What’s Coming to PBS This Fall and Winter – WTTW News

2020 may be an unprecedented year, but one constant is PBS programming, featuring such stalwarts as Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,Masterpiecedramas, new kids shows,and exhaustiveFrontlinedocumentaries. Here's a preview of some of what's coming in the fall and summer.

September 7

This new PBS KIDS series for preschoolers follows the observant and curious bunny rabbit Elinor as she and her friends Ari the bat and Olive the elephant explore science, nature, and community in Animal Town.

September 9

As the possibility of editing human DNA with CRISPR technology becomes more and more refined,NOVAexamines the difficult questions posed by such advances: how far should we go?

September 22

As it has since 1988,Frontlinepresents the life stories of the two major party candidates for president, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, examining the evolution of their views, their path to the presidency, and defining moments of their career. It's an in-depth portrait of both candidates in a decisive election.

October 5

Hosted by theNew York Times-bestselling author Kelly Corrigan, this interview series from PBS andPBS NewsHourwill feature such luminaries as Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, and author ofJust Mercy.

Premieres October 6

The sixth season of the popular ancestry investigation series continues with new episodes featuring everyone from Carly Simon to Lupita Nyong'o, PBS's own Lidia Bastianich, Gayle King, Jordan Peele, Bill Hader, and more.

October 9

This new half-hour, age-appropriate program features both conversations between real children and their parents as well as segments from PBS KIDS showsArthur,Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, andXavier Riddle and the Secret Museumabout race and racial justice.

October 16

Enjoy a starry tribute celebration of Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award winners featuring archival clips and acceptance remarks from the honorees and the artists they have influenced, including Chicago, Roberta Flack, Iggy Pop and more.

October 19

Artist Matt Furie's creation Pepe the Frog has been co-opted by alt-right people online as a symbol of hate. Now Furie is trying to reclaim his creation.

October 28

The bushfires that devastated Australia in the past year wreaked havoc on the unique wildlife of the continent. Follow the stories of rescue and rehabilitation of kangaroos, wombats, koalas and other species.

Premieres November 1

Hugh Laurie stars in this newMasterpiece drama as an ambitious politician whose enemies seem to be picking apart his public and private life to his detriment.

December 29

Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65 when she turned her childhood in the Ozarks into theLittle House on the Prairieseries, influencing generations of Americans conceptions of the West.

January 3

In thisMasterpiecefilm, Glenda Jackson plays an independent grandmother who lives alone despite early-stage Alzheimer's. The drama is propelled by the disappearance of her only friend, Elizabeth, and the mystery surrounding it.

January 2021

This new adaptation of the beloved books of James Alfred Wight, aka James Herriot, brings the humorous adventures of a young country veterinarian in Yorkshire during the 1930s.

February 2021

For his next sweeping history, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes on the exuberant history of the Black church in America, as a site for worship, resilience, organizing, freedom and more, in two parts.

February 2021

This documentary, executive produced by Alicia Keys, tells the stories of six female Black entertainers, and their struggles against racism in the entertainment industry:Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson, and Pam Grier.

Winter 2021

SOUL! was America's first variety show, premiering in 1968 and running for six years. In this documentary, the niece of the show's producer and eventual host, Ellis Haizlip, tells the story of the pioneering show.

The COVID-19 pandemic could be the perfect time to dive into Ken Burns's in-depth films covering the breadth of American history and culture, from baseball to jazz to the Civil War, and beginning in August all of his films will be available to stream via WTTW Passport, available to WTTW members.