Heinz figures prominently in ‘ The Food That Built America’
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — In its latest nonfiction miniseries, History explores “The Food That Built America” ( 9 p. m. Sunday through Tuesday), including the role of Henry J. Heinz and the company he built in Pittsburgh.
A combination of dramatic re- creations and talking- head experts ( including Sen. John Heinz History Center President and CEO Andy Masich), H. J. Heinz figures prominently in the first night of the threepart series, which was filmed in New York.
“What we see with Heinz is someone who pioneered industrial processes that changed the way food industries operated,” said Isaac Holub, an executive producer on “The Food That Built America” from production company Lucky 8. “He had the first fully electrified factory in the United States so it would be as efficient as possible. … He famously used clear glass bottles so people could see the product they were buying, and he was very prominently part of the Pure Food and Drug Act [ of 1906] being passed at the time.”
Dramatic scripted scenes show Henry Heinz ( Joseph Gray) formulating Heinz ketchup and later charging his son, Howard ( Michael Bradley), with getting the Pure Food and Drug Act passed in Washington.
Other food industry tycoons featured in the series include Milton Hershey, John and Will Kellogg, C. W. Post and the McDonald brothers. Mr. Holub said the series follows in the tradition of past History nonfiction miniseries, including 2006’ s “10 Days That Changed America” and 2012’ s “The Men Who Built America.”
“A lot of these documentaries in the past focused on people like [ John D.] Rockefeller and [ Cornelius] Vanderbilt, icons responsible for the steel and railroad industries; we’re looking at the story of food through that light and how these men and women were true innovators ahead of their time in terms of their thinking,” Mr. Holub said. “They weren’t just changing the way our country eats but changing every aspect of American life. In many ways, it played a really big role in America’s rise to prominence and power in the 20th century.”
ALLISON TOLMAN RE- EMERGES ON ABC
Actress Allison Tolman, who first made an impression in FX’s “Fargo” and then filmed ABC’s “Downward Dog” in Pittsburgh, re- emerges this fall on ABC’s “Emergence” ( 10 p. m. Sept. 24, WTAE- TV). It’s another in a long line of ABC genre shows that, other than “Lost,” have typically been canceled without providing resolution ( e. g., “Resurrection,” “The Crossing,” “The Whispers,” etc.).
Tolman stars as a Long Island sheriff who takes in a girl found near the site of a plane crash on the beach. But the girl, who doesn’t remember anything from before she was found, clearly has connections to something alien, experimental or supernatural. Producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters (“Kevin ( Probably) Saves the World”) said viewers will learn the girl’s backstory “sooner than you think.”
“We pitched this as a conspiracy genre thriller meets a family drama,” Ms. Fazekas said during the ABC portion of the Television Critics Association summer 2019 press tour. “We didn’t want to have it be so heavy on the mystery and what [ the girl] is. I’m most interested in this family that has formed and how they interact with each other.”
‘ MIXED- ISH’ SPINS OFF FROM ‘ BLACK- ISH’
The “ish” universe — “black- ish,” “grown- ish” — expands this fall with the addition of “black- ish” prequel “mixed- ish” ( 9 p. m. Sept. 24), which tells the story of Rainbow Johnson growing up in the 1980s.
Tracee Ellis Ross, who plays Rainbow as an adult on “black- ish,” narrates the prequel where Arica Himmel plays young Rainbow.
Executive producer Karin Gist said the goal is to create a universal relatability through a specific lens.
“What we’re aiming to do in the writers’ room and to put on the screen is to have conversations about race that we can have back in the ’ 80s that might feel a little bit safer in that world to discuss, but still are really relevant to what we’re going through now as a nation,” she said. “But also shine a light on people who just feel othered and who are trying to find their voice and find their way. And hopefully that can be the entire audience. It’s more than just a racial conversation.”
CHANNEL SURFING
Published reports suggest CBS and Viacom have worked out a management structure for a potential corporate re- combining. … Netflix canceled “The OA” after two seasons. … Jimmy Kimmel’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” which remade episodes of “The Jeffersons” and “All in the Family” in May, will be back with two more updates of classic sitcoms ( titles to be determined) in December and in May 2020. … The Mid- Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will present David Newell ( aka Mr. McFeely on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”) with the 2019 Board of Governors Award at the regional Emmy ceremony Sept. 28. Inductees into the Silver Circle Society will include KDKA- TV feature reporter Dave Crawley and reporter/ host Lynne Hayes- Freeland and retired WPXI
videographer Mark Johnston.