, to a client being harassed from beyond the grave. In her final investigation of the season, spanning Episodes 5 and 6, Eliza is pursuing the mystery of her father’s demise when she unwittingly lures the Duke into a deathtrap. Naturally, the ordeal is a bonding experience for the two quarrelsome but secretly affectionate crime-solvers.
Miss Scarlet & The Duke is an A+E NETWORKS INTERNATIONAL and ELEMENT 8 ENTERTAINMENT production co-produced with MASTERPIECE in association with Eighty Seven Films and Bandidos Yanquis.

“Welcome to Alief with Mo Amer” and “Rogue History”

Last summer, PBS Digital Studios announced that, with a $3 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), it would establish three Regional Digital Centers of Innovation to create a new pipeline of multi-platform content, resulting in up to 15 new digital series with a focus on elevating diverse voices and stories over two years. In January, PBS announced the three stations selected as Regional Digital Centers of Innovation: Houston Public Media, PBS North Carolina and Rocky Mountain PBS.
Currently, Houston Public Media is in production on WELCOME TO ALIEF WITH MO AMER, a series exploring an ethnically diverse neighborhood that, according to Census data, currently mirrors what America will look like in 2050.
PBS North Carolina is developing ROGUE HISTORY, a series about the pirate history often overlooked, including stories of female, LGBTQIA and BIPOC pirates.
Both series begin streaming this fall.

Masterpiece “All Creatures Great and Small” Season 3

Wedding bells chime and animal ailments abound as MASTERPIECE presents the highly anticipated third season of All Creatures Great and Small, based on the bestselling memoirs by veterinarian James Herriot and starring a beloved ensemble cast led by Nicholas Ralph. Season 3 of the acclaimed series airs in seven episodes, Sundays, January 8 – February 19, 2023 on PBS.
All Creatures Great and Small has been lauded by critics and audiences alike, with more than 10 million viewers tuning in across its first season. The second season garnered a similarly enthusiastic reception, with Variety praising the “stunning Yorkshire setting, warm storytelling and animal hijinks” and Vulture hailing the series as “extremely heartwarming.”
Ralph (The Devil’s Light) stars as the young James Herriot who, in season 3, is struggling to balance his growing responsibilities at the veterinary practice with his responsibilities as the newly wedded husband to Helen Alderson, played by Rachel Shenton (Academy Award® winner, The Silent Child). Helen, herself, faces difficulties letting go of her old life on the family farm with her father and sister and finding her new place within the walls of Skeldale House.
Callum Woodhouse (The Durrells in Corfu) returns as Tristan Farnon who has at last passed his exams and must now face the world as a qualified vet, while Anna Madeley (Mr. Selfridge) returns as motherly housekeeper Mrs. Hall who is beginning to open herself up to a future outside of her duties managing the household.
As war with Germany looms on the horizon, Siegfried Farnon, the irrepressible but unpredictable proprietor of Skeldale House, played by Samuel West (Hyde Park on Hudson), contends with painful memories of his own experiences during the First World War, when he served in combat with the Army Veterinary Corps. And Patricia Hodge (Roadkill) is back as Mrs. Pumphrey, the wonderfully eccentric owner of Tricki, the pampered Pekingese.
Season 3 begins in spring 1939 as James and Helen prepare to walk down the aisle. With a new stake in the business, James is trying to expand the veterinary practice by joining a government program to test for tuberculosis in cattle. The initiative pays well, but it is looked upon with suspicion by the local farmers who run the risk of their farms being shut down if a positive case is found.
Audiences returning to Herriot’s heartwarming depiction of the fictional town of Darrowby will be treated to more of his life-affirming stories that have seen the series touch the hearts of millions since its launch in 2021. As the New York Times observed, All Creatures Great and Small “is a frame for a series of small but important moments for the principal characters: a first kiss, a rapprochement between brothers, a gesture of kindness toward a rival… a cheerful, optimistic tone prevails despite the distant rumblings of war.”
James Herriot and crew deal with sick animals, eccentric farmers, courtship, and strict government mandates in a new season of the series lauded for its “soothing tone” by the New York Times. Change is the order of the day as professional and emotional relationships mature in the rural Yorkshire veterinary practice immortalized by author James Herriot’s charming stories. Themes for Season 3 include new partnerships, ghosts from the past, and doing one’s duty—and of course doing right by the animals. “A lovely series grounded in a great respect for nature and all living things,” enthused the Boston Globe.
All Creatures Great and Small is a Playground production for MASTERPIECE and Channel 5 in association with All3Media International. The Executive Producers are Colin Callender and Melissa Gallant for Playground (Golden Globe® and BAFTA-winning Wolf Hall, Little Women), Ben Vanstone, Rebecca Eaton and Susanne Simpson for MASTERPIECE, which is presented on PBS by WGBH Boston and Louise Pedersen for All3Media International. The producer is Richard Burrell. The lead writer is Ben Vanstone (The English Game, The Last Kingdom). The lead director is Brian Percival (Downton Abbey, The Book Thief), with Stewart Svaasand (Tin Star, Grantchester) and Andy Hay (Jamestown, The Last Kingdom) also directing episodes.

“American Masters ‘Roberta Flack’”

From “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “Killing Me Softly” and beyond, Roberta Flack gave voice to a global soundtrack of beauty and pain, love and anguish, hope and struggle. American Masters: Roberta Flack illuminates where reality, memory and imagination mix to present music icon Roberta Flack, a brilliant artist who transformed popular culture, in her own words. With exclusive access to Flack’s archives of film, performances, interviews, home movies, photos, hit songs and unreleased music, the film documents how Flack’s musical virtuosity was inseparable from her lifelong commitment to civil rights. American Masters: Roberta Flack premieres nationwide Tuesday, January 24 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS Video App.
American Masters: Roberta Flack provides an intimate look into Flack’s artistry, life and triumphs over racism and sexism within and outside of the recording industry. Flack’s story is illuminated through interviews with Reverend Jesse Jackson (political activist and minister), Clint Eastwood (actor, director and producer), Yoko Ono (multimedia artist, singer-songwriter, activist), Angela Davis (political activist), Eugene McDaniels (singer-songwriter), Joel Dorn (producer), Peabo Bryson (singer-songwriter), Valerie Simpson (songwriter, producer and performer), Les McCann (musician), Sean Lennon (musician) Jason King (music scholar, musician and author), Ann Powers (music critic, author) and more. In addition to Flack’s timeless music, the film also features an original score from award-winning musician Martin Perna of Antibalas (Fela!: The Musical).
A piano prodigy from an early age, Flack began studying classical piano at age 9 and was awarded a full music scholarship to Howard University at the age of 15. In 1968, moonlighting from her job as a music teacher with a regular gig at a Washington, DC, nightclub, her singular talent caught the eye of jazz great Les McCann, who arranged an audition for Flack with Atlantic Records, which led to the recording of her debut album, First Take. “First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,” a song from First Take, was personally selected by Clint Eastwood for his directorial debut Play Misty for Me, and it would win Flack a Grammy Award. The following year, she won a Grammy for “Killing Me Softly,” becoming the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years.
Throughout her extraordinary career, Flack established hit-making mentorships with Donny Hathaway, Luther Vandross and Peabo Bryson. Flack’s indelible career has spanned decades and produced countless hit songs, including “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “The Closer I Get to You.” The film chronicles how, throughout her pioneering career, Flack used her powerful platform to sing about the Black experience in America. She battled opinions of her mixed-race marriage, confronted blatant racism within the recording industry and created space for Black women to produce their own music. She released her latest project, Running, at age 80 in 2018, and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
American Masters: Roberta Flack is a production of La Lutta Productions in association with American Masters Pictures. Produced, directed and written by Antonino D’Ambrosio (Frank Serpico, Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited). George Sampas, Charlie Cohen, and Andrew Herwitz are executive producers. Mike Tyner, Yrthya Dinzey-Flores, and Axel Caballero are producers. Michael Kantor is executive producer for American Masters.
Original series production funding for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, Judith and Burton Resnick, Seton Melvin Charitable Trust, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, Vital Projects Fund, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Koo and Patricia Yuen and public television viewers.

“Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World”

Produced in partnership with BBC Music, the four-part docuseries will premiere on January 31, 2023 on PBS (check local listings), PBS.org and the PBS Video app. Developed by Chuck D and his producing partner, Lorrie Boula, the series tells the story of hip hop as an organic expression of experience that was unapologetic, fierce and empowering as it spoke truth to power and informed a nation through a different lens.
Featuring firsthand accounts from some of rap’s most integral players, FIGHT THE POWER: HOW HIP HOP CHANGED THE WORLD recounts the origins of this bold and revolutionary art form through the voices of those who were there at the beginning, creating an anthology of how hip hop became a cultural phenomenon against the backdrop of American history. Weaving together interconnected moments via intimate interviews and archival footage, the docuseries will explore how hip hop quickly created a provocative narrative of America.
The series features insightful interviews with hip hop luminaries including, Chuck D, Grandmaster Caz, Ice-T, Abiodun Oyewole (The Last Poets), Roxanne Shanté, Run DMC, John Forté, will.i.am, MC Lyte, B-Real (Cypress Hill), Melle Mel, Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco and more.
GRAMMY winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chuck D was at the vanguard of how this art form became a platform for political expression and a vessel toward social justice. As co-founder of Public Enemy, his music dispatched lessons in Black history and consciousness while striving to dismantle racial constructs. “Fight the Power,” Public Enemy’s groundbreaking single released in 1989, became an anthem that called for unity against oppression and continues to resonate to this day. It is often called the most important hip hop song of all time, is in the Library of Congress and was named the #2 Greatest Song of All Time in 2021 by Rolling Stone.
FIGHT THE POWER: HOW HIP HOP CHANGED THE WORLD is produced by BBC Studios for PBS and BBC Music. Bill Gardner is the Executive in Charge for PBS with Chuck D and Lorrie Boula as executive producers. Max Gogarty is the commissioning editor for the BBC, with Anna Sadowy as executive producer, Helen Bart as series producer, Yemi Bamiro as series director and Todd Williams as director.
FIGHT THE POWER: HOW HIP HOP CHANGED THE WORLD will be available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO.

“Work it Out Wombats!” (PBS KIDS)

PBS KIDS announced the premiere date for WORK IT OUT WOMBATS!, a new animated series for kids ages 3-6 produced by GBH Kids and Pipeline Studios, starring a playful trio of marsupial siblings—Malik, Zadie and Zeke—who live with their grandmother, Super, in their treehouse apartment complex. WORK IT OUT WOMBATS! will introduce computational thinking concepts that will help young viewers solve meaningful problems, learn flexible thinking and how to express themselves—all while using the practices and processes at the core of computer science. The new series will debut on PBS KIDS February 6, 2023.
“The Wombats are all about exploring the world around them and, much like preschoolers, their curiosity and love of adventure know no bounds,” said Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager, PBS KIDS. “Computational thinking is a way of approaching problems in strategic ways, helping young children respond and adapt to the world around them. We’re excited for viewers to explore these foundational skills and mindsets while having fun with their new marsupial friends.”
WORK IT OUT WOMBATS! takes place in the Treeborhood—a massive treehouse complete with secret passageways, gondolas and rope swings. The residents of the Treeborhood—wombats, snakes, moose, kangaroos, iguanas, fish, tarsiers and eagles—bring varied skills and abilities, assorted ways of thinking, and different family structures and traditions to this diverse and vibrant community of neighbors, a place where even the adults join in the play.
Full of endless energy, Malik, Zadie and Zeke run, bounce, roll and romp, always on the lookout for interesting Treeborhood problems to solve. Malik is thoughtful, considerate and sometimes set in his ways (which can be a good thing when you’re problem-solving). His speedy, adventurous younger sister, Zadie, is a brainstormer extraordinaire, with ideas that range from silly to very smart. Zeke is the youngest sibling—a funny, curious cuddle-bug who loves to play and explore. Super, their grandmother, is the Superintendent and unofficial “Mayor” of the Treeborhood.
Each episode includes two 11-minute stories, accompanied by a 90-second music video, featuring the Wombats as they demonstrate their computational thinking skills, learning as they go. Their aspirations sometimes exceed their abilities, but with every problem they encounter, the trio stops, takes a breath, puts their heads together and comes up with a workable solution, using the design process, sequencing, debugging and other key computational thinking skills. Whether they are tackling a big mess by breaking down the job into smaller tasks, creating a process for finding a lost beloved stuffy or solving the mystery of a scary sound in the neighborhood, the Wombats are always able to work it out.
In producing WORK IT OUT WOMBATS!, GBH Kids, the award-winning public media producer, and Pipeline Studios, a leading global entertainment company, have been deliberate in taking an inclusive and authentic approach to telling stories. Marcy Gunther and Marisa Wolsky are executive producers for GBH Kids. Luis Lopez and Juan Lopez are executive producers for Pipeline Studios. Marina Bers, Ph.D., a leader in the field of computational thinking and professor at Tufts University, is the content director. Creative producers Darlene Mortel Edouard, Ph.D. and Kareem Edouard, Ph.D, who have expertise in cultural and visual studies, intersectionality, and STEM engagement from communities underrepresented in STEM fields, help ensure that all aspects of the series are looked at through the lens of culture and inclusion.
WORK IT OUT WOMBATS! games will launch in tandem with the series on pbskids.org and the free PBS KIDS Games App. To extend the learning at home, parent and caregiver resources, including tips and hands-on activities, will be available on PBS KIDS for Parents. For educators, PBS LearningMedia will offer classroom-ready materials, including videos, games, teaching tips and printable activities.
The series is part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS Ready To Learn Initiative with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The Ready To Learn Initiative is a federal program that supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted to preschool and early elementary school children and their families.
Major funding for WORK IT OUT WOMBATS! is provided by: a Ready To Learn Grant from the U.S. Department of Education; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; and public television viewers. Additional funding is provided by the National Science Foundation and the GBH Kids Catalyst Fund.

“American Experience ‘Zora Neale Hurston’”

Today at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, PBS and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE announced “Zora Neale Hurston,” a new biography of the influential author whose groundbreaking anthropological work would challenge assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century. Directed by Tracy Heather Strain, produced by Randall MacLowry and executive produced by Cameo George, the film will premiere in early 2023 on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
Best remembered for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston was a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary culture of the 1920s, Hurston was also pursuing anthropological studies at Barnard College. Throughout her career, she struggled for recognition in two worlds—literary and scientific—writing novels and collecting folklore, drawing on her ethnographic expertise to inform her literary artistry. In more than a decade of fieldwork in the American South and the islands of the Caribbean, Hurston carefully documented stories, songs and religious rituals, often immersing herself fully in the cultures she studied. Driving around in a Nash coupe she called “Sassy Susie,” she traveled the back roads of her native Florida, later moving on to New Orleans to study hoodoo, or conjure religion, and then on to Haiti. Through her trailblazing work, Hurston would reclaim, honor and celebrate Black life on its own terms—an idea that remains radical today.
For more than 30 years, American Experience has been television’s most-watched history series, bringing to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America’s past and present. American Experience documentaries have been honored with every major broadcast award, including 30 Emmy Awards, five duPont-Columbia Awards and 19 George Foster Peabody Awards. PBS’s signature history series also creates original digital content that innovates new forms of storytelling to connect our collective past with the present. Cameo George is the series executive producer. American Experience is produced for PBS by GBH Boston. Visit pbs.org/americanexperience and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to learn more.
Major funding for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, the Documentary Investment Group, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.

“American Masters ‘Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci’”

Dr. Anthony Fauci became a household name during the AIDS crisis of the ‘80s and ‘90s. The physician-scientist and immunologist has since served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President for seven different administrations. In 2020, he found himself in the spotlight again as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the globe. Now, the new documentary American Masters: Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci captures the most prominent physician in America at work over a period of 14 months, beginning with Inauguration Day 2021, as he strives to improve national public health. Following a planned theatrical release, American Masters: Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci will make its broadcast debut nationwide Spring 2023 on PBS, pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS Video App.
American Masters: Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci chronicles Fauci at home, in his office and in the corridors of power as he battles the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the political onslaught that upends his life and calls into question his 50-year career as the United States of America’s leading advocate for public health. From heated discussions about the vaccine with Black residents in downtown Washington, DC, to his explanation for how the NIH-funded lab in Wuhan, China, could not have created a virus that made COVID-19, Dr. Fauci is candid, truthful and passionate. Nothing Fauci had previously faced, including the impassioned activists who challenged him during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, prepared him for the vitriol, political backlash, and the threats against his safety and that of his family. American Masters: Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci will examine the life of the man behind the podium—a scientist, husband, father and public servant who admits on camera how he would have done things differently in hindsight.
Fauci’s prerogative to help others, including those who cannot afford medical treatment, is modeled upon his father’s compassionate service as a pharmacist in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He attended Cornell University's Medical College (now Weill Cornell Medicine), where he specialized in adult internal medicine, focusing mainly on infectious diseases and the immune system. Fauci graduated first in his class with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1966, completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center (now Weill Cornell Medical Center), and joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a clinical associate in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' (NIAID) Laboratory of Clinical Investigation in 1968. Fauci became the director of NIAID in 1984, and he has led the United States’ efforts against such viral diseases as HIV/AIDS, SARS, Ebola, COVID-19, and more. Dr. Fauci recently stated that he will step down from his post as director of the NIAID at the end of President Biden’s term.
American Masters is available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.
American Masters: Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci a production of Topspin Content and American Masters Pictures in association with Room 608, Inc. Directed by Mark Mannucci. Produced by Lia Dosik Carney, Eddie Barbini and Mark Mannucci. Laura Jespersen is Co-Producer. Michael Kantor is executive producer for American Masters.
Major funding for American Masters: Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci is provided by Alfred E. Sloan Foundation, The Leslie and Roslyn Goldstein Foundation, Seton Melvin Charitable Trust and Francesco and Mary Giambelli Foundation.
Original series production funding for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, Judith & Burton Resnick, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Vital Projects Fund, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Koo and Patricia Yuen and public television viewers.

“Southern Storytellers”

The American South is known for its boundless creativity, absorbing personalities and evocative landscapes. SOUTHERN STORYTELLERS, a new three-episode series from PBS, Arkansas PBS and award-winning filmmaker Craig Renaud, follows some of the region’s most compelling and influential contemporary creators to the places they call home — the communities that fertilize the stories they tell in books, songs, poems, plays and on screens large and small. The documentary series premieres summer 2023 on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
With major funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), SOUTHERN STORYTELLERS traverses the South, from the mountains of Appalachia to the Gulf of Mexico, revealing a vivid patchwork of diverse American stories that celebrate the resilience and joy of Southern people — and the magnitude of gifts from the region’s writers. Among the featured creatives are some of the most recognized storytellers from the worlds of literature, music, television and film, including novelist Jesmyn Ward; country music artist Lyle Lovett; poet and memoirist Natasha Trethewey; "Raya and the Last Dragon" screenwriter, Qui Nguyen; The Hate U Give author, Angie Thomas; singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, playwright Katori Hall; and “Stranger Things” series creators, Matt and Ross Duffer.
In addition to the three-part broadcast series, SOUTHERN STORYTELLERS includes a six-part series on PBS Digital Studios that explores the powerful role of place in the lyrics of Southern songwriters. Go-Valley’s Keith Maitland (“Dear Mr. Brody,” “Tower”) and Terry Lickona (AUSTIN CITY LIMITS) direct and produce the digital series. Indie music artist Thao Nguyen hosts.
SOUTHERN STORYTELLERS is created and executive produced by Courtney Pledger and filmmaker Craig Renaud. Known for his intimate approach with his documentary subjects, Renaud has spent the last two decades telling human-centered, verité stories from around the globe, often in partnership with his late brother, Brent. The partnership between the Renaud brothers and Arkansas PBS began in 2018 with the PBS documentary STATE OF THE ART, capturing the personal stories of artists at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art who are redefining the aesthetic of contemporary art in America. Renaud has won numerous major awards, including a Peabody and multiple duPont-Columbia Awards.
A diverse team of filmmakers and producers join Renaud Films and Arkansas PBS in the overall effort, including Keith Maitland, Terry Lickona, Denise Godoy, Jamal Hodge, Andy Sarjahani, Héctor Tapia and Juan Arredondo. Bill Gardner is the executive in charge for PBS.
Funding for SOUTHERN STORYTELLERS was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, and the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, Inc.

“Native America” Season 2

PBS today announced the production for season 2 of NATIVE AMERICA, with four new hour-long episodes slated to premiere in 2023. Building on the foundation of the acclaimed original series, which premiered in 2018 and tied the history of some of the world’s greatest civilizations to thriving communities today, Season 2 presents stories of Native Americans who are carrying forward Indigenous values to transform our 21st century world.
NATIVE AMERICA highlights contemporary Native Americans who are changing the world by building on foundational knowledge to create a better tomorrow. This new season broadens the scope and cultural diversity of the series, covering dozens of locations across the United States—from Hollywood to the vast reaches of outer space to the halls of Congress. Each hour-long episode tells dynamic stories of the here and now and showcases modern Indigenous heroes. These contemporary Native American voices center each episode’s narrative and demonstrate how the past and present of Native America are part of a single continuous story—bringing NATIVE AMERICA into the 21st century.
NATIVE AMERICA builds on the first season’s tradition of actively collaborating with Native communities to tell their stories. Behind the camera, the series has increased Native participation across all levels of production—from producers and directors to film crews, animators and musicians. Their talents are being brought to the screen through engaging narratives, compelling characters, beautiful cinematography at spectacular locations, and dynamic animations, shorts and music.
An extensive engagement and outreach program will be launched during production to deepen existing relationships and build new bridges between PBS member stations and Native communities. Throughout all aspects and phases of production, NATIVE AMERICA expands on the message presented in the first series: America’s First Peoples created a world with sophisticated systems of science, art and governments, expressed in a way of life intimately connected to earth, sky, water and all living things—and that these foundational principles hold the key to a better future for all humankind.
NATIVE AMERICA Season 2 is produced by Providence Pictures with Daniel Golding (Quechan) and Jennifer Himmelreich (Diné) as series producers, Charles “Boots” Kennedye (Kiowa) and Paige Bethmann (Mohawk/Oneida) as producer/directors, Jeffrey Dobereiner as supervising producer, and Gary Glassman as executive producer/director. Community outreach and engagement for NATIVE AMERICA is supported by Francene Blythe-Lewis (Diné, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Eastern Cherokee) for Vision Maker Media.
Funding for NATIVE AMERICA Season 2 was provided by Anne Ray Foundation.

NOVA "Ultimate Space Telescope" Sequel

The PBS science series NOVA, a production of GBH, today announced a new hour-long special that will explore the observations taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and most innovative space telescope ever built. The film, slated to premiere in 2023 on PBS, will serve as a sequel to NOVA’s highly rated ULTIMATE SPACE TELESCOPE, which premiered earlier this month. Currently in production, the second hour will delve even deeper into Webb’s discoveries—following its developments in the upcoming months—and reveal what they could mean for our understanding of the universe.
JWST is able to peer deeper into the infrared spectrum than its famous predecessor Hubble, allowing scientists to see farther back in time than ever before. Equipped with state-of-the-art cameras and spectrometers, Webb is expected to reveal new details about the distant—and early—universe, as well as planets in our own and other solar systems, while exploring elusive elements of the cosmos—from the formation of the first galaxies and the birth of new stars, to massive black holes, and more. The data it collects might help scientists tackle the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. The telescope’s highly sensitive instruments allow it to collect comprehensive observations and measurements of planetary atmospheres light years away—breaking new ground in the search for habitable planets beyond our solar system.
The new special will build on NOVA’s ULTIMATE SPACE TELESCOPE, which took viewers behind the scenes through the eyes of the engineers and scientists who dedicated years—some even decades—of their lives to getting the telescope off the ground. The film also featured some of Webb’s highly anticipated first images—the day after NASA released them to the world on July 12, 2022—along with reactions from some of the team. ULTIMATE SPACE TELESCOPE is now available for streaming online at PBS.org/nova, on NOVA’s YouTube channel, and on the PBS video app
Slated to premiere in 2023 on PBS, the new special will also be available for streaming online at PBS.org/nova, and on the PBS video app, and available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast, and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries, and specials via PBS Passport.
ULTIMATE SPACE TELESCOPE is a NOVA Production by Terri Randall Productions for GBH in association with Arte France. Written, Produced, and Directed by Terri Randall. Co-Produced and Edited by Jedd Ehrmann. Executive Producers for NOVA are Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt. NOVA is a production of GBH. ULTIMATE SPACE TELESCOPE is distributed internationally by PBS International.
Funding for ULTIMATE SPACE TELESCOPE was provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the NOVA Science Trust with support from Anna and Neil Rasmussen and the Kaia and Jonathan Goldstein Family Fund, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS viewers.