PBS

Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire

Commanding shoguns and samurai warriors, exotic geisha and exquisite artisans—all were part of the Japanese “renaissance”; a period between the 16th and 19th Centuries when Japan went from chaos and violence to a land of ritual refinement and peace. But stability came at a price: for nearly 250 years, Japan was a land closed to the Western world, ruled by the Shogun under his absolute power and control. Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire brings to life the unknown story of a mysterious empire, its relationship with the West, and the forging of a nation that would emerge as one of the most important countries in the world.

Colonial House

Modern day participants attempt a recreation of daily life as it would have been in Plymouth Colony in 1628.

Caprial and John's Kitchen

The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance

From a small Italian community in 15th Century Florence, the Medici family would rise to become one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would use this power to help ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history – the Renaissance. DaVinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Galileo – all received Medici patronage. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world.

America Beyond the Color Line

Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard's chair of Afro-American Studies, travels the length and breadth of the United States to take the temperature of black America at the start of the new century. He explores this rich and diverse landscape, social as well as geographic, and meets the people who are defining black America, from the most famous and influential to those at the grassroots.

Tavis Smiley

Tavis Smiley features a unique mix of news and pop culture to combine for one thought-provoking and entertaining program. A hybrid of news, issues and entertainment, it features interviews with artists, activists, newsmakers, politicians and everyday people. Since its first season, the show has won four NAACP Image Awards for "Outstanding Television, News, Talk, or Information (Series or Special)." Taped at KCET studios, Tavis Smiley is the first West Coast talk show for PBS and is produced by The Smiley Group Inc./TS Media Inc. in association with KCET/Hollywood.

Bridging World History

A multimedia course for secondary school and college teachers that examined global patterns through time, seeing history as an integrated whole. Topics were studied in a general chronological order, but each is observed through a thematic lens, showing how people and societies experience both integration and differences.

Great Scenic Railway Journeys

Travels 13 of the most scenic tourist railways in the eastern United States. Also shows how the Great Smoky Mountains Railway staged the massive train wreck in the movie "The Fugitive," in a short clip entitled: "The making of The fugitive train wreck."

Great Cars: The Television Series

From race cars to luxury cars, from foreign elegance to domestic muscle, Great Cars offers an in-depth look at the world's fastest, most expensive, most exciting and most unusual automobiles, along with the people who loved and created them.

Reporting America at War

Explores the role of American journalists in the pivotal conflicts of the 20th century and beyond. From San Juan Hill to the beaches of Normandy, from the jungles of Vietnam to the Persian Gulf, reporters who witnessed and wrote the news from the battlefield share dramatic and surprising stories. Examines the challenges of frontline reporting and illuminates the role of the correspondent in shaping the way wars have been remembered and understood.

The Elegant Universe

One of the most ambitious and exciting theories ever proposed—one that may be the long-sought "theory of everything," which eluded even Einstein—gets a masterful, lavishly computer-animated explanation from bestselling author-physicist Brian Greene, when NOVA presents the nuts, bolts, and sometimes outright nuttiness of string theory.

The Blues

The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues. The series originally aired on PBS in the United States.

Freedom: A History of Us

Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks

The adventures of Piggley, a spunky eight-year-old pig, and his friends Dannan the Duck and Ferny the Bull on Raloo Farm in Ireland.

History Detectives

A group of researchers help people to find answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or other historic object or structure. It devotes itself "to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects."

Martin Luther

Martin Luther’s attack on the all-powerful Catholic Church was a knife to the heart of an empire that had endured for over a thousand years. Nailing his treatise to the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral, this previously obscure German monk changed the world forever, unleashing forces that plunged Europe into war and chaos. But Luther would do more than revolutionize the Church, he offered the Christian world a new vision of man’s relationship with God and, in turn, redefined man’s relationship with authority in general.

Franny's Feet

Franny's Feet is a Canadian animated series for children. It is produced by DHX Media/Halifax Film in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and created by Cathy Moss and Susan Nielsen. The show follows the adventures of four-year-old Frances "Franny" Fantootsie as she tries on various pairs of shoes and travels to different places in the world. Its very first appearance was on Ask.com/television in September 2001; it later appeared on CBC Television on January 1, 2004, then began to air on Family the following September, and was introduced to PBS Kids Sprout in the U.S. beginning in June 2006. In the U.K., it has aired on Discovery Kids UK, Channel Five, Playhouse Disney UK and Tiny Pop. A fourth season began in September 2009.

Soundstage

WTTW’s legendary and groundbreaking music series filmed in the intimate Grainger Studio presents spectacular performances that make you feel like you’re in the front row.

Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites

Nearly 3000 years ago, a tiny group of tribes in the land of Canaan gave birth to a nation and a religion — a religion that would dare to redefine humanity’s relationship with God.

New Scandinavian Cooking

New Scandinavian Cooking is a Scandinavian cooking show which, over the course of ten seasons, was hosted by Andreas Viestad, Tina Nordström and Claus Meyer, produced by the Norwegian production company Tellus Works in collaboration with American Public Television. A sequel series titled Perfect Day continued with the original hosts in rotation, with the cast addition of Sara La Fountain. It is also broadcast on channels such as AFC. Beginning in 2003, the show debuted on PBS in the United States. It has also been broadcast in more than 130 other countries, including the United Kingdom, China, Germany, Italy and France, according to the show's producers a viewership of 100 million per episode. The first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth seasons were hosted by Norwegian food writer Andreas Viestad, the third season by Swedish chef and television personality Tina Nordström, and the fifth season was hosted by Danish chef and cookbook author Claus Meyer. The sixth season, a sequel series Perfect Day rotated the original hosts Viestad, Nordström and Meyer, with the addition of Finnish TV chef Sara La Fountain. The seventh season was once again named New Scandinavian Cooking, and still rotated between the Nordic hosts. During the eight and ninth seasons Andreas continued the series on his own, with his passionate storytelling, fusing history, nature and cooking – seeking out the origins of the food with his mobile kitchen. Iceland will be introduced in the upcoming season ten.