Spotlight

Prohibition, arts and the cosmos set the stage for new programming

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Watch the full episode. See more Ken Burns.

Mark your calendars: Spotlight is excited to give KET viewers a glimpse of new 2011 fall PBS programming.

Prohibition | Premieres October 2

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick discover the true story of America’s “Great Experiment” with Prohibition, going beyond the oft-told tales of gangsters, rumrunners, flappers, and speakeasies to experience the rise, rule, and fall of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The series features music by Wynton Marsalis and the voice talents of Tom Hanks, Jeremy Irons, Paul Giamatti, Oliver Platt, John Lithgow, Samuel L. Jackson, Patricia Clarkson, Adam Arkin, Sam Waterston, Josh Lucas, and others with narration by Peter Coyote.

PBS Arts Fall Festival | Premieres October 14

A centerpiece of the fall is the first-ever PBS Arts Fall Festival, offering full-length performances, artist and performer profiles, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and mini-films about the art scenes in Miami, San Francisco, Cleveland, Chicago, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and other areas of the country. The nine-part series will bring unparalleled access to the arts from multiple media platforms and in the classroom.

The festival features all-new broadcasts of classic and contemporary performances, including (just to name a few): Women Who Rock, inspired by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s exhibit of the same name; Give Me The Banjo, narrated by Steve Martin, a banjoist himself, exploring the roots of American music; and Great Performances‘ “The Little Mermaid From San Francisco Ballet.”

Nova: “The Fabric of the Cosmos” | Premieres November 2

Physicist and acclaimed author Brian Greene returns to Nova with “The Fabric of the Cosmos.” The four-part miniseries takes viewers to the frontiers of physics to see how scientists are piecing together the most complete picture yet of space, time, and the universe, revealing that just beneath the surface of everyday experiences lies a world that is far stranger and more wondrous than anyone expected.