PBS: From 'Prohibition' to 'Woody Allen'
New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid, ca. 1921. After the Mullan-Gage Act was repealed in 1923, New York police were no longer bound to enforce Prohibition. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
A busy fall for public TV looms, and here are just a few of the major productions worth watching:
Pedro Ruiz: Coming Home (Sept. 29, 8 p.m., WNET/13; Oct. 2, 9 p.m., WLIW/21). A must-watch for dance lovers that's about the Cuban dancer-choreographer.
Hugh Laurie: Let Them Talk (Sept. 30, 9 p.m., WNET/13). The "House" star -- who just released a blues album -- talks about his musical inspirations, while performing with Allen Toussaint and others.
Prohibition (Oct. 2-4, 8 p.m., WNET/13; 10 p.m., WLIW/21). Probably the centerpiece of the fall season, from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, about the 18th Amendment (which banned liquor) -- and its towering failure.
Women, War & Peace (Oct. 11, 18, 25 and Nov. 1, 10 p.m., WNET/13). A five-hour documentary charting the strategic role women are playing in wartime and in building peace. It opens with "I Came to Testify," about a group of women who had been imprisoned and raped by Serb forces and sought justice in an international court.
Nature: Radioactive Wolves (Oct. 19, 8 p.m., WNET/13; Oct. 20, 8 p.m., WLIW/21). This is "Nature's" 30th season launch -- about animal life in the "dead zone" around Chernobyl.
Pearl Jam Twenty (Oct. 21, 9 p.m., WNET/13; Oct. 23, 3:30 p.m., WLIW/21). Cameron Crowe's "American Masters" portrait of the band, culled from 1,200 hours of footage, along with fresh interviews.
Treasures of New York: The Park Ave. Armory (Oct. 24, 10:30 p.m., WLIW/ 21; Oct. 27, 8:30 p.m., WNET/ 13). Half-hour look at the Armory, recent host of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Great Performances: Miami Ballet Dances Balanchine and Tharp (Oct. 28, 9 p.m., WNET/13). Performances of George Balanchine's "Square Dance" and "Western Symphony," and Twyla Tharp's "The Golden Section."
NOVA: The Fabric of the Cosmos (Nov. 2, 9, 16 and 23, 9 p.m., WNET/13). From physicist and author Brian Greene, who takes viewers on a tour of the subatomic universe, into the realm of "wormholes," quantum "string theory" and more.
Bill T. Jones: A Good Man (Nov. 11, 9 p.m., WNET/13). "American Masters" portrait of the director-choreographer.
Woody Allen: A Documentary (Nov. 20 and 21, 9 p.m., WNET/13): This "American Masters" film contains "unprecedented access" to the reclusive director and looks at his life from childhood through his most recent film, "Midnight in Paris."
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