Of ScarJo and Putin …
Vietnam War, genealogy and music all featured in PBS’s new season
LOS ANGELES PBS is mixing it up next season with programs about Vietnam, Scarlett Johansson and Vladimir Putin.
The public TV service said its fall lineup will be anchored by The Vietnam War, a 10-part documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns debuting Sept. 17.
The genealogy series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. is returning Oct. 3.
Besides Johansson, celebrities who will learn about their ancestors include Aziz Ansari, Bryant Gumbel and Garrison Keillor.
Russian President Putin will get a different kind of scrutiny on Frontline.
A two-part documentary on his rise and his rule will air Oct. 25 and Nov. 1.
In January, PBS will air a music special honouring the legendary Tony Bennett.
The tribute, Tony Bennett: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, is to be recorded this fall.
The season begins with “an array of terrific programming in all the genres that made PBS great in the first place,” said PBS programming executive Beth Hoppe.
Among other programs and dates announced Wednesday for the upcoming schedule:
A Great Performances series salute to Broadway airing Oct. 20-Dec. 1 and including the musicals She Loves Me and Holiday Inn; a tribute to famed producer-director Harold Prince; and Tony Award winner Kevin Kline in a revival of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.
New seasons of the drama series Poldark (starting Oct. 1) and The Durrells in Corfu (Oct. 15) and Last Tango in Halifax (Dec. 17).
David Letterman: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (Nov. 20).
American Masters specials on filmmaker Richard Linklater (Sept. 1); artist Tyrus Wong (Sept. 8); Edgar Allan Poe (Oct. 30); and Bob Hope (Dec. 29).
A Nova science series special on the Cassini space probe’s last hours as it descends into Saturn’s atmosphere, Death Dive to Saturn (Sept. 13).