Time Team, USA
OPB casting a team of inquiring experts who can dig it
Last July, Oregon Public Broadcasting took about a dozen archaeologists to the Maryland shores of Chesapeake Bay for auditions. The scientists dug at the site of London, an early 18th century colonial town, and built a replica of a colonial house. The producers observed: Who worked best with the local archaeologists? Who interacted comfortably with a visiting children’s group? Who stood out in on-camera interviews?
So far, two experts have made the cut for Time Team, USA (working title), a real-time archaeology program based on the 14-year-old series on Britain’s Channel 4 that will come to PBS primetime in 2009 or 2010. The network is paying for most of the production and some of the research and development, according to Dave Davis, v.p. of national TV production at OPB.
Aided by two producers from the U.K. show, OPB will make five episodes with co-producer Videotext Communications and perhaps a sixth if the money can be found. This is OPB’s second foray into the high-concept, investigative history genre—History Detectives is in its sixth season.
Shooting for Time Team, USA begins in May in Fort Raleigh, N.C., where in 1585 English adventurers attempted their first settlement in the New World. Archaeologists will have three days—condensed to an hour on TV—to investigate the site and present what they’ve learned. Using technology such as ground-penetrating radar and computer reconstruction, Time Team, USA will show viewers what lies underground and how a site (or artifact) might have looked hundreds of years ago.
Unlike the U.K. version, Time Team, USA won’t employ full-costume re-enactments. (In Britain, professional re-enactor died last October after an unlikely accident in a recreation of a medieval joust.)
PBS considered airing the British program —which also airs in Australia and Canada—but wanted to feature U.S. historical sites, says John Wilson, v.p. of programming. OPB tried pitching a U.S. version of the show several years ago using a celebrity as the host (in Britain, actor Tony Robinson has that role), but it was too expensive. So OPB tried again, with archaeologists as hosts.
“We hope we bring [PBS] the right ideas at the right time,” says Davis, though, as he regrets, the network says “no” nine out of ten times.
PBS has been keen on developing fresh formats for classic pubTV subject areas such as history, Wilson says. And since OPB can’t propose a pricey anthology series such as American Experience, says Davis, it’s aiming for the same audience with a fast-paced, as-it-happens design.
Like Antiques Roadshow, History Detectives and African American Lives, Time Team, USA will use a consistent formula to convey discoveries. Having regular casts helps viewers feel they’re watching a series, even as the geography changes, says Wilson. “It just makes it easier for them to know what they’ve seen and where they’ve seen it,” he says.
Time Team, USA appears to venture further than its predecessors into the realm of reality TV, however. So far, producers have scouted and begun investigating 40 possible dig sites, says Davis.
In some episodes, local archaeologists will join the regular cast, which Davis hopes will include one Native American archaeologist. If the team finds Native American remains, he says, it will consult with tribes and bring them into the process.
The series website will feature behind-the-scenes blogs, producers’ video diaries and progress reports on sites after the team leaves.
If the first few episodes are successful, Wilson says PBS may consider broadening the scope beyond the United States. Visits to sites in Mexico or Canada would make Time Team more appealing to broadcasters in those countries.
“If we feel like we’ve really got something,” he says, “it is a format that is readily expandable.”
This story has been updated with new information on the first shooting for the series.
Web page posted April 7, 2008, revised May 1, 2008
Copyright 2008 by Current LLC