Thanksgiving is a time for kicking back and enjoying quality time with family and friends, even if that means finding a few moments between stuffing the turkey and launching the shopping season. Our Thanksgiving week schedule is flavored with programming to augment the holiday mood—you may even learn a thing or two!
Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. Documentarian Ric Burns turns his attention to those seasonal stars of American history, the Pilgrims. Airing on the American Experience series, the two-hour film seeks to go beyond the myths and lore to present a more truthful account of these religious radicals. Scenes shot aboard the Mayflower II (the only full-scale replica of the Pilgrims’ vessel in existence) and in Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth, Mass., add to the film’s poignancy. (If Plimoth looks familiar, it’s because that’s where PBS’ Colonial House was filmed.)
Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 9 p.m. The Pilgrims get the lion’s share of attention, but the settlers at Jamestown, Va., predated them by 13 years. Secrets of the Dead: Jamestown’s Dark Winter is not the usual holiday fare. Instead, the show derives from an archaeological find that has historians rethinking the narrative about the first permanent English settlement in North America. Was the 14-year-old girl whose bones were found in a cellar a victim of murder or something even more sinister?
Thursday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. Our annual Thanksgiving marathon of Tennessee Crossroads episodes starts at 7 a.m. on NPT2 and moves to our main channel at 7 p.m. Join Joe Elmore and the gang as they make their way through 10 years of Crossroads journeys.
Thursday, Nov. 26, at 11 p.m. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a holiday tradition since 1924 and being invited to participate in the perambulating party is a big honor for marching bands. Journey to the Macy’s Parade follows one high school band’s road to New York.
Friday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. After the big meal, after the big shop, relax with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who is back with a new Great Performances show recorded in September at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. Andrea Bocelli: Cinema features songs from The Godfather, Dr. Zhivago, Love Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and other films. Bocelli sings in five languages in the concert, and welcomes actors John Travolta, Ryan O’Neal, Ali McGraw and Andy Garcia onstage to tell the films’ stories.
Find our full programming lineup at http://www.wnpt.org/schedule/.