PASADENA, Calif. — PBS will mark its 50th year with an exploration of what it means to be an American in a rancorous period.
“At a time when our country feels perhaps the fabric is becoming a bit frayed, we felt it was important for us to step back and really look at who we are,” PBS chief executive Paula Kerger told a TV critics meeting Friday.
Her perception in traveling throughout the country, she said, “is what binds us together is so much more apparent than what separates us.”
“PBS American Portrait,” is the network’s most ambitious multi-platform project yet and aims to foster a nationwide discussion about America and its people, said programming chief Perry Simon. It will encompass a variety of working parts, starting with video, photo and other content from the public and including a web miniseries, local and national art exhibits and a documentary series airing in January 2021.