 Current's annual survey of national programs in preparation for public television |
Winter 1998 | Spring 1998 | Summer 1998 | Fall 1998Sometime
in 1998 | 1998 or 1999
Winter 1999 | Spring 1999 | Summer
1999 | Fall 1999Sometime in 1999
Winter 2000 | Spring 2000 | Fall
2000 |
Sometime in 2000 | Spring
2001
Fall 2001 | Airdates to be determined
Current's sixth annual survey, originally published Oct. 6 and 20, 1997. Compiled by Karen Everhart Bedford with assistance from Geneva Collins. Airdates are only expectations. List excludes projects less than two hours long. Expected distributor is PBS unless otherwise stated. Temporary working titles marked "w.t." K-12 classroom series are published in a separate FirstView list every August.
America in the Forties
Producing organization: Reader's Digest Association. Episodes: 1 x 180. Status:
Postproduction. Major funder: Reader's Digest Association. Executive producers:
Tom Spain, Tom Simon, Mark Fichlander. Charles Durning hosts a musical portrait
of the nation crafted from the moods, memories and mysteries of a generation
of Americans whose lives were shaped by the decade. Website: www.rd.com.
American Stories
Producing organizations: Alerion Productions; North Fork Films; Anderson/Gold
Films. Distributor: Independent Television Service. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status:
production. Budget: $900,000. Major funders: ITVS through funds from CPB.
Executive Producers: Kelly Anderson for Anderson/Gold Films; Andrew Garrison
for North Fork Films; Bruce Kuerten and John DiJulio for Alerion Films. Three
American dramas by indie filmmakers. "Shift" by Anderson explores the volatile
relationship between a frustrated waitress and a telemarketing prison inmate
in the downsized economy of the New South. "Cracker Man," by Kuerten and DiJulio,
is an offbeat story of a life deferred as a woman struggles with duty, flirts
with possibility and ultimately survives catastrophic change. Garrison's film,
"Maxine," follows 23-year-old Wilgus Collier as he comes to the aid of his
friend Maxine, a single mother whose life is in turmoil.
Black & White in Exile
Producing organization: Cutting Edge Entertainment. Presenting organizations:
WLRN, Miami, and the National Latino Communications Center. Episodes: 6 x
30. Status: postproduction. Major funders: Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, National Latino Communications
Center, Tribune New York Foundation. Executive producer, producer and co-writer:
Ray Blanco. Coordinating producer: Joseph Silvestri. Line producer: Helen
Weiss. (This corrected information from Cutting Edge Entertainment.) Examines
more than 30 years of Cuban and Haitian immigration and its impact on U.S.
communities.
Connect With English
Producing station: WGBH, Boston. Episodes: 24 x 30. Status: postproduction.
Budget: $4.5 million. Major funders: Annenberg/CPB Project, McGraw-Hill Inc.,
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Abbot and Dorothy K. Stevens Foundation, Arthur
Vining Davis Foundation, Alfred E. Chase Charity Foundation, George I. Alden
Trust. Executive producers: Fred Barzyk, Michele Korf. Telecourse using drama
to teach English to speakers of other languages, from the producers of French
in Action and Destinos. With texts from McGraw-Hill. Website: http://www.learner.org
Dessert Circus with Jacques Torres
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV, Frappe Inc. Distributor: APS. Episodes:
26 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $600,000. Major funders: Grand Marnier
Foundation, King Arthur Flour, Callebaut Chocolate. Executive producer: Charles
Pinsky. Executive in charge: John Potthast. Chef Jacques Torres demonstrates
how to prepare desserts in a series featuring live audience interaction and
culinary experts such as Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Website: http://www.mpt.org
The Dynasty: The Nehru Gandhi Story
Producing organization: Brook/Lapping Associates in association with WGBH.
Episodes: 1 x 180. Status: postproduction. Budget: $800,000. Major funder:
PBS. Executive producer: Philip Whitehead and Zvi Dor-Ner. Explores five generations
of the Nehru/Gandhi family and their involvement in the emergence and governance
of independent India.
False Promises?: Technology and America's Future
Producing organization: Studio Miramar, Inc. Distributor: ITVS. Episodes:
4 x 60. Status: research. Major funders: ITVS through funds from CPB. Executive
Producer: David Bolt. Producers: Helen Cohen, Debra Chasnoff, David Brown,
Leslie Farrell, Sue Ellen McCann. Shines a light on some of the problems created
by the rapid proliferation of computers, including their role in widening
the social gaps throughout society--particularly among young people.
Great Food
Producing organizations: West 175 Enterprises; KCTS, Seattle. Episodes: 39
x 30. Status: fundraising. Executive producer: John McEwen. Culled from 130
hours of primetime BBC cooking programs, the series features travel clips
and cooking techniques from leading chefs such as Madhur Jaffrey, Delia Smith,
and Ken Hom.
Incredible Cuisine with Chef Jean Pierre
Producing station: WLRN, Miami. Expected distributor: APS. Episodes: 26 x
30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $250,300. Major funder: Greater Fort Lauderdale
Visitor & Convention Bureau. Executive producers: Gustavo Sagastume, Pat Combine.
Chef Jean Pierre Brehier re-creates classic French dishes for the '90s, making
them low-fat and easy to prepare.
Long Journey Home: The Irish in America
Producing organization: Lennon Documentary Group. Presenting station: WGBH.
Episodes: 3 x 120. Status: postproduction. Budget: $6 million. Major funders:
PBS, Walt Disney Studios. Executive producer: Tom Lennon. A look at the impact
of Irish immigrants on the growth of America, from the Great Famine of 1847
to the present. Music by Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains.
Rhodes
A presentation of Mobil Masterpiece Theatre. Producing organization:
A Zenith Production for BBC and WGBH. Episodes: 3 x 120. Status: postproduction.
Major funder: Mobil Corp. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. The life of Cecil
Rhodes, whose rise to power changed the shape and course of Africa and laid
the cornerstone for apartheid.
Sam Clemens and Mark Twain, w.t.
Producing organizations: Espritruth Films, Wentworth Films. Episodes: 3 x
60. Status: production. Budget: $1.5 million. Major funders: National Endowment
for the Humanities, CPB. Executive producer: Sandra W. Bradley. Written by
Ken Chowder. The story of the man, the work, the life, the legend. The series
explores Mark Twain, a full-blown American myth created largely by Sam Clemens
himself.
A Science Odyssey
Producing station: WGBH. Episodes: 5 x 120. Status: postproduction. Budget:
$10 million. Major funders: National Science Foundation, PBS/CPB Challenge
Fund, Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, IBM Corp., George D. Smith Foundation,
Carnegie Corp., Becton-Dickinson. Executive producer: Tom Friedman. Executive
in charge: Paula Apsell. Hosted by Charles Osgood, the series looks at the
most remarkable and influential discoveries, inventions, and achievements
in science and technology during the 20th century.
Space Tech
Producing organization: EFX Communications. Presenting station: Maryland PTV.
Distributor: APS. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $750,000.
Executive producer: James Franco. Executive in charge: John Potthast. Explores
the practical applications of advancements made by the space program. Web
site: http://www.mpt.org
Surviving the Bottom Line with Hedrick Smith
Producing organization: Hedrick Smith Productions. Presenting station: South
Carolina ETV. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $3.5 million.
Major funders: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Executive producer: Hedrick Smith.
Senior producer: Chris Koch.
Investigates the new American economy that creates insecurity and anxiety
for millions of middle-class Americans, even as it generates unparalleled
profits for Wall Street.
This Week in Business
Producing station: WETA, Washington, D.C. Expected distributor: PBS Plus.
Episodes: 52 x 30. Status: fundraising. Budget: $2 million. Executive producer:
Jeff Milstein. Producers: Jon Decker, Janice Holland. Ongoing half-hour series
featuring analysis of the week's top business news stories and interviews
with newsmakers. Hosted by Sheilah Kast.
Today's Classic Homes with Mitchell McDaniel
Producing organization: Our House Productions. Presenting station: WJCT, Jacksonville.
Distributor: SECA. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $150,000.
Major funders: Heritage Vinyl Products, Brick Institute of America. Executive
producer: Mitchell McDaniel. Producer: Brian Smith. McDaniel, a certified
building contractor, uses the construction of an elaborate Greek Revival home
to show how today's technology makes it easy to incorporate historic features
in a house.
The University
Producing organizations: KCTS; Oregon Public Broadcasting, ABC/Australia.
Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production. Major funders: Pacific Rim Coproduction
Association, KCTS. Executive producer: Elizabeth Brock. Producers: Peggy Case,
Sheila Mullen. A look at university life through the lens of the campus newspaper.
Parallel projects are being developed in Sydney and Seattle.
Vis . . . Vis
Producing organizations: Internews/Yerosha Productions. Episodes: 2 x 60.
Status: postproduction. Budget: $900,000. Major funders: CPB, Soros Documentary
Fund. Executive producer: Kim Spencer. Series producer: Steve Lawrence. Senior
producer: Dale Riehl. New communications technology and broadcast television
bring together people from diverse geographic, psychological or political
backgrounds. Black police officers in South Africa and Philadelphia discuss
issues in one episode; English teachers in Maryland and Iran in another. School
outreach and a Website planned.
The Whole Child
Producing station: WTVS, Detroit. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: postproduction.
Budget: $1 million. Major funder: Annenberg/CPB Project. Executive producer:
Harvey Ovshinsky. Developmental education and child care from birth to age
five. Hosted by Joanne Hendrick, Ph.D. Textbook from Prentice-Hall. Website: http://www.learner.org
Wild Girls and Hardboiled Heroines
Producing organizations: Vivid Pictures and OPB. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status:
fundraising. Budget: $625,000. Major funders: SBS Television of Australia.
Executive producer: Susan Mackinnon, John Lindsay. Fictional female private
investigators and their real-life counterparts provide clues to the changing
attitudes women hold toward crime, violence, sexuality and relationships.
Featuring Kinsey Millhone (author Sue Grafton), Dr. Kay Scarpetta (author
Patricia D. Cornwell) and V.I. Warshawski (author Sara Paretsky).
About Your House with Bob Yapp
Producing organizations: WTTW, Chicago; Marcus Productions; Robert Yapp Co.
Inc. Distributor: PBS Plus. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: production. Major funders:
Ace Hardware Corp., Andersen Windows, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Executive producers: Bruce Marcus, Bob Yapp. How-to series providing practical
information on restoring, preserving and maintaining your home.
Adventures of Kangaroddy
Producing organizations: KTEH, San Jose; American Champion Entertainment.
Distributor: Program Resource Group. Episodes: 12 x 30. Status: production.
Budget: $3 million. Major funders: American Champion Entertainment. Executive
producers: George Chung, Anthony Chan, Thomas Fanella. Producers: Jan Hutchins
and Maura Daly Phinney. A seven-foot kangaroo teaches children ethical behavior
through song, dance and martial arts. Stars: Pat Morita and Jennifer Montana.
American Storytellers
Producing organizations: KTEH, San Jose and Elise Robertson. Episodes: 6 x
30. Status: postproduction and R&D. Executive producer: Danny L. McGuire.
Producer: Elise Robertson. Dramatic renderings of classic American short stories.
Initial presentation, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Sensible Thing," is completed.
Website: http://www.kteh.org
Cancer Wars
Producing organizations: Barraclough Carey and WETA. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
postproduction. Budget: $1.85 million. Major funders: PBS, Channel 4. Executive
producer: George Carey, Richard Thomas. Producer: Jenny Barraclough. A social
and political history of the 50-year war on cancer.
Close to Home: A Moyers Report on Addiction
Producing organizations: Public Affairs Television Inc. Presenting station:
WNET, New York. Episodes: 4 x 60, 1 x 90. Status: postproduction. Major funders:
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Mutual of America Life Insurance Co. Executive
producers: Judith Davidson Moyers, Judy Doctoroff O'Neill. Documents scientific
breakthroughs in understanding how drugs change the brain, presents the experiences
of recovering addicts and the professionals who helped them, and examines
alternatives to current drug policies. Website: http://www.wnet.org
Digital Nation
Producing organizations: Lark International/KETC, St. Louis. Episodes: 2 x
60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $160,000. Major funder: Southwestern Bell
Telephone. Executive producer: Mark J. Buckley. Producer: Mary Leahy. Explores
how people in small towns and rural areas are taking up high-tech tools to
build businesses, improve education and access medical care. Website: http://www.ketc.org
E.C.U./Extreme Close-up, w.t.
Producing organization: American Documentary. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production.
Budget: $1 million. Major funders: ITVS, CPB. Executive Producer: Ellen Schneider.
First-person video diaries: individuals on the cusp of eventful periods in
their lives are recruited, trained, and turned loose with Hi-8 cameras to
tell--in their own words and pictures--what happens next.
The Face of Russia
Producing organizations: WETA, Malone Gill Productions and the Library of
Congress in association with Public Media Inc. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: postproduction.
Budget: $2.25 million. Major funders: Open Society Institute, Arthur Vining
Davis Foundation, Archer Daniels Midland, Dresser Industries, CPB, PBS. Executive
producer: Michael Gill, Phylis Geller. Hosted by Librarian of Congress James
Billington, the series explores the rich cultural heritage of Russia through
visual images, architecture and artistic works rarely seen before in the West.
Forces of the Wild
A presentation of Nature. Coproducing organizations: WNET and Partridge
Films, Ltd. Episodes: 5 x 60. Status: production. Major funders: PBS, NPS,
Ford, Canon, Park Foundation. Executive producer: Fred Kaufman. A voyage of
discovery into the elemental forces of nature that have shaped our planet
and life itself.
The Quest
A presentation of Frontline. Producing station: WGBH. Episodes: 4 x
60. Status: production. Budget: $1.8 million. Major funders: PBS, CPB, Arthur
Vining Davis Foundation. Senior executive producer: David Fanning. Executive
producer: Mike Sullivan. Senior producer: Bill Cran. Beginning with the death
of Jesus and continuing to the dedication of Constantinople, this series explores
the origins and spread of Christianity.
In Search of Law & Order, w.t.
Coproducing organizations: KQED, San Francisco; Kikim Media and Films of Record.
Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $1.5 million. Major funders:
CPB; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Center on Crime, Communities
and Culture of the Open Society Institute; Annie E. Casey Foundation. Executive
producer: Michael Schwarz. Series producer: Roger Graef. Producer: Ray Telles.
Examines the juvenile justice system and its role in promoting public safety.
Attempts to address public fears, many of them fueled by the media, that have
pushed youth crime to the top of the U.S. political agenda and led to the
highest incarceration rates in the world. Outreach planned.
Inspired by Bach
Producing organizations: Rhombus Media Inc. with WNET, BBC Television, ZDF/ARTE/ARD,
RTP-Portugal, NPS-Dutch Television, Sony Classical Film & Video. Episodes:
6 x 60. Status: postproduction. Major funders: Challenge Fund, Telefilm Canada.
Executive producer: Jac Venza. Series producer: Niv Fichman. Series built
around Bach's "Suites for Solo Cello," features Yo-Yo Ma interacting with
artists from various disciplines.
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV, Maya Vision, BBC. Episodes: 4 x 60.
Status: postproduction. Budget: $2 million. Executive producer: Leo Eaton.
Producer: Rebecca Dobbs. Historian and filmmaker Michael Wood journeys from
Macedonia to India, linking the story of the great conqueror with the lives
of contemporary people. Website: http://www.mpt.org
Into the Rising Sun
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV, Mare Nostrum Productions, RTP-Portugal,
NDR-Germany. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $2.1 million.
Executive producer: Luc Guyvers. Follows the path of Vasco de Gama and other
European explorers traveling around Africa in search of a sea route to the
East. Commemorates the 500th anniversary in 1998 of the first direct sea voyage
between West and East. Website: http://www.mpt.org
Life by the Numbers
Producing station: WQED, Pittsburgh. Episodes: 7 x 60. Status: postproduction.
Budget: $3.75 million. Major funders: NSF, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Texas
Instruments. Executive producer: Greg Andorfer. Project producer: James C.
Rogal. Series producer: David Elisco. Danny Glover hosts a fast-paced, highly
visual look at the math that is all around us in everyday life. Book, videocassettes,
teachers' guides planned. Website: http://www.mathlife.com
Living Europe
A presentation of Nova. Producing organizations: Sveriges Television,
WGBH. Episodes: 8 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $700,000. Major funder:
PBS. Executive producer: Paula Apsell. Tours European landscapes and the lives
of their inhabitants, and explores ways humans have affected European habitats.
Meeting the Millennium with Michael Malone
Producing organizations: KTEH, San Jose and Television Associates. Episodes:
26 x 30. Status: R&D. Major funders: Applied Materials, Cypress Semiconductors.
Executive producer: Danny L. McGuire. Producers: Susan Carlson for KTEH, Peter
Homer for Television Associates. Looks into the future with the help of leading-edge
thinkers and future scenarists in business, education, economics, science
and technology. Website: http://www.kteh.org
Millenium Minutes
Producing organization: Great Projects Film Co., Inc. Distributor: PBS Plus.
Episodes: 100 x 60 seconds. Status: production. Budget: $4.5 million. Major
funder: NEH. Executive producers: Kenneth Mandel, Daniel B. Polin. One-minute
documentaries exploring the range of human experience over the past 1,000
years--from the printing press to the World Wide Web, from tribal medicine
to antibiotics, from the drama of Shakespeare to the magic of movies. Educational
outreach planned.
The New Home Show
Coproducing organizations: WTVI, Charlotte; ANHS Productions. Distributor:
SECA. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $1.5 million. Major
funders: Bassett Furniture, Wayne Dalton Doors. Executive producer: Ben Mandel.
Senior producer: Robert Maier. How to build a new home, from site selection
to home furnishings. Website: http://www.thenewhomeshow.com
New Texas Cuisine, w.t.
Producing station: KERA, Dallas-Fort Worth. Distributor: APS. Episodes: 13
x 30. Status: postproduction. Major funders: Neiman Marcus and Central South
West. Executive producer: Rick Thompson. Producers: Lyn Ganz, Jana Sims. Chef
Stephan Pyles, who appeared in Great Chefs of the Southwest, explores the
culinary cultures that have influenced his recipes and style.
Pacific Beat, w.t.
Producing organization: Pacific Islanders in Communications. Episodes: 6 x
30. Status: R&D. Major funder: PIC. Executive producer: Karin Williams. Producer:
Heather Ciugni. Researcher/producer: Lori Taketa. News magazine highlights
current events and trends within the Pacific Rim.
People's Century
Producing organizations: WGBH, BBC. Episodes: 26 x 60. Status: postproduction.
Budget: $9.5 million. Major funders: PBS/CPB Challenge Fund. Executive producer:
Zvi Dor-Ner. Looks at the 20th century from the perspective of various people-led
movements that gave rise to freedom and war, arts and technology, and sports
and fashion.
Science in a Cold Climate, w.t.
Producing organizations: BBC Horizon Unit, OPB. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status:
postproduction. Major funders: PBS, BBC. Executive producers: John Lynch,
John Lindsay. Producer: Kate O'Sullivan. An exploration into polar science,
including discoveries about the significance of the northern and southern
icecaps for world survival.
Spirit of Cross Stitch with Jean Farish
Coproducing organizations: WTVI; Spirit of Cross Stitch Productions. Distributor:
SECA. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $175,000. Executive
producer: Jean Farish. Senior producer: Robert Maier. Magazine-style craft
how-to, featuring cross-stitch artisans, projects and information from around
the world. Website: http://spiritofcrosstitch.com
Teletubbies
Producing organizations: Ragdoll Productions (U.K.) Ltd. in association with
the itsy bitsy Entertainment Co. Episodes: 40 x 30. Status: production. Series
creator/executive producer: Anne Wood. Writer/cocreator: Andrew Davenport.
A U.S. version of the groundbreaking BBC series that targets children aged
1 and older. The Teletubbies -- Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po -- are
technological babies who live happily together in their own world of childhood
imagination. TV screens on their tummies light up to bring them pictures of
children in the real world. Major outreach plans and a Website are being
developed.
Woof! It's a Dog's Life with Uncle Matty
Producing station: WGBH. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: production. Budget: $875,000.
Major funders: PBS, Bayer Corp. Executive producer: Laurie Donnelly. Matthew
Margolis, dog trainer to the stars and host of two PBS pledge specials, offers
more lessons and profiles of dogs, and the funny -- and sometimes infuriating
-- things they do.
WorldWatch
Producing organizations: Independent Television News/Lark International. Presenting
station: WTVS. Distributor: APS. Episodes: 260 x 60. Status: fundraising,
postproduction. Budget: $7 million. Executive producer: Steve Antoniotti.
Four 15-minute newscasts to be fed weekday mornings from London. Offers international
perspectives on world events, produced specifically for American audiences.
Pilot features NBC newsman Arthur Kent.
World Wide Angler: Fishing the Americas
Producing organization: NLCC. Presenting station: KCET. Episodes: 13 x 30.
Status: production. Budget: $200,000. Major funders: NLCC, Lawry's. Producer:
Dan Hernandez. Sport fishing show in which host Dan Hernandez visits a different
destination each week and faces new fishing challenges and cultural experiences.
Chesapeake Bay Cooking with John Shields
Producing organization: Maryland PTV. Expected distributor: APS. Episodes:
13 x 30. Status: production. Budget: $450,000. Major funder: Maryland Office
of Tourism Development. Executive in charge: John Potthast. Producer: Elizabeth
Nardone. Host and cookbook author John Shields takes a culinary tour of the
Chesapeake Bay, featuring local specialties and the people of the region.
Website: http://www.mpt.org
Noddy
Producing organizations: BBC Worldwide America, Enid Blyton Ltd., Catalyst
Entertainment. Episodes: 40 x 30, 1 x 60. Status: scripting. Budget: $7.2
million. Major funders: BBC, Enid Blyton Ltd., Catalyst Entertainment. Executive
producer: Rick Siggelkow. Series targeting preschoolers that features animation
based on Enid Blyton's Noddy books. In wrapping material, children visit their
gentle grandfather in his antique store. National outreach, major guest stars,
off-air rights, national press and promotion planned.
Treasures of the World, w.t.
Producing organization: OPB. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production. Major funders:
PBS, CPB. Executive and series producers: Barry Stoner, Suzanne Duroux. Executive
Producer: John Lindsay. A documentary presenting the stories, mysteries and
legends inspired by the world's most precious treasures, and the meanings
and influence we attribute to them.
Africans in America
Producing station: WGBH. Episodes: 4 x 90. Status: postproduction. Budget:
$7 million. Major funders: NEH, Ford Foundation, PBS/CPB Challenge Fund, Bankers
Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation.
Executive producer: Orlando Bagwell. Project director: Llew Smith. Senior
producer: Susan Bellows. The early history of African men and women in America
and their role in the birth and growth of the country, from 1607 to the onset
of the Civil War.
An American Love Story
Producing organization: Zohe Film Productions Inc. Episodes: 9 x 60. Status:
postproduction. Budget: $2.7 million. Major funders: American Playhouse, ITVS,
National Endowment for the Arts, CPB, MacArthur Foundation, Fisher Foundation.
Executive producers: Lindsay Law, Barbara Ludlum. Director/producer: Jennifer
Fox. Co-producer: Jennifer Fleming. A documentary narrative chronicling a
year in the life of an interracial couple who have struggled for 30 years
against the racial stereotypes and societal prejudices.
Animal Minds, w.t.
A presentation of Nature. Coproducing organizations: WNET, Green Umbrella
and BBC. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production. Major funders: PBS, NPS, Ford,
Canon, Park Foundation. Executive producer: Fred Kaufman. Examines the mental
life of animals -- their intelligence and emotions -- and the relationships
between animal and human minds.
Ballroom Dancing: Journey to Mt. Olympus
Producing organizations: WLRN, Hanlon Ford Enterprises. Episodes: 1 x 120.
Status: production. Budget: $800,000. Executive producer: Gustavo Sagastume.
Ballroom dancing, in which dancers appeal to the gods to obtain entrance to
Mt. Olympus.
By the Seat of My Pants: or How to Build an Airplane in 30 Days for
$15,000, Fly It, and Live!, w.t.
Producing organizations: John Gau Productions, OPB. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status:
postproduction. Budget: $850,000. Major funders: OPB, PBS, Channel 4 (UK).
Executive producers: John Gau, Steven Segaller. Bob Cringely returns to his
Silicon Valley garage (site of Cringely Crash Courses in computer technology
in Triumph of the Nerds) to build an airplane, and descends into his innermost
psyche as he pushes personal limits to attempt what seems impossible.
Crucible of Empire: The United States and the Spanish-American War
Producing organization: Great Projects Film Co. Inc. Presenting station: South
Carolina ETV. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: production. Budget: $800,000. Major
funders: CPB, PBS. Executive producers: Daniel B. Polin, Kenneth Mandel. Documents
conditions and events that led up to the Spanish-American War in 1898, the
war itself, and its aftermath. To be broadcast during the war's centennial
commemoration.
The Farmer's Wife
A presentation of Frontline. Producing organization: David Sutherland
Productions, Inc. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 6 x 60 (format not finalized).
Status: postproduction. Major funders: Frontline/WGBH, ITVS through funds
from CPB. Producers: David Sutherland, Nancy Sutherland. A Midwestern farm
family struggles to wrestle a living from the land while fighting a seemingly
endless string of battles -- with the soil, their animals, the weather, creditors,
the government, each other, and themselves -- in an effort to hold onto their
farm, their dreams and each other.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA. Episodes: 2 x TBD. Status:
postproduction. Budget: $1.5 million. Major funders: General Motors, Pew Charitable
Trusts, Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, CPB, PBS, David H. Koch. Executive
producer: Ken Burns. Producers: Lynn Novick, Peter Miller. A documentary profiling
the life and work of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The third installment of
Burns' biography series about Americans who had significant impact on our
nation's history.
Go Wild in the Kitchen
Producing organizations: WTVS, Lark International, Wild Harvest Productions.
Distributor: APS. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: research. Budget: $470,000. Executive
producer: Jay Nelson. Producer: Jerry Chiappetta. Cooking series with sportsman/chef
Milos Cibelka.
In Search of Wisdom
Producing organization: Intelecom. Expected distributor: PBS Adult Learning
Service (pending). Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $2 million.
Major funders: Intelecom; Swedish Educational Broadcasting; Educational Broadcasting
Corp./TELEAC/NOT, Netherlands. Executive producer: Sally Beaty. Poses "great
questions" -- what are we? what is real? what can we know? -- in a philosophical
adventure for all who think. Print materials from Wadsworth Publishing/ITP.
Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV, Frappe Inc. Expected distributor: PBS
Plus. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: production. Budget: $1.2 million. Major funder:
Hebrew National. Executive producer: John Potthast. Producer: Joan Nathan.
Cookbook author Joan Nathan examines the history, culture, and sociology of
Jewish cooking in America. Each episode is shot on location and includes food,
history, culture, and family anecdotes. Based on the IACP-Julia Child Award-winning
cookbook of 1994. Website: http://www.mpt.org
Land of the Tiger
A presentation of Nature. Coproducing organizations: WNET, BBC/TV.
Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: production. Major funders: PBS, Ford, Canon, Park
Foundation. Executive producer: Fred Kaufman. Explores subcontinent of India,
from its tropical oceans and jungles to the heights of the Himalayas.
Legendary Lighthouses
Producing organizations: Driftwood Productions Inc., WPSX, University Park,
Pa. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: production, fundraising. Major funder: PBS.
Executive producer: John Grant. Producers: David Oyster, Jeff Streich, John
Grant. A travel series exploring the history, beauty and lore of America's
lighthouses.
Lidia's Table, w.t.
Producing organization: A La Carte Communications. Presenting station: WHYY,
Philadelphia. Distributor: APS. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: postproduction.
Major funders: Banfi Wines, Colavita Olive Oil. Executive producers: Geoffrey
Drummond, Nat Katzman. Lidia Bastianich, owner-chef of New York's Felidia
restaurant, presents foods for the family derived from the cuisine of Istria
and Northern Italy.
Life Beyond Earth
Producing organizations: KCTS in association with Devillier Donegan Enterprises.
Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: preproduction. Budget: $1.32 million. Executive
producers: Tim Ferris, Stephen Most. Tells the story of humanity's search
for extraterrestrials and why scientists believe life is not only abundant
in our galaxy but may be discovered by the year 2000. Written and hosted by
Timothy Ferris, author of The Whole Shebang and Coming of Age in the Milky
Way and host of the 1985 PBS documentary, "The Creation of the Universe."
Music of the World
Producing organization: Educational Film Center. Episodes: 12 x 30. Status:
production. Budget: $1 million. Major funders: Annenberg/CPB Project. Executive
producer: Steve Rabin. An introductory general audience series designed to
create an understanding of the essential nature of music and its broad cultural
applications. With 12 one-hour CDs/cassettes. Website: http://www.learner.org
Part of the Family
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV, Bulldog Communications Inc. Episodes:
26 x 30. Status: fundraising. Budget: $2.6 million. Executive producer: Karen
Parrella. Executive-in-charge: John Potthast. Looks at pets and their unique
relationships with humans. Ancillary products include children's books, videos,
CD-ROMs, licensed products. Website: http://www.mpt.org
Preserving the Legacy
Producing organization: Intelecom. Expected distributor: PBS Adult Learning
Service (pending). Episodes: 15 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $1.5
million. Major funder: National Science Foundation. Executive producer: Sally
Beaty. An in-depth look at industrial processes and hazardous waste stream
management across industries. Print materials from VonNostrand Reinhold.
Raul De Blasio
Producing station: WLRN. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: Research. Budget: $800,000.
Executive producer: Gustavo Sagastume. Concert performance featuring Latin
pianist Raul De Blasio.
Rocks with Wings, w.t.
Producing organizations: Shiprock Productions, OPB. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status:
postproduction. Budget: $1 million. Major funders: Ford Foundation, OPB. Executive
producer: David Davis. Producer/director: Rick Derby. Story of the Lady Chieftains,
a girls' basketball team in the Navajo Nation, and how the team learns the
value of both winning and losing in the quest to become state champions. Shot
over eight years in Shiprock, N.M.
Savor the Southwest
Producing organization: to be determined. Presenting station: KAET. Episodes:
13 x 30. Status: preproduction. Executive producer: Jillian Robinson. Featuring
host Barbara Fenzl and top Southwestern chefs, the series will celebrate the
region's lore, history and culture as seen through the cuisine.
SciSquad
Producing organizations: Quest Productions, KCTS. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status:
postproduction, fundraising. Budget: $2.3 million. Major funders: NSF, Geraldine
R. Dodge Foundation. Executive producers: Elizabeth Brock, Jeff Gentes, Bill
Jersey, Pierre Valette. African-American computer whiz Howzit Work and her
team of teen-age Explorers help "clients" answer science-related questions
through experimentation, Internet surfing, field research and visits with
scientists. For kids 8-11. Outreach, Website planned.
Triumph of the Nerds, 2.01, w.t.
Producing station: OPB. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $900,000.
Major funders: PBS, OPB. Executive producer: Steven Segaller. Sequel to Triumph
of the Nerds. Self-acclaimed Silicon Valley failure Bob Cringley turns
his irreverent eye on the history of the Internet, from its birth in the bowels
of the Pentagon to the cutting edge of Web TV.
Truman Biography, w.t.
Coproducing organizations: Guggenheim Productions Inc. and WNET. Episodes:
3 x 60. Status: fundraising. Major funders: NEH, George D. O'Neill. Executive
producer: Charles Guggenheim. Executive-in-charge: Tamara Robinson. Documentary
biography on the life and legacy of Harry S. Truman.
Two Lives
Producing organizations: Lark International, Irish Television (RTE), BBC/Scotland,
BBC/Wales. Presenting station: WTVS, Detroit. Episodes: 8 x 30. Status: fundraising.
Budget: $1.2 million. Executive producer: Jay Nelson. Series executive editor:
Michael Colgan. Series executive producer: David Blake-Knox. International
coproduction of 8 original half-hour dramas, including teleplays by crime
novelist Elmore Leonard and Irish writer Roddy Doyle. High school and college
outreach materials planned.
The U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1848)
Producing station: KERA, Dallas. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: postproduction.
Budget: $2 million. Major funders: NEH, CPB, PBS, MacArthur Foundation, Meadows
Foundation. Executive producer: Sylvia Komatsu. Senior producer: Paul Espinosa.
Director: Ginny Martin. Producer: Rob Tranchin. Bi-national production examines
the causes and legacy of this conflict. After 16 months of fierce fighting
and the conquest of Mexico City, the United States gained almost half of Mexico's
territory -- the present American Southwest from Texas to California.
Willoughby's Wonders
Producing organizations: WGBH, Judge Baker Children's Center. Episodes: 13
x 30. Status: fundraising. Budget: $7.5 million. Executive producers: Judith
Stoia, Dr. Alvin Pouissaint, Dr. Susan Linn. Drama series exploring common
issues of emotional and mental health through the dynamics of a soccer team
of 6- to 10-year-olds.
A Woman's Place
Producing station: Maryland PTV. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production. Budget:
$2.6 million. Executive producer: John Potthast. Producer: Maria Nicolo. Executive-in-charge:
Jennifer Lawson. Intimate stories of women of different cultures and histories
and their pursuit of a more just balance of power. Website: http://www.mpt.org
Zoboomafoo
Producing organization: Paragon Entertainment Corp. Presenting station: Maryland
PTV. Episodes: 40 x 30. Status: production. Budget: $10 million. Executive
producers: Jon Slan, Martin Kratt, Chris Kratt, Leo Eaton. Supervising producer:
Cheryl Knapp. Creative executive for Paragon: Ken Katsumoto. Executive-in-charge:
Janet Cuddy. Preschoolers will meet a rhinoceros, talk to a tadpole, and become
pals with a penguin when this daily series leaps into their lives. Created
and hosted by Martin and Chris Kratt.
Ardent Spirits: Alcohol Through the Ages
Producing organizations: Coproduction of WNET, Film Odyssey Inc., the Recovery
Institute. Episodes: 5 x 60. Status: fundraising. Executive in charge: Ward
Chamberlin. Producer: Karen Thomas. Traces the role of alcohol through human
history from biblical times to the present -- its uses, abuses, mythology
and lore.
Incredible Journeys
Producing organization: Reader's Digest Association Inc. Episodes: 3 x 60.
Status: postproduction. Major funder: Reader's Digest Association. Executive
producers: Tom Simon, Rob Fruchtman. Producer: Thatcher Drew. Director: Stephen
Fairchild. Travel adventures seen through the eyes of international characters.
Series explores the Orient Express, Pompeii, Egypt, Nepal, Australia, Malaysia,
China, Alaska, the Amazon, the Caribbean and Colorado. Website: www.rd.com.
Savage Earth
Coproducing organizations: WNET and Granada Television. Episodes: 4 x 60.
Status: production. Major funder: Challenge Fund. Executive producer: William
R. Grant. Executive in charge: George Page. An ongoing look at the powerful
forces of nature -- volcanoes, earthquakes, tidal waves.
American Girls
Producing organization: Carol Cassidy Productions. Distributor: ITVS. Episodes:
2 x 60. Status: preproduction. Budget: $600,000. Major funders: ITVS through
funds from CPB. Producer: Carol Cassidy. At 9 and 10, they're skipping, grinning
girls, rough and ready, climbing trees. By 15, they are sullen, submissive,
quiet -- convinced they are awkward, ugly and fat. What happens to our girls?
This series listens to the secret, heart-wrenching, sometimes hilarious true
stories of American girls.
Challenging Art
Producing station: WGBH. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $3.2
million. Major funders: NEH, PBS, CPB, NEA, Ford Foundation, John S. and James
L. Knight Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation.
Executive producer: Jill Janows. An exploration of works and forms of art
-- now classic -- that once were the subject of moral outrage. Topics include
Huckleberry Finn, Manet's Olympia, jazz music of the '20s, and Mae West and
the Hollywood production code of the '30s.
Coming of Age
Producing organizations: Lost Coast Films in association with Devillier Donegan
Enterprises. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $1.5 million. Executive
producer: John Rubin. Explores a new understanding of the fundamental mechanisms
of life that, in the past few years, has led scientists to believe that the
rate of aging can actually be changed.
Emotional Intelligence
Producing station: WETA. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: R&D. Executive producer:
Rachel Lyon. Producer: Gerardine Wurzburg. Two stand-alone specials: "Emotional
Intelligence," based on the book of the same name by Daniel Goleman, explores
how emotions factor into the lives of individuals and families. "EQ at Work"
is based on a forthcoming book by the same author.
50 Years War
Producing organizations: WGBH and Brook/Lapping Associates. Episodes: 5 x
60. Status: production. Budget: $1.3 million. Major funder: PBS. Executive
producers: Brian Lapping and Zvi Dor-Ner. Story of the Arab-Israeli conflict
from the birth of Israel as an independent Jewish state in 1948 to the present.
Glory Hallelujah
Producing station: WQED. Episodes: 10 x 60. Status: R&D. Executive producer:
Don Stillman. Producer/director: Bill Miles. Tells the stories behind Christian
music, covering hymns, gospel songs and spirituals. Features tales of life-changing
intervention in the lives of composers, performers and listeners.
Horses
Producing station: WQED. Episodes: 10 x 60. Status: R&D. Budget: $3.79 million.
Executive producer: Lance Shultz. Senior producer: Lynne Squilla. Celebrates
the relationship between horse and human throughout history. Explores the
horse's effect on human culture and examines man's impact on the species.
Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco
Producing station: KQED. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: fundraising. Executive
producer: Peter L. Stein. Explores the history of three unique San Francisco
neighborhoods -- the Fillmore, North Beach, and Haight-Ashbury -- that helped
define the social fabric of the West.
The Pursuit of Literacy
Producing station: WNET. Episodes: 4-6 x 60. Status: fundraising. Executive
producer: George Page. Producer: Richard Somerset Ward. How knowledge is handed
down from generation to generation. With Robert MacNeil .
Wild Indonesia
Producing organization: Tigress Productions. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production.
Budget: $1.68 million. Executive producer: Jeremy Bradshaw. Series producer:
Andrew Jackson. A vast archipelago of more than 14,000 islands, Indonesia
is home to some of the most diverse landscapes and exotic creatures on the
planet. A natural history epic exploring one of the world's last wild frontiers.
Wild TV
Producing station: WNET. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: production. Major funders:
Phillips Petroleum Corp., Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, National Science
Foundation. Executive producer: Fred Kaufman. Executive in charge: George
Page. Comedy Central meets MTV in this nature series for kids K-12 and their
families.
America 1900, w.t.
A presentation of The American Experience. Producing organization:
David Grubin Productions. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status:
production. Budget: $1.7 million. Major funders: CPB, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation,
Liberty Mutual. Executive producer: Margaret Drain. Producer: David Grubin.
Looks at life in the U.S. 100 years ago, focusing on the forces of change
that would come to shape our century.
I'll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Artists, Arts
and Communities, w.t.
Producing organization: Blackside, Inc. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: production.
Budget: $3.8 million. Major funders: NEA, NEH, PBS/CPB, Ford Foundation, Dodge
Foundation, Joyce Foundation. Executive producer: Henry Hampton. Coexecutive
producer: Sam Pollard. Series producer: Terry Rockefeller. Episode producers:
Sam Pollard, Tracy Heather Strain, Denise Green. Presents stories of talented
African-American artists, and explores the interaction between their work
and the larger American culture in the 20th century. National education and
outreach effort is planned. Website: http://www.blackside.com
MacArthur
A presentation of The American Experience. Producing station: WGBH.
Status: research. Budget: $1.7 million. Funders: NEH, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation,
Liberty Mutual, CPB. Executive producer: Austin Hoyt. Coproducer: Sarah Holt.
A comprehensive biography of the West Point graduate who fought in three wars
and served as chief of staff of the U.S. Army before being relieved of his
command by Truman in 1961.
On Common Ground
Producing organization: Intelecom. Expected distributor: PBS Adult Learning
Service (pending). Episodes: 15 x 30. Status: production. Budget: $4 million.
Major funders: Intelecom, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Executive
producer: Sally Beaty. U.S. civics and history come alive in a dramatic series
for immigrants studying to become naturalized citizens. Features a cast of
characters who struggle to achieve personal and collective goals in a democratic
society. Print materials from NTC/Contemporary.
A Personal Understanding of Death
Producing organization: Sleeping Giant Productions. Distributor: Annenberg/CPB
Project. Episodes: 10 x 30. Status: production. Budget: $1 million. Funders:
Annenberg/CPB. Executive producer: Jim Hanley. Studies death and society,
dealing with children's views of death, grief and bereavement, and the function
of death rites. Print materials from Allyn and Bacon. Website: http://www.learner.org
Sahara
Producing organizations: Telenova Productions in association with Devillier
Donegan Enterprises. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: production. Budget: $1.7 million.
Executive producer: Barry Clark. A feature-length film exploring the natural
history of the Sahara Desert, which covers nearly one third of Africa.
The Search for African American Routes
Producing station: WYES, New Orleans. Episodes: 5 x 60. Status: research.
Budget: $1.75 million. Executive producer: Randall Feldman. Features places
of historical interest to the African-American community for Black History
Month.
What the Hell, w.t.
Producing station: OPB. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: R&D. Budget: $700,000. Executive
producer: John Lindsay. Producer: Jim Leinfelder. A witty and thought-provoking
examination of the origins of our images and beliefs regarding hell. Explores
the topic through scripture, myth, literature and art, and examines how varying
notions of hell have shaped our lives.
Zoom
Producing station: WGBH. Episodes: 40 x 30. Status: preproduction. Budget:
$8.3 million. Major funders: NSF, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Kate Taylor.
Series producer: Jonathan Meath. An updated version of the hit kids' series
of the '70s.
African Exposures
Producing organizations: WTVS and Lark International. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
fundraising. Budget: $2.2 million. Executive producers: Jay Nelson and William
Cran. Examines European exploration of Africa in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, using rare early photographs. Ancillaries to include videos, educational
packages and museum exhibits.
American Photography: A Century of Images
Producing station: KTCA, Twin Cities. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: preproduction
and fundraising. Budget: $2.1 million. Major funders: Kodak, NEA. Executive
producer: John Schott. Producers: Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman. Explores still
photography in America in the 20th century and how photography changed the
way we experience our world. A major educational Website is planned.
Animal Lives, w.t.
Producing organizations: Conspiracy Theory Productions, Marcorp Media Group,
OPB. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.2 million. Executive
producers: Lee Schneider and David Davis. New theories about animal intelligence
challenge long-held assumptions of human superiority and separateness.
Cote D'Azur
Producing organization: WTVS and Lark International. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
development. Executive producer: Jay Nelson. Producers: Pat Thompson, Jim
Bitterman and Chris Cook. Explores the history of the French Riviera. Ancillary
materials to include a video and possible companion book.
Facing Death: The Six Deadliest Diseases, w.t.
Producing organizations: Manifold Productions, Cafe Productions and OPB. Episodes:
3 x 60. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.2 million. Executive producers: Michael
Pack for Manifold Productions, Leo Eaton for Cafe Productions, and David Davis
for OPB. Author and family practitioner Dr. Sherwin Nuland offers an uplifting
and "take charge" perspective on our own mortality, combining medical research,
anecdotal stories of families facing terminal illness, and compassion. Focuses
on the major causes of death -- heart disease, AIDS, Alzheimer's, stroke,
trauma and cancer.
Free to Dance
Producing organizations: American Dance Festival, the John F. Kennedy Center
and WETA. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $2.4 million. Major
funders: CPB, the Ford Foundation, NEH. Executive producers: Charles and Stephanie
Reinhardt. Producer: David Lacey. Through evocative performances, first-person
accounts and rare archival footage, this series examines how African-American
history and culture is manifested in modern dance.
Great Composers
Producing organization: WNET, BBC and National Video Corp. Episodes: 6 x 60.
Status: production. Major funders: CPB/PBS Challenge Fund. Executive producers:
Jac Venza and Nicholas Rossiter. Chronological biographies on six composers,
each giving a strong sense of their personalities and the times in which they
lived. Subjects to include Wagner, Beethoven and Mahler.
Great Projects: The Building of America
Producing organization: Great Projects Film Company, Inc. Presenting station:
South Carolina ETV. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $3 million.
Major funders: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Executive producers: Ken Mandel,
Daniel Polin. Presents the role and contributions of engineers and their technologies,
focusing on major achievements in infrastructure and public works.
Hidden Worlds
Producing organizations: Partridge Films in association with Devillier Donegan
Enterprises. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $660,000 per hour.
Executive producer: Michael Rosenberg. Natural history films exploring the
variety and behavior of wildlife in remote locales such as the Ivory Coast,
India and Indonesia.
Hostages, w.t.
Producing organizations: Brian Lapping Productions and OPB. Episodes: 3 x
60. Status: production. Budget: $1.6 million. Major funders: PBS and Channel
Four (UK). Executive producers: Brian Lapping for Channel Four, Steve Segaller
for OPB. A definitive account of the "decade of madness," when Islamic militants
seized 50 hostages in the 1980s, humbling leaders of major European countries
and the U.S. Examines the contrasting ways these countries masterminded their
political/intelligence dealings over the hostage crisis, featuring unprecedented
access and world exclusive interviews.
Intimate Strangers, w.t.
Producing organizations: Baker/Simon Associates, Microbiology Literacy Collaborative,
OPB. Episodes: 4 x 60, plus 12 x 30 telecourse. Status: production. Budget:
$5 million. Major funders: NSF, U.S. Department of Energy, CPB/Annenberg,
OPB. Executive producers: Peter Baker, for broadcast series (Baker/Simon);
David Davis, for telecourse (OPB). An excursion into the microbial world,
where pioneering scientists and technical wizards explore the unseen universe
and reveal its potential to impact our world.
Iran, w.t.
Producing station: WETA. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: R&D. Executive producer:
Richard Thomas. Series producer: Steve York. The social fabric of a nation
that America loves to hate.
Shark-Hunting Grannies, w.t.
Producing organizations: Odyssey Productions, OPB. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status:
fundraising. Budget: $1.2 million. Executive producer: David Davis for OPB.
Producer/director: Steve Heiser for Odyssey Productions. Two world-renowned
marine scientists pack up their grandchildren for exotic diving expeditions
exploring the health of the oceans and life within. Features Eugenie Clark,
professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, and Sylvie Earle, former
chief scientist for NOAA.
Tales of a Century
Producing organizations: Kamp Associates and OPB. Episodes: 1 X 120. Status:
fundraising. Budget: $1 million. Executive producers: Jim Kamp for Kamp Asso.,
David Davis for OPB. A warm, reflective portrait of our nation in the 20th
century through the eyes of a multi-ethnic group of Americans who are all
100 years old or older. Their personal narratives unfold against the backdrop
of historical milestones and societal change. Website, teachers' guides,
and public radio companion pieces planned.
Wallace
Producing organization: Midnight Films. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: production.
Budget: $1 million. Major funders: NEH, American Experience, and the Southern
Humanities Media Fund. Producer: Paul Stekler. Coproducer/codirector: Daniel
McCabe. The life and times of the Alabama governor who rode backlash politics
into four presidential campaigns.
Web Kids, w.t.
Producing station: WQED. Episodes: 12 x 30. Status: research. Budget: $700,000.
Executive producer: James C. Rogal. A children's series that sheds light on
the many wonders and problems of life on Earth by using lots of graphics,
edits and music. Teachers' guide planned.
Your Aging Parents
Producing organizations: WYES and Evergreen Communications. Episodes: 6 x
30. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.5 million. Executive producer: Ricki Green.
Producers: Hal and Marilyn Weiner. Describes how to deal with the issues that
arise as parents begin to need help. National outreach initiative planned.
Junk Food, w.t.
Producing organizations: BBC Science and OPB. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: R&D.
Budget: $1.2 million. Executive producer: John Lindsay. Bob Cringely exposes
the heart of yet another modern revolution -- fast food -- in a "behind the
counter" sampling of the wares and international business strategies of industry
giants.
Before and After the Mountaintop: Jewish-Black Collaboration in the
Civil Rights Movement, w.t.
Producing organization: Lumiere Productions, Inc. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
R&D, scripting. Budget: $2.1 million. Development funders: PBS/CPB Challenge
Fund, Samuel Rubin Foundation, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, New York Council
for the Humanities. Producers: Calvin Skaggs, David Van Taylor and Marco Williams.
A history of Jewish-Black collaboration in the 20th century social justice
movements. Explores the promises and perils of democratic coalition building.
Curriculum and companion books also in development.
Between the Lions
Producing organizations: WGBH and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. Episodes: 40 x 30.
Status: R&D. Budget: $18 million. Major funders: CPB. Executive producer:
Kate Taylor. Producers: Christopher Carf and Norman Stiles. Designed to help
children ages 4-7 learn to read. Blends puppets, animation and live action
with guest celebrities, stories and features. Supported with textbooks, workbooks,
trade books and massive outreach campaign.
Child Soldiers, w.t.
Producing organizations: Electric Pictures, Wildfilm Australia, OPB. Episodes:
1 x 120. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1 million. Executive producers: Andrew
Ogilvie for Electric Pictures, Peter Du Cane for Wildfilm Australia, and John
Lindsay for OPB. Investigates the worlds of children who have become soldiers,
and the personal, political and societal impact of this phenomenon. Companion
radio documentary also planned.
Class in America, w.t.
Producing organizations: Center for New American Media and WETA. Episodes:
4 x 60. Status: R&D. Budget: $2 million. Funder: PBS for R&D. Producers: Louis
Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Paul Stekler. Looks at social class explicitly as
a representation of a American culture in all of its glorious contradictions.
From the producers of Vote for Me: Politics in America. A major Website is
planned.
Demystifying
Producing organizations: WTVS, Lark International and Associate Producers,
Inc. Episodes: 8 x 60. Status: research. Executive producer: Bill Nemtin.
Producers: Elliott Halpern, Simeha Jacobovici. Dr. Robert Buckman presents
a documentary series that takes the mystery out of medicine. Ancillary products
will include videotapes.
The Dow, the Footsie and the Hang Seng Gang, w.t.
Producing organization: OPB. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: research. Budget: $1
million. Major funder: PBS. Executive producer: Steven Segaller. Bob Cringely
does for the world of money what he did for the personal computer in Triumph
of the Nerds. Takes viewers on an anecdotal tour into the world of money,
commodities, wealth and debt, drawing connections between our own everyday
experience of money and the financial institutions of the larger world.
EcoTravellers Guide
Producing organizations: Lark International; KETC, St. Louis. Episodes: 13
x 30. Status: Pilot completed, fundraising. Budget: $1.5 million. Executive
producer: Mark J. Buckley. Producer: Mose Richards. Explores some of the most
remarkable places and people in the Americas, focusing on environmentally
and culturally sensitive ways to travel the back roads and wilderness.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA. Episodes: to be determined.
Status: production. Major funders: General Motors, Pew Charitable Trusts,
Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, CPB, PBS, and the Peter and Helen Bing Foundation.
Executive producer: Ken Burns. Producer: Paul Barnes. Biographies of two great
pioneers in the women's suffrage movement of the mid-18th century.
English Composition, w.t.
Producing organization: Berkow and Berkow, Inc. Distributor: Annenberg/CPB
Project. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: production. Budget $1 million. Major funders:
Annenberg/CPB. Executive producer: Peter Berkow. Writing fundamentals in real-life
contexts. Draws on a cast of celebrity writers and practicing academics. Accompanying
print materials from McGraw-Hill. Website: http://www.learner.org
The German Project, w.t.
Producing station: WGBH. Distributor: Annenberg/CPB Project. Episodes: 24
x 30. Status: production. Budget: $1 million. Major funders: Annenberg/CPB.
Executive producer: Michele Korf. German language course from the producers
of French in Action, Destinos and Connect with English. Text
from McGraw-Hill. Website: http://www.learner.org
Golden Nectar: The World History of Beer, w.t.
Producing organizations: Lark International and KETC, with Banyan Communications.
Episodes: 3 x 60 or 6 x 30. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.2 million. Executive
producer: Mark J. Buckley. Producer: Allen Admire. A slightly irreverent look
at the history of beer and how it has become a nearly universal component
of human culture. Website: http://www.ketc.org
Horsing Around, w.t.
Producing organizations: Producers Television Co., Ltd., Marcorp Media Group,
OPB. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.2 million. Executive
producer: David Davis for OPB. Coproducers: Andy Halper. Louis Guida. An insider's
view into the love and lore of horses and the profitable industries that revolve
around them.
Juvenile Sex Offenders, w.t.
Producing organizations: WTVS, Lark and Victor/Harder Productions. Episodes:
2 x 60. Status: fundraising and production. Budget: $700,000. Executive producer:
Jay Nelson. Producers: Fran Victor, Bill Harder. Documentary about children
who sexually abuse others. Ancillaries include videos and resource and discussion
guides.
New York
Producing organizations: Steeplechase Films, WNET and WGBH. Presenting stations:
WNET, WGBH. Episodes: 5 x 120. Status: postproduction. Budget: $7.5 million.
Major funders: Chase Manhattan Bank, NEH, PBS/CPB, American Experience.
Executive producer: Ric Burns. Producer: Lisa Ades. Chronicles the history
of America's most dominant, vibrant and contradictory city from its establishment
in 1626 as a Dutch trading post to its continuing preeminence in the culture
and economy of the world.
Opera in America
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV, Auteur Productions. Episodes: 1 x 120.
Status: development. Budget: $750,000. Executive producer: John Potthast.
Producers: Gerald Krell, Meyer Odze. Looks at the creative geniuses who helped
develop this musical tradition in America. Includes great moments in opera
history, today's divas, contemporary musical theatre, and some renowned opera
houses.
School: The Story of American Public Education
Producing organization: Stone Lantern Films, Inc. Presenting station: KCET,
Los Angeles. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: postproduction on two episodes, production
on two episodes. Budget: $2 million. Major funders: MacArthur Foundation,
Hewlett Foundation, CPB. Coproducers: Sarah Mondale and Sarah Patton. Weaves
together vivid stories of students, teachers, parents and reformers to examine
the institution whose stated 150-year mission has been to bridge differences
and provide common knowledge and values for all the people of this country.
Major national outreach campaign is planned, and illustrated history book
in discussion.
Short Lines of the World, w.t.
Producing organization: OPB. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: research. Budget: $1.3
million. Executive producer: John Lindsay. Producer: John Booth. In the style
of OPB's train shows, this series explores regional tastes and colors found
on short rail journeys in Hawaii, Peru, Mexico, Japan and Europe.
They Came for Good: A History of Jews in the U.S.
Producing organization: Amram Nowak Associates. Episodes: 4 x 90. Status:
production. Budget: $3 million. Major funders: NEH, CPB. Executive producers:
Manya Starr and Amram Nowak. The history of Jews in America. Extensive educational
and community outreach planned.
Today's Classics, w.t.
Producing organization: A La Carte Communications. Presenting station: KQED.
Episodes: 20 x 30, plus one special. Status: preproduction and fundraising.
Executive producers: Geoffrey Drummond and Nat Katzman. Julia Child and Jacques
Pepin team up to present modern ways to create classic dishes. Each episode
will focus on a different ingredient or aspect of cooking. Taped before a
live audience.
Trilogy: Radio Mambo, Bordertown and Radio Manhattan
Producing organization: NLCC. Presenting station: KCET. Episodes: 3 x 60.
Status: scripting. Budget: $600,000. Producer: Moctesuma Esparza. Associate
producers: Richard Montoya, Herbert Siguenza and Ric Salinas. Performances
set in Miami, San Diego and New York that examine a multitude of characters
voicing their thoughts, hopes, dreams and ideologies. Features the comedy
troupe Culture Clash. Videos to be distributed by NLCC Educational Media.
War of 1812: Bravery and Betrayal
Producing organizations: TV Ontario and Lark International. Presenting station:
WTVS/Lark. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: research. Executive producer: Bill Nemtin.
Documentary series on the War of 1812.
Writers with Wanderlust, w.t.
Producing organizations: Encounter Video and OPB. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
fundraising. Budget: $1.4 million. Executive producer: David Davis. Producer:
Dennis Burkhart. Series producer: Eve Krzyanowski. Exotic travels and adventures
that inspired the writings of internationally acclaimed American authors.
Featured writers may include: Ernest Hemingway, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark
Twain, Jack London, Pearl S. Buck, James Baldwin, Joseph Conrad.
The Cultural Revolution
Producing organization: Long Bow Group, Inc. Distributor: ITVS. Episodes:
2 x 60. Status: research. Major funders: ITVS through funds from CPB. Producer:
Richard Gordon and Carma Hinton. Coproducer: Lise Yasui. Explores the historical
circumstances that gave rise to the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
(1966-76); the particular acts, events and players who comprised it, and the
multi-layered experiences and meanings that came out of it.
Dragon Tales, w.t., and Show and Tell Me, w.t.
Producing organizations: Children's Television Workshop and Columbia TriStar
TV Distribution. Episodes: 40 x 30 for Dragon Tales, 13 x 30 for Show
and Tell Me. Budget: $19.5 million. Major funders: CPB. Executive producers:
Peter Moss for CTW, Jim Coane for Columbia Tristar. Dragon Tales is
an animated musical adventure that encourages young children to pursue the
challenging experiences that support growth and development. Show and Tell
Me, its partner piece for parents and care-givers, provides strategies
and opportunities to participate effectively in children's learning.
Moods, w.t.
Producing organizations: WETA and Paladin Pictures, London. Episodes: 4 x
60. Budget: $1.8 million. Status: fundraising. Executive producer: Richard
Thomas. Explores and explains human emotions, the normal fluctuations of mood
experienced by everyone, as well as abnormal moods and psychology. Features
psychologist and author Dr. Kay Jamison.
People Power
Producing organizations: York Associates Television and WETA. Episodes: 3
x 60. Status: R&D. Major funders: A family foundation and the U.S. Institute
of Peace. Executive producer: Jack DuVall. Series producer: Steve York. Executive-in-charge:
David McGowan for WETA. Stories of how nonviolent sanctions overcame dictators
and invaders in eleven major conflicts during the 20th century, from the first
Russian revolution in 1905 to contemporary conflicts from Burma to Serbia.
Around the Equator with Peter Ustinov
Coproducing organizations: Granada Television and WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60.
Major funders: PBS, WNET. Executive producer: William R. Grant. Series producer:
Bill Jones. Director: Michael Waldman. Ustinov writes and narrates programs
that recreate Mark Twain's global journey in which he visited four continents
and crossed three oceans.
Africa: Land of the Sun
Coproducing organizations: Magic Box Mediaworks and WNET. Episodes: 6 x 60.
Status: R&D. Major funders: PBS/CPB Challenge Fund. Executive producer: George
Page. Producer: Jennifer Lawson. Natural history and culture series exploring
the second largest continent.
Dragonfly!
Producing organizations: KTCA with the National Science Teachers Association
and Miami Univ. of Ohio. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.5
million. Executive producer: Richard Hudson. Children's series based on the
successful new NSTA magazine, Dragonfly. Children aged 8 to 12 present
their own scientific investigations and collaborations with working scientists.
The project's goal is to give children and scientists a national forum where
they can share the excitement of scientific discovery.
A House Divided: The Story of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, w.t.
Producing organization: David Grubin Productions, Inc. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
scripting. Budget: $2.4 million. Major funders: PBS. Executive producer: David
Grubin. Profiles the complex relationship between the down-to-earth northern
President and his aristocratic Southern wife, the daughter of a slave-owner.
Historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin is collaborating with Grubin.
Millennium Day Broadcast
Producing organizations: Numerous international partners. Presenting station:
WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 1,440. Status: research. Funders: R&D funded by CPB. Executive
producer: Zvi Dor-Ner. Nearly 50 broadcasters from every continent will take
part in a 24-hour arts and entertainment event that begins at midnight on
the international dateline and follows a westward course until the entire
planet has entered the year 2000.
The Presidents: In Their Own Words
Producing organizations: Kunhardt Productions in association with WNET. Episodes:
10 x 60. Status: production. Executive producer: William Grant. Executive
in charge: George Page. Each program uses a president's own words to reveal
the human story at the heart of political history -- through speeches, diaries,
letters and remembrances of others.
The Australians
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV, Network Programs International, Look
Films International, JWM Productions. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: fundraising
and preproduction. Budget: $2.4 million. Coexecutive producers: Richard Shaw,
Will Davies. U.S. producer: Jason Williams. Executive in charge: John Potthast.
Planned to coincide with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. To be shot entirely
on location and divided into geographic regions. Themes include the native
wildlife, New South Wales, the Aboriginals, and the Aussie character.
The Impressionists, w.t.
Producing organizations: Red Hill Productions and OPB. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status:
R&D. Budget: $3.5 million. Executive producers: David Davis. Series producer:
Carl Byker. Profiles the lives and work of the world's most popular artists:
Degas, Manet. Gauguin, Renoir, Van Gogh and Cezanne.
In My Youth, w.t.
Producing organizations: Florentine/Hott Productions. Episodes: 10 x 90. Status:
development, pilot completed. Budget: $6 million. Pilot funders: National
Endowment for Children's Educational Television, Town Creek Foundation, Wisconsin
Sesquicentennial Commission. A series of feature films delving into the early
histories of young Americans. People such as John Muir, Annie Sullivan, e.e.
cummings and Frederick Douglass had dramatic childhoods that shaped their
character and informed their actions in later life.
Jazz
Producing organization: Florentine Films and WETA. Episodes: 8 x 90. Status:
production. Budget: $10 million. Major funders: General Motors, PBS, NEH,
CPB, MacArthur, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Executive producer: Ken Burns.
Producers: Dave Lacey, Lynn Novick and Peter Miller. Chronicles the roots
and evolution of this distinctive American art form. Features recordings and
footage of many jazz masters including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count
Basie, Billie Holiday, Glenn Miller, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles
Davis.
Napoleon
Producing organization: David Grubin Productions in association with Devillier
Donegan Enterprises. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: development. Budget: $750,000.
Major funders: DDE and PBS. Executive producer: David Grubin. Tells the story
of the emperor who was soldier, lover and statesman -- a towering historical
figure riddled with contradictions. Woven from intimate accounts of and by
the man himself.
Olympiad, w.t.
Producing organizations: 3BM of the U.K., OPB. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: fundraising.
Budget: $2.25 million. Executive producers: Jeremy Bennett for 3BM; John Lindsay
for OPB. A sweeping look at the Olympics, examining its history and featuring
legendary moments -- from the earliest years of idealism to the commercial
pragmatism, athletic dedication and increasing politicization that characterize
today's games.
The Rio Grande
Producing organization: KERA. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: fundraising. Budget:
$400,000. Executive producer: Sylvia Komatsu. Producers: Ginny Martin and
Rob Tranchin. A quest to discover the true heart of the Rio Grande--the people,
both living and dead, whose lives have been drawn to and touched by the Big
River. Focus is on ordinary people whose extraordinary stories echo the region.
Who Am I?
Producing organization: WNET and D.L. Sage. Episodes: 3-4 x 60. Status: Proposal
being revised, awaiting budget. Executive producer: William R. Grant. Producer:
Dewitt Sage. What we know about the role moods and personality play in brain
functioning and who we are as people.
Christians: Saints and Sinners Who Made History
Producing organizations: Maryland PTV and Frank Frost Productions. Episodes:
5 x 60. Status: R&D. Budget: $2.5 million. Executive producer: John Potthast.
Producer/writer: Frank Frost.
Profiles several people who have helped shape the 2,000 years of Christianity,
providing insight into values our society continues to struggle with today.
Mark Twain
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA. Episodes: to be determined.
Status: pre-production. Major funders: General Motors, Pew Charitable Trusts,
Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, CPB, PBS. Executive producer: Ken Burns.
Producer: Dayton Duncan.
Literary icon Samuel Clemens is the subject of a documentary in Burns' series
about Americans who have had significant impact on our nation's history.
Zheng He and the Chinese Voyages of Discovery, w.t.
Producing station: OPB. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.6
million. Coexecutive producers: Leo Eaton and Chris Coneybeare. Executive
producer: John Lindsay for OPB.
Presents one of history's greatest untold stories--the point when China could
have ruled the world--by tracking an epic journey of the great Chinese navigator
Admiral Zheng He.
The African-American Religious Experience Project
Producing organization: Blackside, Inc. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: R&D. Funder:
Annie E. Casey Foundation for R&D. Executive producer: Henry Hampton. Senior
producer: Bev Jackson. Producer: Lulie Haddad.
Explores the role of the faith community in African-American lives and how
its strengths can be mobilized to bring about community transformation. A
high-visibility documentary series and multimedia education project are planned
American Novel
Producing station: WNET. Episodes: 6 x 120. Status: R&D. Executive producer:
Susan Lacy. Coexecutive producer: Lawrence Pitkethy.
Documentaries on the modern American novel.
Architecture and Design, w.t.
Producing station: WNET. Episodes: 5 x 60. Status: fundraising. Major funders:
NEA. Executive producer: Susan Lacy.
Looks at the ways in which architecture, industrial design and urban planning
express and affect American culture.
Art for the Twenty-First Century
Producing organizations: WNET and Art 21. Episodes: 16 x 60. Status: early
development. Major funders: NEA. Executive producer: Susan Sollins. Executive-in-charge:
Jac Venza
A mini-series of four programs annually for four years that introduce a broad
mainstream audience to 15-20 visual artists each season.
Behind the Veil, w.t.
Producing organizations: Quest Productions, Videoline. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status:
scripting. Budget: $1.2 million. Major funders: NEH. Executive producer: Bill
Jersey. Producers: Richard Wormser, Sam Pollard.
Looks at how African-Americans responded to the "Jim Crow" laws enacted between
the end of Reconstruction and the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared
"separate but equal" facilities unconstitutional.
The Box
Producing organizations: KCTS and Lark. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: development.
Budget: $112,326. Executive producer: Elizabeth Brock.
Resembling the dime-store phone booth, the video box travels to private worlds
to record the thoughts and feelings of not-so-ordinary people.
Concerts by the Bay, w.t.
Producing organizations: KQED in association with Brandenberg Productions.
Episodes: 3 of unspecified lengths. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.2 million.
Executive producers: DeAnne Hamilton and Phil Byrd.
Music concerts taped on location in the countryside of Northern California.
Crown and Country
Producing organizations: Ardent Productions, Ltd. Presenting station: WNET.
Episodes: 6 x 30. Status: production. Major funders: PBS. Executive producer:
William R. Grant. Host/narrator: Edward Windsor.
Combines both travel and history in connection with Britain's monarchy throughout
the ages.
Cyberchase
Producing station: WNET. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: fundraising. Major funders:
NSF for research and funding. Executive producer: Sandra Sheppard.
Animated action-adventure series in cyberspace designed for children aged
9 to 11. A multi-ethnic cast of youngsters become protagonists on missions
that demonstrate exciting math applications. Project includes educational
print materials for use at home and on-line activities.
Dollz House, w.t.
Presenting station: KCTS. Status: development.
A show that promotes feeling and looking good for kids aged 8 through 13.
The Dutch
Producing organizations: TV Matters and WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: R&D.
Executive producer: William R. Grant. Series producer: Stephen Stept. Explores
the people, major events, landscape, culture, industry and history of the
Dutch.
Eugene O'Neill
Coproducing organizations: Steeplechase and WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
development. Executive producer: Jac Venza. Producer: Ric Burns.
Chronicles a hundred years of the American stage focusing on the life and
art of Eugene O'Neill. Looks at his family, his literary works and the theater
he transformed.
Extinctions
Producing organizations: Wide World Graphics, Antelope, KCTS and Lark. Episodes:
4 x 60. Status: in development. Executive producer: Elizabeth Brock.
Transports viewers back in time to explore the three major eras that have
ended in mass extinctions, and looks forward to the one ahead.
The Food Groupies
Producing organizations: Food Groupie Productions; WEDU, Tampa; WLRN, Miami.
Expected distributor: PBS Plus. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: pilot completed,
fundraising. Executive producers: Mary Kolton, Steve Strouf, Gustavo Sagastume.
An interactive, live-action health and nutrition program featuring the Food
Groupie puppets, a multicultural cast and special guests. Children ages 3-8
explore a variety of health-related topics through enjoyable, hands-on activities.
Supported with activity guides, newsletters and an Internet component.
High Flight
Producing organizations: Pacific Street Films and WNET. Episodes: 6 x 60.
Status: R&D completed, seeking production funds. Executive producer: William
Grant. Producers: Joel Sucher and Steven Fischler.
The impact aviation had on the cultural, social and aesthetic sensibilities
of the 20th century, both in this country and abroad.
Journey into Amazonia
Producing organizations: Icon Films in association with Devillier Donegan
Enterprises. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: preproduction. Executive producer:
Harry Marshall.
A natural history series recording the journeys of animals travelling up the
Amazon, the world's mightiest river and the life-blood of the largest rain
forest in the world.
The Last Great American Places
Producing station: WNET. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: proposal being written.
Executive producers: Fred Kaufman and William R. Grant. Executive in charge:
George Page.
Celebrates the natural wonders of this country by visiting its last great
places--historical rivers, majestic mountains, "great" lakes, etc.
Life Beyond Earth
Producing organizations: KCTS and Lark. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: production.
Executive producer: Elizabeth Brock. Producer: Stephen Most.
Explores the scientific search for life beyond Earth.
Makin' Stuff, w.t.
Producing organizations: Quest Productions. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: development.
Budget: $2.3 million. Executive producer: Bill Jersey.
A how-to series for the audience that needs it most--kids 6 to 10 who want
to make their own cool stuff in their own unique ways.
Marsalis II: Making Connections with Wynton Marsalis
Coproducing organizations: Sony Classical Music and WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60.
Status: fundraising. Executive producers: Peter Gelb for Sony, Jac Venza for
WNET.
In a series of new programs, Wynton Marsalis continues to explore connections
between the music and dance of a variety of cultures.
Musical Encounters, w.t.
Producing station: KQED. Episodes: to be determined. Status: R&D. Executive
producers: DeAnne Hamilton, Sylvia Kunin. Producer: June Ouelette.
San Francisco Symphony Director Michael Tilson Thomas explores classical chamber
music with several very talented young musicians and a studio audience of
school children. This program may serve as a prelude to future shows about
children and music.
New Biology
Producing station: WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: R&D. Funders: Howard Stein
(for R&D). Executive producer: William R. Grant.
Examines what is known about the genetic makeup of humans and how it is changing
how we think about ourselves.
Night Into Day: The Re-Engineering of our World, w.t.
Producing organizations: Quest Productions and Kikim Media. Episodes: 5 x
60. Status: development/fundraising. Budget: $2 million. Executive producers:
Michael Schwarz, Bill Jersey.
Offers a totally new perspective on how engineering/technological developments
and social/cultural forces have interacted throughout the 20th century to
reshape our world and change our way of life.
Pipe Dreams
Producing organizations: Skyscraper Productions, KCTS and Lark. Episodes:
3 x 60. Status: development. Episodes: 3 x 60. Executive producer: Elizabeth
Brock.
Documents three major engineering dreams--from a tunnel under the Atlantic
to irrigation of the Sahara Desert.
Planet, w.t.
Coproducing organizations: KQED and Crystal Bullet. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
R&D. Budget: $1.5 million. Executive producers: Peter L. Stein, Ken Ellis.
A magazine program that takes a quarterly scan of the vital signs of Mother
Earth.
Rocks, Rights and Riches, w.t.
Producing organization: Quest Productions. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: fundraising.
Budget: $1.2 million. Executive producer: Bill Jersey.
Mining in America, from Native American times through colonial discoveries,
gold rush prospectors, and corporatization of mining. Examines today's environmental
concerns and our continuing need for the products of mines.
Savage Seas
Coproducing organizations: Granada Television and WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60.
Status: proposal being written for PBS/CPB Challenge Fund. Executive producer:
William R. Grant.
Explores earth's great oceans, along with stories of shipwrecks, shark attacks,
solitude, storms and survival.
The Secret Life of the Brain
Co-producers: David Grubin Productions, Inc., and WNET. Status: fundraising.
Episodes: 5 x 60. Major funders: NSF.
Examines the normal stages of brain development from the growth of the fetus
through advanced age, using state-of-the art computer animations and recent
technologies to illustrate the process of brain function. Features interviews
with leading neuroscientists who are conducting cutting-edge research. Presents
stories of people whose neurological experiences have helped scientists better
understand brain development.
Simple Living
Producing organization: John DeGraaf Productions. Presenting station: KCTS.
Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: production. Budget: $1.2 million. Coproducers:
John DeGraaf and Vivia Boe. Field producers: Francine Strickwerda, Chris DeBoer,
Hope Marston.
Explores how to enjoy life more; cut consumption, debt and waste; save the
environment, and save bundles of money.
Socratic Seminars: Youth at Risk
Producing organization: Seminars, Inc. and WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status:
fundraising. Executive producer: Richard Kilberg. Producers: Barbara Margolis.
Examines the challenges of ethics, behavior, policy and values that young
people face today. Addresses violence, education, sex, alcohol, tobacco and
drugs.
A Woman's Guide to Health
Coproduction of Alvin H. Perlmutter and WNET. Distributor: PBS or APS. Episodes:
4 x 60. Status: fundraising. Executive producer: Alvin H. Perlmutter.
Studio-based discussion on health issues of critical concern to women. Hosted
by Nancy Snyderman.
Woodpecker Falls
Producing organizations: KCTS and Lark. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: development.
Executive producer: Elizabeth Brock.
A preschool children's series that features a cast of puppet characters who
present values through original stories.
End
Revised Nov. 26, 1997
Reader's Digest website address updated later.
Current
The newspaper about public television and radio
in the United States
A service of Current Publishing Committee, Takoma Park, Md.
E-mail: web
current.org
301-270-7240
Copyright 1997