BEST OF GENEALOGY ROADSHOW

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 @ 11:00PM

Part detective story, part emotional journey, Genealogy Roadshow combines history and science to uncover the fascinating stories of diverse Americans. Each individual’s past links to a larger community history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of America.

Genealogy Roadshow’s premiere season featured 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 After participants are chosen, experts in genealogy, history and DNA use family heirlooms, letters, pictures, historical documents and other clues to hunt down more information.

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LOYAL AMERICANS/THE AMERICAN DREAM

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 @ 6:00PM & 12:00AM

EPISODE THREE: Loyal Americans (1930–1945)

A second generation of Italian Americans begins to enter the labor movement, politics, sports and entertainment. Fiorello LaGuardia beats Tammany Hall, the Irish Political machine in New York, to become Mayor and represent the “little guy.” Joe DiMaggio, the son of a fisherman in San Francisco, becomes a powerhouse, who breaks the record for consecutive hits and becomes an All-American hero.

EPISODE FOUR: The American Dream (1945 to present day)

In postwar America, Italian Americans seem finally to have arrived. They move to the suburbs, attend college and enter the middle-class. Italian American crooners define American cool, with Frank Sinatra leading the pack. But even as he skyrockets to fame, he is haunted by accusations of Mafia ties, an albatross Sinatra cannot escape from. Can Italian Americans ever fit into 1950s America, or will the specter of organized crime always bring them down? Popular media reinforces the negative stereotypes at the same time that Italian Americans are achieving success.

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AMERICAN DENIAL

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23 @ 11:00PM

Follow the story of Swedish researcher Gunnar Myrdal whose landmark 1944 study, An American Dilemma, probed deep into the United States’ racial psyche. The film weaves a narrative that exposes some of the potential underlying causes of racial biases still rooted in America’s systems and institutions today.

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GRANTCHESTER MARATHON

SUNDAY, MARCH 20 STARTING @ 6:00 PM – 9:00PM

If you missed Season 1 of Grantchester you can catch up tonight during the marathon.  Beginning with Episode 3 and continuing through the final Season 1 episode. Season 2 begins Sunday, March 27th.

Handsome, young vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton) shares his spiritual duties with a love of jazz, complicated relationships with women, and an enthusiasm for amateur sleuthing. When the concern of a parishioner compels him to dig deeper into a grisly suicide, he gets on the nerve of a tired, local law enforcement officer—Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green). Fortunately, the cleric and the cop bond over their war service, their love of a good pub, and their competitive instincts—in this case, for backgammon.

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DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 5

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

EPISODE 8: London brings the Crawleys and their servants scandal, sabotage, and a Scotland Yard stunner. Mrs. Patmore gets a surprise, and Robert has a revelation.

Rose struggles through her parents’ differences, Daisy looks to the future, and Anna faces a difficult decision in Episode 8 of Downton Abbey.

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 @ 9:00PM

This Week on Washington Week: Countering Violent Extremism as ISIS Expands to Africa; A Temporary Halt to Obama’s Immigration Action; Jeb Bush Distinguishes Himself from Presidential Relatives

Less than a week after President Obama asked Congress to formally authorize war against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants the group has expanded its influence into Libya. ISIS is taking advantage of the power vacuum in Libya following the ouster of President Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. This weekend the group released a video showing the mass beheading of 21 Egyptian Christian hostages.

At the White House, President Obama called for a global effort to counter violent extremism and groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda during a three-day summit with representatives from 60 countries.

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AUGUST WILSON

THE GROUND ON WHICH I STAND

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

The first documentary about the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson is a co-production of THIRTEEN’s American Masters series and WQED.

Unprecedented access to Wilson’s theatrical archives, rarely seen interviews and new dramatic readings bring to life his seminal 10-play cycle chronicling each decade of the 20th-century African-American experience, including the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences and Pulitzer Prize-winning The Piano Lesson.

Film and theater luminaries including Viola Davis, Charles Dutton, Laurence Fishburne, James Earl Jones, Suzan-Lori Parks and Phylicia Rashad share their stories of the career- and life-changing experience of bringing Wilson’s rich theatrical voice to the stage. Wilson’s sister Freda Ellis, his widow and costume designer Constanza Romero, as well as friends, colleagues and scholars trace Wilson’s influences, creative evolution, triumphs, struggles and quest for cultural determinism before his untimely death from liver cancer.

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PETRA – LOST CITY OF STONE

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11 @ 10:00pm

More than 2,000 years ago, the thriving city of Petra rose up in the bone-dry desert of what is now Jordan. An oasis of culture and abundance, the city was built by wealthy merchants whose camel caravans transported incense and spices from the Arabian Gulf. They carved spectacular temple-tombs into its soaring cliffs, raised a monumental Great Temple at its heart, and devised an ingenious system that channeled water to vineyards, bathhouses, fountains, and pools. But following a catastrophic earthquake and a slump in its desert trade routes.

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OWL POWER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

For centuries, owls have been featured in children’s books and folk tales capturing imaginations the world over. With their haunting calls and charismatic faces, these birds remain popular but mysterious because it’s rare to catch more than a glimpse of one in the wild. Unlike their cousins, the hawks, eagles and falcons, owls are the only bird of prey able to also hunt effectively at night when they have the skies to themselves. This has helped them become one of the most successful birds on earth, but the chief reason is due to their extraordinary super powers. To examine these special skills, filmmakers enlisted the help of veteran bird handlers, experts and technology to demonstrate and test the owl’s amazing abilities.

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PHILADELPHIA – HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 @ 11:00PM

The genealogists visit The Historical Society of Pennsylvania and discover some fascinating Philadelphia family history. One woman’s ancestor may have sparked historic labor laws; a pastor may have an outlaw in her family tree; a woman learns about slave genealogy and – with the help of DNA testing – gets the answer she has waited for; and another woman learns her ancestor may have helped others escape the Holocaust.

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