Perry Simon, Chief Programming Executive, Previews Upcoming Trailblazers Programming
Each quarter, PBS will galvanize stations around a central content theme, a robust slate of multi-platform content and marketing assets to engage. At TCA Winter Press Tour, PBS Chief Programming Executive Perry Simon announced the upcoming slate of content to centered around the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment.
This summer, PBS will honor and commemorate those who fought for women’s suffrage in the U.S., the feminist movement throughout the 20th century, and the stories of modern women who continue to shatter the glass ceiling and transform modern history.
One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE’s “The Vote” tells the dramatic story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote, a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in the U.S.
As American demographics rapidly shift “And She Could Be Next,” a POV miniseries, tells the story of a defiant movement of women of color, transforming politics from the ground up.
In addition, viewers are invited to hit the campaign trail in an all-new two-part special with political strategist and commentator Margaret Hoover, from FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER, and several conservative women who are changing the face of the Republican Party.
Illuminating the stories of extraordinary American heroines from the early years of feminism, AMERICAN MASTERS “Unladylike2020” is a multimedia series consisting of a one-hour special for broadcast and 26 digital short films featuring courageous, little-known and diverse female trailblazers from the turn of the 20th century.
Five decades after Gloria Steinem began raising her voice for women’s equality and championing the equality rights of others, her vision and call to action are as urgent as ever. The two-hour GREAT PERFORMANCES “Gloria: A Life” brings viewers a richly detailed tapestry about one of the most inspiring and remarkable women in modern history.
Viewers will also experience a no-holds-barred portrait of Ann Richards, Governor of Texas from 1991–95, in another GREAT PERFORMANCES two-hour theatrical production. Written and performed by Emmy Award-winning actress Holland Taylor (“Two and a Half Men”), “Ann” takes a revealing look at the impassioned woman who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family — a complex, colorful and captivating character bigger than the state from which she hailed.
The Emmy Award-winning AMERICAN MASTERS series, which explores the lives and creative journeys of America’s most enduring artistic and cultural giants, returns with two new installments: “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” and “Mae West: Dirty Blonde.”
Notable women and their roles in historical events are featured in ROYAL HISTORY’S MYTHS AND SECRETS WITH LUCY WORSLEY. Subjects of the miniseries include: Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada, Queen Anne and the Formation of Great Britain, and Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution.
PREHISTORIC ROAD TRIP, a three-episode miniseries produced by WTTW Chicago, features Emily Graslie, Chief Curiosity Correspondent at the Field Museum and creator/host of the popular YouTube series “The Brain Scoop.” In each hour-long episode, Graslie, one of the best-known science communicators on YouTube, embarks on an epic road trip through America’s fossil country, where she encounters mysterious creatures and bizarre ecosystems that have shaped Earth as we know it.
PBS will also encore FRONTLINE “For Sama,” an intimate yet epic journey of one woman’s experience of the Syrian war.
PBS summer programming and upcoming premieres will be available for streaming on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast.
Associated Press: PBS highlighting women with summer of programming
