KCET Launches New Spring Line-Up in March
KCET LAUNCHES NEW SPRING LINE-UP BEGINNING IN MARCH
From classic entertainment to family caregiving, new programs include three original series featuring television personalities Roy Firestone and Holly Robinson Peete and the launch of the first show from Eyetronics partnership.
LOS ANGELES - FEBRUARY 8, 2012 - KCET, the nation's largest independent public television station serving Southern and Central California, has announced an exciting new programming line-up beginning in March that addresses diverse viewer interests, including a weeklong series of interview specials from LA Tonight with Roy Firestone; a new original documentary series on caregiving hosted by Holly Robinson Peete called Your Turn to Care; and the launch of Classic Cool Theater, the first show to air from KCET's unique partnership with Eyetronics Media & Studios. Also debuting on KCET in March is an intriguing British mystery series, George Gently that will air in place of KCET Presents for seven weeks.
Programs include:
LA TONIGHT WITH ROY FIRESTONE: MARCH 12-17 @ 10 PM AND MIDNIGHT
L.A. Tonight with Roy Firestone returns with a special week-long series of half-hour interviews featuring tennis great, Andre Agassi; multiple award-winning legendary musician, composer and producer Burt Bacharach; Grammy® Award-winning trumpeter and composer, Chris Botti; and Grammy® Award-winning jazz vocalist Steve Tyrell.
Described by the BBC as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history," the retired Agassi talks about his full life off the court, and Bacharach allows a rare glimpse into his personal life and reflects on some of his many professional accomplishments that span his illustrious career of more than six decades. Also, Botti shares his fondest memories from the road, while Tyrell takes a sentimental journey through some of America's most beloved ballads.
Hosted by Emmy® award-winning journalist Roy Firestone, the show invites celebrities and public figures who live in Los Angeles to discuss their lives and the provocative issues shaping today's news in a lively format. Previous guests include 16-time Grammy® Award-winning producer/songwriter, David Foster; Mark Geragos, celebrity defense attorney; Steve Edwards, veteran entertainment reporter and anchor for Fox 11's Good Day LA; and Harvey Levin, founder of TMZ.
YOUR TURN TO CARE (HOSTED BY HOLLY ROBINSON PEETE) MARCH 7 @ 8 PM
What happens when we suddenly become the caregivers... When it's suddenly our turn? America's growing generation of Baby Boomers now faces a challenge they were never prepared for: Taking care of ailing or aging loved ones. In this new documentary series produced by KCET, host Holly Robinson Peete takes viewers on journeys into this often heart-wrenching passage of life exploring the overwhelming challenges faced by caregivers of every ilk. Four, half-hour episodes focus on different families who find themselves at an important stage along the caregiving path, offering viewers solutions and hope through inspiring stories and a multitude of resources. Robinson Peete, an acclaimed actress and award-winning author, also shares her own experiences of caring for her father who had Parkinson's disease.
The first shows, which also feature personal stories of courage from actresses Monica Potter and Patricia Richardson, will focus on key caregiver issues including: the difficult talk with your aging parents about planning for the future; taking away your parents' car keys and the loss of freedom that means for them; and managing aging parents who live far away.
Viewers can also access the show's robust web site (www.yourturntocare.org), which launches Feb. 15, 2012, to explore a wealth of additional information, such as extended interviews and back stories, helpful links and resources as well as tips from guest experts, including best-selling author Gail Sheehy.
Your Turn to Care is made possible by MetLife Foundation, California Community Foundation, The Lippey Family Trust, Gladyce L. Foster.
CLASSIC COOL THEATER: MARCH 10 @ 10 PM
KCET is recreating the moviegoing experience from the Golden Age of Hollywood and invites viewers to meet the original artists from the silver screen! Classic Cool?¢ Theater is a weekly 120-minute series, which will include a package of the following attractions:
- A Classic Cartoon; a selection of the best of Hollywood classic Cartoons from the 30s, 40s and 50s.
- A Feature Film; with themes such as Romance, Film Noir, Musicals, Adventures, Westerns, Horror ...including a selection of their original trailers.
- A Newsreel; which will include celebrities, politics, sports and important events of the year the movie was released.
- A musical short featuring timeless artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, The Big Bands, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., The Andrew Sisters, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Elvis Presley, The Platters, and many more surprises.
The weekly program debuts with Frank Capra's 1941 Academy Award-nominated film and all time Classic Meet John Doe starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck.
Classic Cool, because Cool is timeless!
GEORGE GENTLY: MARCH 11 @ 9PM
In 1960s Britain, an upstanding detective takes on a dangerous world. Award-winning actor Martin Shaw (Judge John Deed, The Professionals) stars as Commander George Gently - an incorruptible, uncompromising cop transplanted from London's Scotland Yard to England's North Country in the mid-1960's. Gently's reputation for honesty and relentlessness makes him almost as feared among his colleagues as he is among criminals. But he finds an odd ally in John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby, Nicholas Nickleby) - an overeager, opinionated young sergeant who plays fast and loose with police procedures. Together the two tackle cases involving murderers, drug dealers, gun runners, and more. Gently is about to discover a whole new world of murder and intrigue in 1960s Britain, a place where everything is about to change, but the past is always present.
90-minute Episodes include:
Gently Go Man - Gently confronts the man behind his wife's murder.The Burning Man - The death of an IRA sniper.Bomber's Moon - A German businessman is found beaten and drowned.Gently with the Innocents - Murder in a children's homeGently in the Night - A corpse is found on a church altar.Gently in the Blood - Passport fraud, murder, Arab intolerance.Gently Through the Mill - Is it a murder or suicide?
For media assets for any of the above programs, please visit http://www.kcet.org/about/pressroom/
ABOUT ROY FIRESTONE
Roy Firestone is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning and seven-time cable ACE Award-winning host, interviewer, narrator, writer and producer. As the ground-breaking, original host of ESPN's legendary Up Close, Up Close Classic and Up Close Primetime, Firestone has interviewed more than 5,000 athletes, musicians, actors and political figures, as well as scores of writers and filmmakers.
Sports Illustrated calls Firestone "The best interviewer in the business." The late Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Jim Murray once said, "Roy Firestone isn't just the best sports interviewer I've ever seen, he's the best interviewer period. That includes, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, any and all of them."
Firestone currently hosts Up Close Classic, which is broadcast on ESPN daily. Other shows hosted by Firestone include: HDNet's Face to Face with Roy Firestone and AOL's Time Out...with Roy Firestone.
Not limited to television, Firestone is also prolific on the printed page -- as the author of two best-selling books, Up Close with Roy Firestone, and most recently, Don't Make Me Cry, Roy.
ABOUT HOLLY ROBINSON PEETE
Actress, author, talk show host, activist and philanthropist, Holly Robinson Peete has been touched by the entertainment industry all of her life. Her television career as an actress dates back nearly three decades. Her life experience has led her to becoming a voice for her father, her son and her community.
In 1996, Robinson Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, formed the HollyRod Foundation, inspired by her father's courageous battle with Parkinson's disease, with the mission to help improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson's. Then in 2005, inspired by their oldest son's autism diagnosis, HollyRod Foundation's mission expanded to provide access to treatment, support and other resources to disenfranchised families affected by autism. Through HollyRod Foundation and her family's personal experiences, Robinson Peete has become an advocate for consistent and reliable education, support and compassionate care for both Parkinson's and autism.
Her autism advocacy also extends to her book co-written with daughter, Ryan Elizabeth Peete. In 2010,they released their award winning children's picture book about autism from the sibling's perspective, entitled My Brother Charlie (Scholastic). A follow up book-exploring autism and adolescence is due out in 2012.
Over the years, Holly has received numerous accolades and awards for her philanthropic work: from the Anheuser Busch John E. Jacob Community Service Award to
her most recent honor, Thurgood Marshall Foundation Award. In addition to her philanthropic work through her own foundation, Robinson Peete has become involved in other organizations as well. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Autism Speaks, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) and the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
ABOUT KCET
On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. KCET currently produces the Emmy®, duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal Connected, a hard-hitting prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people of Southern California. Throughout its 48-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.
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