with GWEN IFILL

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 @ 7:30PM

This Week: Budget Battle, Obamacare, US-Iran relations, Homeland Security

Ahead of the Affordable Care Act’s latest provisions taking effect October 1, the White House has been focusing on educating the public about the health insurance exchanges. Simultaneously, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has continued his own campaign to defund the law, this week on the floor of the Senate.

But President Obama is not backing down from Republican threats to tie funding for Obamacare to the budget and efforts to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. He told a crowd at a community college in Maryland Thursday that Republicans were becoming increasingly “irresponsible” in opposing the law that provides health care for millions of uninsured Americans.

THE HOLLOW CROWN: HENRY IV, PART 1

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 @ 6:00PM

Henry IV’s reign is marred by his own guilt over Richard’s death, civil war, and the gnawing fear that his son Hal is a total wastrel unworthy of the throne. In this scene from the Shakespeare history play, Henry IV (Jeremy Irons) lectures his son, Prince Hal (Tom Hiddleston), on his poor and unprincelike conduct.

The heir to the throne, PRINCE HAL, defies his father, KING HENRY, by spending his time at MISTRESS QUICKLY’s tavern in the company of the dissolute FALSTAFF and his companions. The King is threatened by a rebellion led by HAL’s rival, HOTSPUR, his father NORTHUMBERLAND and his uncle WORCESTER. In the face of this danger to the state, PRINCE HAL joins his father to defeat the rebels at the BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY and kill HOTSPUR in single combat.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 12 @ 5:00PM & 10:00PM

Like many great scientific discoveries, this one happens by accident. Sereno, an expert in locating dinosaur fossils, is on an expedition to Niger, in Saharan Africa. Six weeks into a three-month journey, his team makes an unexpected discovery: human bones, the remains of peoples who lived 10,000 and 5,000 years ago.

Sereno’s team counts dozens of skeletons within just a few minutes. Skeletons of the Sahara relates the story of this stunning find and what it reveals about two civilizations that once flourished in what is now the world’s largest desert. Skeletons of the Sahara joins Sereno on a return trip to Niger. After years of waiting for conflict in West Africa to stabilize, he can finally return to the area called “Gobero.” Over 10 years and five expeditions, Sereno has found more than 200 burial plots, each more intriguing than the last: a man buried with his head in a pot; another buried sitting in a turtle shell; a girl with a bracelet carved from hippo bone; and most striking of all, a woman embracing two children, hands entwined in a triple burial.

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SOUTH AMERICA

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

What would it be like to see the world from a bird’s perspective? To experience riding on the backs of bald eagles and snow geese or flying alongside a flock of brown pelicans as they scan and dive for fish in the ocean below. State-of-the-art technology and sophisticated camera techniques have now made it possible to do just that and more as EARTHFLIGHT, A Nature Special Presentation takes viewers on a breathtaking aerial adventure over six continents.

Episode Four: South America
Condors and scarlet macaws take us to the Andes and the Amazon. Giant petrels in Patagonia shadow killer whales. Hummingbirds feed at Iguazu Falls, vultures ride the thermals over Rio de Janeiro, and black vultures target turtle eggs in Costa Rica.

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WAR AND PEACE/THE NEW LATINOS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

War and Peace (1942-1954)

World War II is a watershed event for Latino Americans with hundreds of thousands of men and women serving in the armed forces, most fighting side by side with Anglos. In the Pacific, East L.A.’s Guy Gabaldon becomes a Marine Corp legend when he singlehandedly captures more enemy soldiers than anyone in US military history. But on the home front, discrimination is not dead: in 1943, Anglo servicemen battle hip young “Zoot suitors” in racially charged riots in southern California.

After the war, Macario Garcia becomes the first Mexican National to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits fighting in Europe, only to be refused service in a Texas diner. The experience during the war pushes Latinos to fight for civil rights back home. A doctor from South Texas, Hector Garcia, organizes the American GI Forum, transforming himself into a tireless advocate for civil rights and the friend of a future president. Although Latinos make significant gains, the journey for equality is far.

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BEST KEPT SECRET

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 @ 11:00PM

At a public school in Newark, N.J., the staff answers the phone by saying, “You’ve reached John F. Kennedy High School, Newark’s best-kept secret.” JFK provides an exceptional environment for students with special-education needs. In Best Kept Secret, Janet Mino, who has taught a class of young men for four years, is on an urgent mission. She races against the clock as graduation approaches for her severely autistic minority students. Once they graduate and leave the security of this nurturing place, their options for living independently will be few. Mino must help them find the means to support themselves before they “age out” of the system. (90 minutes)

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DETROIT

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 @ 10:00 PM

Learn about “Motor City” residents’ connections to world events and historical figures.

Genealogy Roadshow premiere season will feature participants from four American cities — Nashville, Detroit, San Francisco and Austin — who want to explore unverified genealogical claims, passed down through family history, that may (or may not) connect them to an event or a historical figure. These cities were chosen as American crossroads of culture, diversity, industry and history, with deep pools of potential participants and stories.  After participants are chosen, experts in genealogy, history and DNA will use family heirlooms, letters, pictures, historical documents and other clues to hunt down more information.

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FOYLE’S WAR

THE CAGE

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 @ 7:00PM & 11:30PM

Foyle’s investigation into the death of a nameless Russian leads to a mysterious military facility run by a respected Colonel with an impeccable war record. But as Foyle makes inquiries, he realizes that the dead Russian was a spy with dangerous connections to British intelligence.

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 @ 9:03PM

BILLY CRYSTAL ON THE BEST ADVICE HE EVER GOT

In his interview with Charlie Rose, Billy Crystal talks about his new memoir, “Still Foolin’ ‘Em.” Here he tells Charlie Rose about some of the best advice he’s been given about stand-up comedy.

The iconic interviewer brings his unique style to PBS prime time with the best stories and interviews of the past seven days. Tune in each week to The Week for the defining moments in — and conversations about – the news, the sciences, the arts and entertainment.

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THE HOLLOW CROWN: RICHARD II

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM

KING RICHARD is called upon to settle a dispute between his cousin HENRY BOLINGBROKE and THOMAS MOWBRAY. RICHARD calls for a duel but then halts it just before swords clash. Both men are banished from the realm. RICHARD visits JOHN OF GAUNT, BOLINGBROKE’s Father, who, in the throes of death, reprimands the King. After seizing GAUNT’s money and lands, RICHARD leaves for wars against the rebels in Ireland. BOLINGBROKE returns to claim back his inheritance. Supported by his allies, NORTHUMBERLAND and the DUKE OF YORK, BOLINGBROKE takes RICHARD prisoner and lays claim to the throne. (3 hours)

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