Even the closing of an era can be awfully tasty. In The Final Harvest (PBS Distribution), the series finale of A Chef’s Life, host and best-selling author Vivian Howard prepares a farewell feast of epic proportions. After five seasons of the Emmy and Peabody-winning series, only a handful of dishes remain on Vivian’s bucket list. She tackles them all with the help of some friends along the way in this spectacular series finale.
https://youtu.be/iizyBvbKfDk
The Final Harvest features some of the show’s most beloved personalities along with a series-worth of memorable flashbacks. Vivian’s parents, Mrs. Scarlett and Mr. John, share intimate moments and reveal how Vivian’s success has changed their family, and most importantly, made them proud. Vivian’s husband Ben reveals an unexpected tenderness when describing the impact of the series on his family and community. A fitting sign-off to the series, friends new and old take a seat at A Chef’s Life final harvest table, bringing to a close this extended love letter to eastern North Carolina.
The series, like no other, takes viewers on a heartwarming and compelling journey to meet unsung farmers, home cooks, and chefs, and simultaneously elevates quintessential Southern dishes to new modern classics.
Poetry in America(PBS Distribution)gathers personalities from all walks of life to interpret, explore and debate 12 unforgettable American poems. Show host and Harvard professor Elisa New meets with athletes, poets, politicians, musicians, architects, scientists, actors, and entrepreneurs to experience and share the power of poetry in this visually dazzling series.
The program follows Carl Sandburg to Chicago and Emily Dickinson to Amherst. Along the way notable personalities like actor Cynthia Nixon, former Vice President Joe Biden and world-famous architect Frank Gehry share their reflections on poems from Gwendolyn Brooks to Allen Ginsberg to Nas. Highlights include sports superstar Shaquille O’Neal reading “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch and musician Herbie Hancock and former President Bill Clinton sharing their thoughts on Langston Hughes’ “Harlem.”
The 12 American poems explored in Season One show viewers the lasting power of poetry. The 12 poems explored are “I cannot dance opon my toes,” by Emily Dickinson; “Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch; “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden; “Hymmnn and Hum Bom!” by Allen Ginsberg; “Skyscraper” by Carl Sandburg; “Harlem” by Langston Hughes; “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden; “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky; “To Prisoners” by Gwendolyn Brooks; “The Gray Heron” by Galway Kinnell; “N.Y State of Mind” by Nas and “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus.
Britain’s ancient cathedrals and abbeys reflect the country’s turbulent history through their significant heritage and architectural grandeur. Fans of the hit and multi award-winning show Downton Abbey are sure to enjoy Secrets of Britain’s Great Cathedrals(PBS Distribution), an eight episode program that explores cathedrals and abbeys found throughout England and Wales showing their legendary facades and soaring interior spaces, revealing secrets many may not know.
In the eight episodes of the series viewers are given unprecedented access behind the walls of these spectacular buildings, and are given incredible insight into the most influential cathedrals, abbeys and bishop’s palaces in the country. Featuring interviews with historians and experts, this program” take viewers on a 1,500-mile journey from the north to the south, and across the length of Wales exploring these magnificent architectural structures.
https://youtu.be/to6Oem9CkS8
Secrets of Britain’s Great Cathedrals explores some of the greatest buildings in the U.K., including York Minster which isthe largest cathedral in Britain and Canterbury Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in England, and mother church of the worldwide Anglican communion. Two other buildings viewers get a rare glimpse at are St. Paul’s Cathedral, where they learn why cathedrals are called ‘fabric’ and explore the cathedral’s memorial book which includes the names of American soldiers who lost their lives in WWII, including legendary swing band leader, Glenn Miller. Westminster Abbey is also explored as viewers learn that it is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the country and why it is called a Royal Peculiar. Many other magnificent buildings are explored throughout the eight episode series where secrets are revealed and important information is discussed.
PBS Distribution kicks the new year into high gear with the highly-anticipated release of Jamestown Season 1 & 2 on DVD on January 29. From the producers of Downton Abbey, this exciting and dramatic series follows the lives of three courageous, dynamic women who decide to leave their dark pasts behind in England, and make the journey of a lifetime across the ocean for a new life in 17th century America.
https://youtu.be/i7g7a37exIM
In Season 1 viewers are taken back to 1619 Jamestown, Virginia. For 12 years, it has been populated only by men, but the settlement is shaken up when the first women, including Alice (played Sophie Rundle), Verity (Niamh Walsh) and Jocelyn (Naomi Battrick), land in this breathtaking wilderness. The settlement is on the brink of change summoned by the arrival of a new governor who brings new laws that cause power struggles not only within the town, but also with the native inhabitants, the Pamunkey. While love triangles, bitter rivalries, and fierce competition cause conflict for the residents, ultimately, they are bound together by their resolute will to survive and thrive in their new lives.
Season 2 brings viewers back to Jamestown where Alice, Verity, and Jocelyn are continuing their lives. The colony is thriving and tobacco plantations are starting to provide the wealth they promised. As births, deaths, and broken marriages start to compound, the settlers find themselves again in the midst of new adventures, as a kidnapping, new rivalries, and a traitor threaten to disrupt the peace. New romantic connections are made, desires repressed, and even the purest of loves will be tested. The power of politics will impact the entire community, as the battle for supremacy continues.
PBS Distribution has released two important FRONTLINE programs on DVD.
FRONTLINE: The Pension Gamble America’s public pension is in a multi-trillion-dollar hole but who’s to blame? Marcela Gaviria, Martin Smith and Nick Verbitsky go inside the volatile fight over pensions playing out today in Kentucky. The trio investigates the role of state governments and Wall Street in driving America’s public pensions in debt. The documentary presents the Blue Grass state’s crisis and how, as the legislative session drew to a close in March of 2018, State Republicans tried a last-minute move to pass a new bill that addressed the failing public pension systems. That move then led to a public outcry.
FRONTLINEexamines how Kentucky’s once thriving pension system is now one of the worst in the nation. The program expands upon broader consequences for teachers, police, firefighters and other public employees everywhere.
FRONTLINE: The Facebook DilemmaIn this new program, FRONTLINEconducts a year-long investigation into the social media platform and takes a look at the genesis of Facebook, which was to create a more open and connected world. However, the company has failed to protect millions of users’ data and has fallen prey to the proliferation of “fake news” and disinformation. These mounting crises beg the question: Is Facebook more harmful than helpful?
FRONTLINE: The Facebook Dilemma uncovers that as the social media giant grew, there were few limits on what content was being posted – and the company allocated insufficient resources to enforcing its guidelines – leaving that in the hands of the public.
Using dozens of original interviews and rare footage, the program shows how Facebook faced claims of misuse while becoming an unprecedented global player. It shows the company’s role sowing division worldwide and the challenges facing the social media platform. The documentary also finds that multiple warnings about the platform’s negative impact on privacy and democracy were eclipsed by the company’s relentless pursuit of growth – and its users’ data.
A new year. And new and important DVDs to tell you about.
The first season of the exciting 11-part female-driven crime mystery series Frankie Drake Mysteries has just been released by PBS Distribution. Set against a backdrop of social change, radical politics and jazz music, the series featuring the fearless, adventurous and astute Frankie Drake who defies expectations, is immersed in both the real Toronto of the ’20s and the world of mystery and suspense conjured by creators Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci.
Starring Lauren Lee Smith, the series follow’s Toronto’s only female private detective in the ’20s as she takes on the cases the police don’t want or can’t handle. Her gender is her biggest advantage – who would ever think a woman could be a detective? She has a knack for solving cases but she’s no cop – her brand of justice doesn’t always follow the law.
Along with her partner Trudy (played by Chantel Riley), Frankie and the Drake Detective Agency take on cases of all shapes and sizes. From airplanes and booze running to American G-men, Communists and union busters, Frankie’s fearless sense of adventure gets her into all kinds of trouble, but she always manages to find her way out. In a time of change and hopefulness, Frankie is a woman ahead of everyone. She’s a new detective for a new world.
To be or not to be . . . the owner of Shakespeare Uncovered: Series 3 (PBS Distribution). The answer is obvious: Be!
The fascinating history behind Shakespeare’s greatest plays concludes with celebrated new hosts Helen Hunt, F. Murray Abraham, Romola Garai, Brian Cox, Simon Russell Beale and Sir Antony Sher who seamlessly weave their personal passions with history, biography, iconic performances and new analysis to tell the stories behind Shakespeare’s most famous works. The final season investigates Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, Julius Caesar, The Winter’s Tale and Richard III.
https://youtu.be/BmY7DofEgW0
The program reveals not just the elements in the play, but the history of the play itself. What sparked the creation of each of these works? Where did Shakespeare find his plots and what new forms of theater did he forge? What cultural, political and religious factors influenced his writing? How have the plays been staged and interpreted from Shakespeare’s time to now? Why at different times has each play been popular — or ignored? Why has this body of work endured so thoroughly? What, in the end, makes Shakespeare unique.
Masterpiece: Poldark, the rip-roaring TV drama called “swoon-worthy” by the Los Angeles Times returns for a fourth season of action-packed episodes, starring Aidan Turner as the roguish Ross Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as his fiery partner, Demelza. In Season 4, it’s 1796, and to defend Cornwall and those he loves from an empowered George, Ross must play the political game on a journey that takes him to the nation’s capital and into new perils.
Send in the clowns! And elephants and trapeze artists and jugglers and, of course, the ring master.
American Experience: The Circus (PBS Distribution) is a four-hour, two-part documentary exploring the colorful history of this popular, influential and distinctly American form of entertainment. A transformative place for reinvention, where young women could become lion tamers and young men traveled the world as roustabouts, the circus allowed people to be liberated from the roles assigned by society and find an accepting community that had eluded them elsewhere.
Drawing upon a vast and richly visual archive, and featuring a host of performers, historians and aficionados, The Circus brings to life an era when Circus Day would shut down a town, its stars were among the most famous people in the country, and multitudes gathered to see the improbable and the impossible, the exotic and the spectacular.
The program begins with the history (Part One) of the first one-ring show at the end of the 18th century in Philadelphia when the circus met the disapproval of the religious. In a society that valued sobriety and hard work, a wide-eyed day peering at half-naked aerialists amid shifty circus workers was frowned upon. Soon, circuses began to add elaborate menageries of exotic animals including lions, hippos and elephants, and “human oddities” from across the globe—rebranding themselves as “educational” experiences to concerned communities. Once the infamous showman and huckster P. T. Barnum transformed the trade in 1871, he and his partners created the largest touring show in existence.
The program continues (Part Two) as James Bailey takes his circus to Europe on a five-year tour. When the show paraded through British streets for the first time, throngs of people turned up to watch—and the scene was repeated in towns across Europe. Upon returning the circus tour to the U.S. the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey merged, creating a moving town of more than 1100 people, 735 horses, nearly 1000 other animals and 28 tents.
Featured were some of the most storied circus performers in history, including the famed aerialist Lillian Leitzel; May Worth, who stunned audiences by somersaulting on horseback; and big cat trainer Mabel Stark. In an era when women were still fighting for the right to vote, women circus performers stepped to the forefront of the suffrage movement.
For more than a century, the circus had brought daily life to a standstill. Shows took over rail yards. Parades clogged Main Street. Acres of billowing canvas appeared mirage-like on the outskirts of town. And then, when day broke, the miracle had vanished. Equestrians, sideshow performers, clowns, roustabouts, an enormous collection of curious beasts—all became just figments of a glorious dream.
Save the date: On November 6, PBS Distribution releases Native America, a new series from Providence Pictures, that weaves history and science with living indigenous traditions. The series brings to life a land of massive cities connected by social networks spanning two continents, with unique and sophisticated systems of science, art and writing. Made with the active participation of Native American communities and filmed in some of the most spectacular locations in the hemisphere, the program illuminates the splendor of a past whose story has for too long remained untold.
Narrated by Robbie Robertson (Mohawk and member of the famed rock group The Band), each part of Native America explores Great Nations and reveals cities, sacred stories and history long hidden in plain sight. In what is now America’s Southwest, indigenous people built stone skyscrapers with untold spiritual power and transformed deserts into fertile fields. In upstate New York, warriors renounced war and formed America’s first democracy 500 years before the Declaration of Independence, later inspiring Benjamin Franklin. Just outside of Mexico City, the ancient city of Teotihuacan is home to massive pyramids built to align with the sun and moon. On the banks of the Mississippi, rulers also raised a metropolis of pyramids and drew thousands to their new city to worship the sky. And in the American West, nomadic tribes transformed a weapon of conquest—the horse—into a new way of life, turning the tables on European invaders and building a mobile empire.
The producers of the program were given remarkable access to Native American communities, going behind the scenes at special events, including a pilgrimage to ancestral ruins at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, a trek across lost territories in the American West and an investiture ceremony for a chief in the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by cedar totem poles and centuries of tradition. Numerous Native American musicians provided music for the series and tribal members and descendant communities, whose ancestors built this world, share their stories, revealing long-held oral traditions as the thread that runs through the past to these living cultures today.
