WHATEVER IT TAKES
THURSDAY, MARCH 1 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM
Three decades after it burned to the ground — and into the national consciousness — the South Bronx struggles to shake its reputation as a community in despair. But in the Morrisania neighborhood, one small school offers an example of the borough’s new beginning.
THE AMISH
SATURDAY, MARCH 3 @ 6:00PM
Filmed over the course of a year, The Amish answers many questions Americans have about this insular religious community. Their intense faith and strict adherence to 300-year-old traditions have by turn captivated and repelled, awed and irritated, inspired and confused America for more than a century. An extraordinarily intimate portrait of contemporary Amish faith and life, the film questions why and how the Amish, an insistently separatist and communal culture, have thrived within one of the most open, individualistic societies on earth. It asks what our fascination with the Amish says about deep American values. And The Amishlooks at what the future holds for a community whose existence is so rooted in the past.
CAB CALLOWAY: SKETCHES
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM
“Hi de hi de hi de ho!” Charismatic music and dance pioneer Cab Calloway (12-25-1907 – 11-18-94) is an exceptional figure in the history of jazz. As a singer, dancer and bandleader, he charmed audiences around the world with his boundless energy, bravado and elegant showmanship. Calloway was also an ambassador for his race, leading one of the most popular African American big bands during the Harlem Renaissance and jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s. American Masters celebrates “The Hi De Ho Man’s” career and legacy during Black History Month with the new documentary Cab Calloway: Sketches.
THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26 @ 7:00PM & 10:30PM
Grandfather (Derek Jacobi, I, Claudius) adores young and innocent Nell (Sophie Vavasseur, Northanger Abbey), and is determined to provide her with a secure future — but at what cost? As Grandfather routinely dispatches her from the Old Curiosity Shop to secure funds, he meanwhile is gambling away the money under the cover of night. Desperation forces Grandfather into a reckless deal with the menacing moneylender Quilp (Toby Jones, Frost/Nixon).
MEMPHIS
FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 24 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM
Memphis takes place in the smoky halls and underground clubs of the segregated 50’s, where a young white DJ named Huey Calhoun (Kimball) falls in love with everything he shouldn’t: rock and roll and an electrifying black singer Felicia Farrell (Glover). Memphisis an original story about the cultural revolution that erupted when his vision met her voice, and the music changed forever.
GIANT LIVES ~ DEEP THINKERS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 @ 6:00PM & 9:00PM
Whales and dolphins conjure a deep sense of wonder in us that’s hard to explain. From the Arctic to the Amazon, this groundbreaking three-part series goes on a global expedition with world-renowned underwater cameramen, Doug Allen (Planet Earth) and Didier Noirot (Jacques Cousteau’s cameraman), as they capture spellbinding footage of these marine mammals. Ocean Giantslooks at how cetaceans hunt, mate, and communicate, and follows scientists as they strive to uncover new insights about these animals.
CLINTON
TUESDAY, MAY 8 @ 6:00PM & 9:00PM
PART 1
The biography of a president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history, and one of the most complex and conflicted characters to ever stride across the public stage. From draft dodging to the Dayton Accords, from Monica Lewinsky to a balanced budget, the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton veered between sordid scandal and grand achievement. Clinton had a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy, and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9-11.
DOWNTON ABBEY, SERIES II
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19 @ 7:00PM & 10:00PM
CHRISTMAS, 1919 – FINAL EPISODE
Christmas reunites most of the Grantham family as Rosamund, her gossipy maid Shore in tow, arrives eager to introduce her new suitor to the family. But neither the Granthams nor the servants can escape into the season’s merriment when they are forced to turn against one of their own. Not even games can pierce the gloom surrounding Downton, where downstairs the servants are desperate for guidance. Thomas and O’Brien are up to their old tricks, Daisy tries to make sense of her future, and Anna holds tight to endure the present.
POVERTY IN AMERICA
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17 @ 6:30PM & 11:30PM
Newt Gingrich stoked a political firestorm recently when he called President Obama “the greatest food stamp president” in American history. On this edition of Need to Know, we ask: Why are so many Americans on food stamps, and what does it say about the federal safety net and the state of poverty in America? Jeff Greenfield anchors.
MORE THAN A MONTH
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 @ 8:00PM
Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29-year-old African-American filmmaker, sets out on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. He stops in various cities, wearing a sandwich board, to solicit signatures on his petition to end the observance. He explains that relegating Black History Month to the coldest, shortest month of the year is an insult, and that black history is not separate from American history. Through this thoughtful and humorous journey, he explores what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a “post-racial” America.