PBS has announced its new fall schedule, and it unfolds like a reinforced liberal stereotype. It includes a "landmark" six-hour series on Latino-American history narrated by Benjamin Bratt, and a six-hour series on African-American history narrated by Henry Louis “Beer Summit” Gates, from America's colonial period "up to the present day — when America has a black president yet remains a nation divided by race."
The liberal network will air a “Great Performances” special titled “Barbra Streisand: Back to Brooklyn,” and, of course, to mark the 50th anniversary of the dark day in Dallas when President Kennedy was shot and killed, PBS is planning hours and hours of JFK specials:
PBS pays tribute to President Kennedy on the eve of the 50th anniversary of his assassination with intriguing new takes on the president’s life and death, anchored by “JFK,” a new four-hour, two-part special from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. A new episode from the science series NOVA, the history-focused SECRETS OF THE DEAD and other specials to be announced complete this special anniversary coverage.
This may be seen as only natural back-scratching, since some Kennedy minions like FCC chairman Newton Minow became players in the creation of the "Public Broadcasting Service" [to Democrats]. The press release gets more specific:
* AMERICAN EXPERIENCE “JFK” – This new four-hour portrait offers a fresh assessment of the enigmatic man, his accomplishments and his unfulfilled promise, featuring interviews with Kennedy family members and historians Robert Dallek, Robert Caro and Evan Thomas. [Liberals all.] Monday, November 11 and Tuesday, November 12, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
* NOVA “Cold Case JFK” (w.t.) – For decades, the assassination of John F. Kennedy has fueled dark rumors of conspiracies and mishandled evidence. Now, 50 years later, NOVA asks: Could modern investigators do better? Wednesday, November 13, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET
* SECRETS OF THE DEAD “One o’Clock” (w.t.) – This special chronicles minute-by-minute the assassination of President Kennedy as it was revealed, from the moment the president was shot until Walter Cronkite's tearful pronouncement of his death one hour and eight minutes later. Features rarely seen archival footage from the CBS newsroom and local broadcasts in Dallas. Wednesday, November 13, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET
For the feminists, there’s “AMERICAN MASTERS premieres ‘Billie Jean King’ (w.t.), a film about the tennis great on the 40th anniversary of the tennis world’s 1973 Battle of the Sexes [King vs. old male player Bobby Riggs] and King founding the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).”
