Ken Burns’ ‘The Roosevelts’ Kicks Off PBS Season

Ken Burns’ seven-part documentary on the Roosevelt political dynasty will air this fall on PBS.

“The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” will begin September 14^th and will air as two-hour episodes over seven nights. Beth Hoppe, PBS chief programming executive, announced on Thursday that the episodes will be repeated nightly and the show will be available to view online.

“I think it’s the best thing Ken’s done since ‘The Civil War,'” Hoppe said. “He thinks it might be the best thing he’s ever done.”

“The viewer experience is changing and we’re trying to dish this up as an epic binge,” Hoppe said of the series that is based on the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, the three members of the most prominent and powerful family in American politics.

PBS says,”It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative.”

The Burns family itself will be well-represented on public TV’s schedule, with brother Ric Burns’ “The Pilgrims,” airing November 25th, Thanksgiving week.

Also set for PBS’ fall schedule is “Death Comes to Pemberley,” based on a sequel to Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” as well as the 40th anniversaries of “Live from Lincoln Center” and “Austin City Limits.”

Other PBS fall highlights include:

• A production of “Porgy and Bess” from the San Francisco Opera on Oct. 17, starring Eric Owens and soprano Laquita Mitchell.
• “How We Got to Now with Steven Johnson,” about the people responsible for remarkable ideas that shaped modern life, including what we eat and where we live. The series debuts Oct. 15.
• Season two of “Finding Your Roots,” with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. helping people identify unknown ancestors. It debuts Sept. 23.
• “Makers,” a six-documentary look at groundbreaking American women in the arenas of war, space, business, politics, Hollywood and comedy. It begins Sept. 30.
• The “Masterpiece Mystery!” showcase, which includes the Sept. 21 return of “Miss Marple,” starring Julia McKenzie, and a seventh season of “Inspector Lewis” with Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox, starting Oct. 5.