A&E Network has set 2020 season and/or series premiere dates for Project Blue Book, 60 Days In, Alaska PD, and The First 48. Season two of History’s Project Blue Book will debut on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at 10pm ET/PT. The second season of the series from Robert Zemeckis will consist of 10 episodes and is based on real-life stories from Roswell and Area 51.
Alaska PD will make its primetime debut on A&E with a special two-night premiere on January 1, 2020 at 10pm ET/PT and January 2nd at 9pm ET/PT. 60 Days In returns to A&E on Thursday, January 2nd at 10pm ET/PT, and the 15th season of The First 48 will kick off with an anniversary special on January 1st at 8pm ET/PT followed by new episodes on Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT beginning January 2nd.
In addition to confirming the new season premiere dates, A&E Network has put out official descriptions for Project Blue Book, Alaska PD, The First 48, and 60 Days In.
Project Blue Book:
Project Blue Book is inspired by the personal experiences of Dr. J. Allen Hynek (Aidan Gillen), a brilliant college professor recruited by the U.S. Air Force to spearhead this clandestine operation (Project Blue Book) that researched thousands of cases, over 700 of which remain unsolved to this day. The ten-episode sophomore season will find Dr. Hynek and Captain Michael Quinn (Michael Malarkey) on a dangerous quest for the truth and delve deeper into themes of global conspiracy, touch on how UFOs have impacted the evolution of our nation’s military practices and technology and lean into the nostalgia of the 1950s.
It will also kick-off with a deep dive into two of the most well-known UFO cases in US history: Roswell, New Mexico where a rancher claimed to have found mysterious wreckage on his property thought to be a UFO and Area 51, a government-run location in Nevada historically rumored to be a magnet for paranormal events and UFO-related activity.
Other episodes this season take Hynek and Quinn further into the secrets and conspiracies of the 1950s, with stories about the haunting Skinwalker Ranch (a 512-acre property reputed to be the site of numerous paranormal and UFO-inspired events), the mysterious Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter (where a rural Kentucky family claimed to have been visited by aliens), the CIA’s infamous mind-control experiments, and an episode which follows Hynek in his role as expert consultant to the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Alaska PD:
Alaska PD brings viewers to America’s Last Frontier, where the line between civilization and lawlessness can be razor-thin. Chronically shorthanded police departments across the state must turn to officers from the Lower 48 to fight a soaring crime rate. For the “newbies” it is a trial by fire as they learn first-hand that policing, like everything else, is different in Alaska.
In a state where guns are carried as part of everyday life, officers often have to protect an entire town by themselves while enforcing laws many are unwilling to follow. They face numerous dangers found only in Alaska, not just from people who want to be free from the rules of society, but also from encounters with predatory animals roaming through town and sub-zero conditions that can be deadly and unrelenting.
The First 48:
For the last 15 years, The First 48 has followed thousands of homicide investigations in 27 cities across the country as detectives work relentlessly to solve murders in the critical first 48 hours of a crime. Over the course of the series’ run, viewers have been given unprecedented access to crime scenes, forensic processing, and investigations as detectives follow leads and uncover evidence and witnesses in order to identify the killers.
To kick off the new season, an anniversary special will bring viewers along as detectives work to solve the murders of two women in Tulsa, Oklahoma who were gunned down in broad daylight. Commemorating 15 years on the air, the two-hour special will also include interviews with some of the most prominent homicide detectives featured in the series to-date as they look back on the some of the most memorable cases of their careers.
60 Days In:
For the first time in 60 Days In history, more participants struggle to survive the intense program and are forced to quit the program early, as the newly elected Sheriff takes over one of the worst facilities the series has ever seen. After two decades, the Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama is under new management and the newly elected Sheriff is determined to make a change. In his first week, he decided to shakedown the facility and in one day alone, found more than 200 broken door locks, drugs and removed more than two tons of contraband. With no time to lose, Sheriff Horton along with Chief Peek and select members of their team have agreed to embed innocent participants to uncover the issues that plague the facility.
This season, the participants will face the biggest challenge of their lives in an effort to rid a jail, that is in dire need of help, of contraband and corruption before it is too late.
