PBS Series to Explore U.S. Primetime TV

ARLINGTON: PBS has announced a new four-part series, set to premiere in late October, that will take an in-depth look at American prime-time television, offering up interviews with a slew of creators, among them Shonda Rhimes and David Shore, as well as stars like Michael C. Hall and Hugh Laurie.

America in Primetime, which will run over four Sundays from October 30 to November 20 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., is a production of WETA Washington, DC, and The Documentary Group, in association with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, with funding provided by the Annenberg Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS. Each episode will focus on a key character archetype that has remained a staple of prime time through the generations.

“Man of the House” will feature interviews with Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, David Chase, Bryan Cranston, Ron Howard, Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke and Patricia Heaton, among others. The lineup for “The Crusader” includes Alan Alda, Steven Bochco, David Milch, Chris Carter, Gillian Anderson, Bob Cochran, Joel Surnow, Michael C. Hall, Shawn Ryan, Michael Chiklis, David Shore and Hugh Laurie.

In “Independent Woman,” those featured will include Roseanne Barr, Candice Bergen, Robert and Michelle King, Julianna Margulies, James L. Brooks, Mary Tyler Moore, Shonda Rhimes and Sandra Oh.

The last episode, "The Misfit,” will feature Alec Baldwin, Diablo Cody, Greg Daniels, Larry David, Mitchell Hurwitz and Garry Shandling, among others.