PBS is mixing it up next season with programs about Vietnam, Scarlett Johansson and Vladimir Putin.
The public TV service said its fall lineup will be anchored by filmmaker Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War," a 10-part documentary debuting Sept. 17.
The genealogy series "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr." is returning Oct. 3. Besides Johansson, celebrities who will learn about their ancestors include Aziz Ansari, Bryant Gumbel and Garrison Keillor.
Russian President Putin will get a different kind of scrutiny on "Frontline." A two-part documentary on his rise and his rule will air Oct. 25 and Nov. 1.
In January, PBS will air a music special honoring the legendary Tony Bennett. The tribute, "Tony Bennett: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize," is to be taped this fall.
The season kicks off with "an array of terrific programming in all the genres that made PBS great in the first place," said PBS programming executive Beth Hoppe in a statement.
Among other programs and dates announced Wednesday for the upcoming schedule:
- A "Great Performances" series salute to Broadway airing Oct. 20-Dec. 1 and including the musicals "She Loves Me" and "Holiday Inn"; a tribute to famed producer-director Harold Prince; and Tony Award winner Kevin Kline in a revival of Noel Coward's "Present Laughter."
- New seasons of the drama series "Poldark" (starting Oct. 1) and "The Durrells in Corfu" (Oct. 15) and "Last Tango in Halifax" (Dec. 17).
- "David Letterman: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize" (Nov. 20).
- "American Masters" specials on filmmaker Richard Linklater (Sept. 1); artist Tyrus Wong (Sept. 8); Edgar Allan Poe (Oct. 30); and Bob Hope (Dec. 29).
- A "Nova" science series special on the Cassini space probe's last hours as it descends into Saturn's atmosphere, "Death Dive to Saturn" (Sept. 13).
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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