PBS Unveils New Series, With Sister Wendy in the Picture

Kicking off the semiannual television press tour in Pasadena, PBS this weekend announced a batch of new programs, including a performing arts series titled “PBS Showcase,” in which Los Angeles’ KCET-TV will have a role.

Interim President/Chief Executive John Swope recapped a year in which PBS saw revenues rise by $22 million, awards for programming top the major networks and former president Ervin Duggan unexpectedly resign after an increasingly contentious relationship with the affiliated station groups.

In a session with executives Saturday, Swope proved to be a soft-spoken, deft and quite blunt chief, noting that his “debut on this particular tour” would also be “my finale.” Swope expects PBS will have a new leader by March.

Though there were some pointed questions about Duggan’s departure and some of the overly commercial fare that is seeping into PBS pledge drives, the focus was on the future.

Among the new PBS offerings will be two animated children’s series, a public affairs series geared to the fall elections, and a six-hour sequel, “Sister Wendy’s American Collection,” on six major museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The three-hour “PBS Showcase” will debut April 5. Three to four yearly “Showcases” are planned, each to be designed and produced by one of the PBS affiliates.

New York’s Thirteen/WNET’s “Great Performances” production group will open the new series with an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” recently filmed in London. Interviews with Lloyd Webber will be intercut, as the composer’s four works inspired by the Bible and spiritual passion are also explored.

In July, KCET’s entry will be built around the acclaimed 1999 documentary “Buena Vista Social Club,” directed by Wim Wenders. Mixing traditional Cuban music with impressions of contemporary urban life there, “Buena Vista” deals with the nearly forgotten musicians of pre-Castro Cuba, whose music was recorded by guitarist Ry Cooder. The album won a 1998 Grammy, and KCET delayed the initial broadcast of the documentary so it would be eligible for Oscar consideration.

Also significant was the announcement of an Internet deal with America Online in which PBS programming will receive promotion across AOL brands, while the online service will receive on-air branding on many of the best-known PBS programs, including children’s shows. John Hollar, executive vice president, PBS Learning Ventures, said no money was changing hands. And Swope compared it to promoting shows in magazines and newspapers.

In children’s programming, PBS announced that “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” based on the Scholastic children’s books, will arrive this fall with John Ritter as the voice of Clifford, and that another series, “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” will bring history and civics to school-age children. No date has been set.

This fall, PBS also presents “In the Box,” a series of half-hour programs and 90-second spots in which Americans of diverse backgrounds reflect on the issues most important to them. Sister Wendy, meanwhile, returns in spring 2001.