PBS announced they’ll be kicking off the 2012 fall season with Call the Midwife, the British dramatic series set in the 1950s. The fall schedule also includes the second season of Upstairs Downstairs, Frontline’s The Choice, and Antiques Roadshow, as well as extensive election coverage.
“PBS’ fall schedule, one of our strongest in years, builds on the knowledge that our programming approach is working, bringing in new viewers throughout the week,” stated Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO. “Our incredible Sunday night schedule sets the stage for enhanced weeknight viewing, too. Mondays are poised to bring in a diversity of new voices and perspectives with independent films; popular Wednesday nature and science programs will continue to build with a revamped NOVA scienceNOW; and our nightly politics and election coverage will grow as we move toward Election Day and give viewers new perspectives on the issues they care about.”
PBS’ Fall 2012 Highlights:
BROADWAY OR BUST
Sundays, September 9-23, 2012, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
PBS is bound for Broadway with a new three-part documentary series that tracks the real-life stories of America’s top high school musical performers, vying in the ultimate competition to find the nation’s best young theater stars. Part competition, part performance and part non-fiction drama, the series starts in regional theatrical programs, then moves to New York City, where the “best of the best” compete in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (a.k.a. The Jimmy Awards).
CALL THE MIDWIFE
Sundays, September 30 to November 4, 2012, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
Based on a best-selling trilogy by the late Jennifer Worth, CALL THE MIDWIFE is a fascinating portrayal of birth, life and death in a world drastically different from ours. This six-part series offers an unconventional twist to Sunday-night British dramas and brings mid-20th-century London to life, focusing on the joys and hardships of a group of midwives working in London’s East End.
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC “Upstairs Downstairs,” Season 2
Sundays, October 7 to November 11, 2012, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET
The saga continues at 165 Eaton Place, with new characters upstairs and down, in a six-part sequel to the much-loved MASTERPIECE series from the 1970s. Set in 1936, the lives of masters and servants have never been so captivating, as two new arrivals make their mark and Lady Agnes reveals a dark secret. Alex Kingston (“ER,” “Doctor Who”) joins the cast. The six-part series follows MIDWIFE, starting October 7. Viewers can catch up on the first season with a three-hour marathon September 30.
FRONTLINE “The Choice”
Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
The quadrennial election special maintains its reputation for clear, unbiased reporting as it covers the 2012 presidential candidates. “The Choice” provides viewers an in-depth look at President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, exploring the forces behind their campaigns, voter views on the issues and the projected changes the eventual winner will bring to the White House.
THE DUST BOWL
Sunday, November 18 and Monday, November 19, 2012, 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET
Ken Burns’s new two-part, four-hour documentary THE DUST BOWL chronicles the environmental catastrophe that destroyed the farmlands of the Great Plains, turned prairies into deserts and unleashed a pattern of massive, deadly dust storms in 1930s America. Personal survival stories and rare archival footage tell the story of the country’s worst manmade ecological disaster. In conjunction with the broadcast, PBS celebrates the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth with a repeat of his acclaimed AMERICAN MASTERS profile on Friday, November 16, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Source: PBS
