FOR IMMEDIATE MEDIA RELEASE
Friday, August 21, 2009

Highlights Include:
• “Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times” (9/9, 8pm)
• “Your Life, Your Money” (9/9, 9pm)
• “Retirement Revolution” (9/15, 10pm)
• “Live from Lincoln Center: New York Philharmonic Opening Night Gala” (9/16, 9pm)
• “Confronting Colon Cancer” (9/24, 8pm)
• “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” (9/27-10/2, 8pm)

More details on these and other programs follow below.

Wednesday, September 2
8:00pm, “American Masters: Trumbo”
Dalton Trumbo was a successful Hollywood screenwriter who, after refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, was convicted and jailed. He was unable to work in his own name for more than a decade, writing 30 scripts under pseudonyms. He won an Oscar in 1956 for The Brave One as Robert Reich. In 1960 he was recognized publicly again when Otto Preminger credited him on Exodus and Kirk Douglas did so on Spartacus. These actions marked the end of the blacklist. As late as 1993, Trumbo was awarded a posthumous Academy Award for Roman Holiday. This film is adapted from his son Christopher’s recent play based on the letters Trumbo wrote during the “Red Scare.”

10:00pm, “Wide Angle: Time for School”
WIDE ANGLE’s unprecedented, award-winning 12-year documentary project, Time for School, returns with visits to seven classrooms in seven countries to offer a glimpse into the lives of seven extraordinary children who are struggling to get what nearly all American kids take for granted: a basic education. Filming started in 2002, watching as kids first entered school in Afghanistan, Benin, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya and Romania, many despite great odds. Several years later, in 2006, WIDE ANGLE returned to film an update - and now, three years later, the show checks in on our young teenagers who are making the precarious transition to middle school. Time for School continues with Part 2, Wednesday, September 9 at 10pm.

Tuesday, September 8
9:00pm, “Yellowstone: Land to Life” (Repeats: 9/28 at 10:30pm)
People come to Yellowstone primarily because of the unusual thermal features and opportunities to view wildlife, often not realizing they are standing on one of the world’s largest active volcanoes. This film presents an interpretation of the sweeping geologic story of Yellowstone, from glaciation to mountain-building to the gigantic caldera of a volcano. “Yellowstone: Land to Life” was filmed over two years in all four seasons and delves deeply into the significance behind the scenery. It also explores the bonds between the landscape and biology—how Yellowstone’s geology influences where life exists and how it evolves. The film also contemplates our connection as well: humankind’s relationship to Yellowstone, the world’s first and most famous national park.

9:30pm, “The Call of the Wild”
Chris McCandless’ cross-country “spiritual pilgrimage” ended tragically on Alaska’s Stampede Trail in August of 1992. In 2006, filmmaker Ron Lamothe traced McCandless’ footsteps all the way to the abandoned bus where McCandless lived, and died of starvation, 14 years earlier. THE CALL OF THE WILD documents this journey. Over the course of his travels, Lamothe meets and interviews dozens of people about the McCandless story and uncovers new evidence about the mystery surrounding his death that directly contradicts both Into the Wild author Jon Krakauer’s literary interpretation and Sean Penn’s film adaptation of the story.

Wednesday, September 9
8:00pm, “Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times” (Repeats: 9/13 at 3pm)
Elmo and his friends join Al Roker and Deborah Roberts to help show how to cope with hard economic times. A Muppet family talks with members of real-life families about their ups and downs, and offer help and information about what to do to adjust to a new life. Children, in particular, will find out how to express their feelings and stay hopeful as their families work through tough times.

9:00pm, “Your Life, Your Money”
Hosted by actor Donald Faison, this program geared towards young adults presents a broad range of fundamental financial information; from basic banking to credit debt. It encourages young people to be smart and proactive when it comes to their money.

Monday, September 14
10:00pm, “Going on 13”
Four years with four girls in California’s Bay Area. Meet Esmeralda, Mexican American, first to complete her daily schoolwork and also first in her class to have a “boyfriend” without her parents’ knowledge; Ariana, African American, who transforms from a tomboy into one of the “popular girls” as her family struggles to leave the poverty of West Oakland; Rosie, mixed race Latina, who, at 9, is precocious and sunny, but grows into an alienated pre-teen who may have to repeat the 6th grade due to chronic truancy; and Isha, an immigrant from India, who despite her devotion to her traditional family, explores Internet teen chat-rooms with user names like “ghetto girl” and “cutie pie”. Using a mix of intimate interviews, cinema vérité, and stop-motion animation, GOING ON 13 chronicles the girls’ coming of age: their blossoming desires and growing sense of responsibility, their hopes for the future, their difficulties learning how to love themselves, and the escalating tug-of-war between who they want to become and who their parents think they should be.

Tuesday, September 15
10:00pm, “Retirement Revolution: The New Reality”
The months since spring 2008 have not been kind to the American economy or to the retirement accounts of millions of Americans. This program has undertaken a new mission, to help older citizens do better with a bit less and to navigate tougher financial waters with determination and good cheer. It features personal stories as well as expert commentaries. From light-hearted stories on self-defense and second careers to solid advice about money, health and Medicare, “The New Reality” talks to experts who analyze the financial problems of retirement and demonstrate ways to richer, healthier retirement years.

Wednesday, September 16
8:00pm, “Live from Lincoln Center: New York Philharmonic Opening Night Gala”
The New York Philharmonic begins a new era as Alan Gilbert takes the reins as Music Director for the Philharmonic’s 2009 season opener. Soprano Renee Fleming headlines this gala concert. The Alan Gilbert era begins in historic fashion with a brand-new, never-before-heard overture written especially for the occasion by Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg. Fleming sings exotic Messiaen and the evening concludes with Berlioz’s spectacular orchestra showpiece, Symphonie Fantastique. Alec Baldwin hosts.

10:00pm, “Great Performances:  Vienna Philharmonic Summer Concert 2009”
The renowned Vienna Philharmonic presents an open-air concert in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schonbrunn Palace. Daniel Barenboim leads the ensemble in a rousing evening of works inspired by the night. Highlights include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s hallmark “A Little Night Music,” Manuel de Falla’s “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” (featuring Maestro Barenboim as pianist) and the characteristically Viennese “1001 Nights Waltz” by the Waltz King himself, Johann Strauss.

Monday, September 21
10:00pm, “Including Samuel”
Photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about inclusion before he had his son Samuel. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Habib’s film, INCLUDING SAMUEL, examines the educational and social inclusion of youth with disabilities. The film documents the Habib family’s journey as they work to include Samuel, now 9, in all facets of their lives, a journey that transforms each of them. INCLUDING SAMUEL also features four other families with varied inclusion experiences, plus interviews with teachers, parents and disability rights experts. INCLUDING SAMUEL is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion.

Wednesday, September 23
10:00pm, “Wallace Stegner”
This film is a portrait of the conservationist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner. He was many things: teacher, historian and environmentalist but, above all, Wallace Stegner was a writer. Considered by many to be the “Dean” of western writers, he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and non-fiction author, with more than 30 full-length works and countless essays addressing the landscape, humankind’s footprint and the evolution of a region and nation. Producer John Howe has captured the tremendous influence Stegner has been on the lives of generations of readers and students.

Thursday, September 24
8:00pm, “Confronting Colon Cancer” (Repeats: 9/24 at 10:30pm and 9/27 at 3pm)
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. While those statistics are grim, there are more than 1 million survivors of colorectal cancer in the U.S. This WVIZ/PBS production takes you through the steps of a colonoscopy; delves into the latest research and therapy - to not only detect the disease, but to treat it; and takes a look at what you can do to prevent it.

9:00pm, “PBS Special Report on Health Care Reform”
THE NEWSHOUR, NOW ON PBS and TAVIS SMILEY collaborate to provide a 90-minute program that examines the urgent topic of health care reform. As Congress weighs legislation to provide universal health care in the U.S., correspondents will provide analysis, discussion, insight and engagement. THE NEWSHOUR team will look at the economics of health care reform. NOW ON PBS correspondents will consider how reform may change the way we live. Tavis Smiley will investigate the issue of childhood obesity, particularly within communities of color.

Sunday, September 27
8:00pm, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea”
This 12-hour, six-part documentary series, directed by Ken Burns and co-produced with his longtime colleague, Dayton Duncan, who also wrote the script, is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. As such, it follows in the tradition of Burns’ exploration of other American inventions, such as baseball and jazz.

“The Scripture of Nature (1851-1890)” (9/27, 8pm): The astonishing beauty of Yosemite Valley and the geyser wonderland of Yellowstone give birth to the radical idea of creating national parks for the enjoyment of everyone; John Muir becomes their eloquent defender. (also airs 9/27 at 4pm)

“The Last Refuge (1890-1915)” (9/28, 8pm): A young president, Theodore Roosevelt, becomes one of the national parks’ greatest champions; in Yellowstone, a magnificent species is rescued from extinction; and in Yosemite, John Muir fights the battle of his life to save a beautiful valley.

“The Empire of Grandeur (1915-1919)” (9/29, 8pm): In John Muir’s absence, a new leader steps forward on behalf of America’s remaining pristine places; a new federal agency is created to protect the parks; and in Arizona, a fight breaks out over the fate of the grandest canyon on earth.

“Going Home (1920-1933)” (9/30, 8pm): As America embraces the automobile, a Nebraska housewife searches for peace and inspiration in park after park, while a honeymoon couple seeks fame and adventure in the Grand Canyon; and the future of the Great Smoky Mountains becomes caught in a race with the lumbermen’s saws.

“Great Nature (1933-1945)” (10/1, 8pm): In the midst of an economic catastrophe and then a world war, the national parks provide a source of much-needed jobs and then much-needed peace; the park idea changes to include new places and new ways of thinking; and in Wyoming, battle lines are drawn along the front of the Teton Range.

“The Morning of Creation (1946-1980)” (10/2, 8pm): A stubborn iconoclast fights a lonely battle on behalf of a species nearly everyone hates; America’s “Last Frontier” becomes a testing ground for the future of the park idea; and in unprecedented numbers, American families create unforgettable memories, passing on a love of the parks to the next generation.

9:00pm, “Forever Wild”
FOREVER WILD is a one-hour film celebrating America’s commitment to wilderness preservation. The film captures the glory of undeveloped, wild places through stunning images and the passionate tales of America’s modern wilderness heroes - volunteers who have spent countless hours and immeasurable energy working to ensure that the public lands they love remain forever wild. These are tales of vision and dedication by Americans who work to preserve a legacy of wilderness for all to enjoy. FOREVER WILD is hosted by Robert Redford and features the prose of Terry Tempest Williams read by the author as well as original music.

Tuesday, September 29
10:00pm, “The Long Trail”
Join host Chris McClure as he hikes Vermont’s Long Trail end-to-end over the course of a year, discovering its beauty, history and hikers along the way. Highlights of the journey from the Massachusetts / Vermont state line to the Canadian border include the breathtaking views from Sunset Rock, a night’s rest at Taft Lodge and the summits of Stratton Mountain, Mount Mansfield and Camels Hump.

Wednesday, September 30
10:00pm, “Acadia Always”
A brand new look at one of America’s favorite national parks. Jack Perkins, former NBC News correspondent and host of A&E’s Biography series, lends his powerful narrative to this hour long tribute to the people who created Acadia National Park and to those who keep and preserve it. The photography of Jeff Dobbs and Bing Miller, who call Acadia home, and the music of John Cooper, will lift your spirits and keep Acadia alive in your heart, always.