PBS Introduces New Programming Lineup

BEVERLY HILLS: At its TCA presentation, PBS unveiled its full lineup and air dates for the PBS Arts Fall Festival, new episodes of Super Why! and an all-new Curious George movie.

The fifth season of the PBS Arts Fall Festival, a key part of PBS’ Friday prime-time lineup, will return on October 9 at 9 p.m., with eight new weekly programs hosted by Gloria Estefan. The Festival is launching with Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson, hosted by percussionist Sheila E. and featuring some of Jackson’s greatest hits, interpreted by award-winning Latin artists. October 16 will see the broadcast of Live from Lincoln Center Presents Kern & Hammerstein’s Show Boat in Concert with the New York Philharmonic. Great Performances: Billy Elliot The Musical will air on October 23, while on October 30, PBS will air Live from Lincoln Center Presents Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton (working title), featuring the scores from hit films including Batman, Beetlejuice and Alice in Wonderland. On November 6, Great Performances will feature Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin’ to Do. Meanwhile, Tony Shalhoub stars in Live from Lincoln Center: Act One on November 13. November 20 will see a tribute to the award-winning songwriting team John Kander and Fred Ebb in First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb, and on November 27, Great Performances will feature another music giant with Andrea Bocelli: Cinema (working title). Masterpiece will showcase Broadway and Hollywood stars such as Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis and Julian Ovendon.

“The fifth annual PBS Arts Fall Festival is a celebration of performing arts and music from the stage and screen, from the pop charts, and more,” said PBS’ president and CEO Paula Kerger. “Gloria Estefan serving as this year’s host and a Latin tribute to the music of Michael Jackson are among the many highlights of this year’s Festival programming. The Festival is an enduring testament to PBS’ longstanding commitment to the arts, which is reinforced with this fall’s lineup of our signature quality programming and exciting performances that will captivate audiences.” 

“The Festival spans generations and genres with contemporary hits, Broadway legends and tributes to groundbreaking artists, with an additional spotlight this year on Latin music stars,” added PBS’ VP of programming and festival curator, Donald Thoms. “This season promises to be spectacular for the arts on PBS, and reinforces our commitment to arts and diversity programming.” 

Starting on August 17, PBS Kids has plans to premiere new episodes of the Emmy-nominated animated preschool show Super Why! The series targets kids aged 3 to 6, teaching them about reading, the alphabet, word families, spelling, comprehension and vocabulary. “With a brand-new slate of episodes, Super Why! will delight families with entertaining, engaging stories just in time for the back-to-school season,” said Linda Simensky, the VP of children’s programming at PBS. “In this mystery-themed week, viewers will join the Super Readers as they solve puzzles and explore their origin stories, and gain the power to read along the way.”

In addition, PBS Kids will premiere the all-new movie Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle, also on August 17. The movie sees Curious George set out to take a trip to space, but he crash-lands in the African jungle, where he has fun adventures with new animal friends. The feature-length movie includes the voice talents of Angela Bassett and John Goodman, as well as music by the Plain White T’s.

“Curious George exemplifies PBS Kids' mission: to spark children’s curiosity and nurture their excitement about exploring the world around them,” commented Lesli Rotenberg, the general manager of children’s media at PBS. “We know that families love Curious George, which is our number-one show for kids 2-8, and PBS Kids is excited to debut a brand-new movie from everyone’s favorite monkey this summer, featuring adventures, learning moments and humor.”