FEATURED PROGRAMS on Blue Ridge PBS
Be sure to check our schedule for additional air times!
A Capitol Fourth: 250th Weekend Celebration
Friday, July 3 @ 8pm, Encore presentation @ 9:30pm
Kick off the historic 250th Anniversary weekend celebration the night of July 3rd from the U.S. Capitol with a front-row seat to the nation's biggest birthday party full of song, dance and fireworks! This 46th annual concert features world-renowned artists and the National Symphony Orchestra.
America Made in Virginia: 250 Years Together
Saturday, July 4 @ 8pm, Encore presentation @ 10pm
A star-filled tribute to America’s Semiquincentennial from revolutionary Colonial Williamsburg. Featuring live performance, historic interpretation, large-scale spectacle and fireworks. This is the place where the path to independence truly began.
8 Days: To the Moon and Back
Tuesday, July 7 @ 10pm
Join Apollo 11 on its historic journey. The film seamlessly blends mission audio featuring conversations among Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins with new footage, NASA archive and stunning CGI to recreate the first moon landing.
American Experience
Fridays @ 9pm
Discover the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America’s past and present.
July 10 & 17 – JFK
A look at an enigmatic man who remains one of the nation’s most beloved and mourned leaders. Beginning with Kennedy’s childhood years as the privileged but sickly second son of one of the wealthiest men in America, the film explores his early political career as a lackluster congressman, his successful run for the U.S. Senate, and the game-changing presidential campaign that made him the youngest elected president in U.S. history.
July 24 - August 7 – Chasing the Moon
Chasing the Moon thoroughly reimagines the race to the moon for a new generation, upending much of the conventional mythology surrounding the effort. The three-part series recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama. Utilizing a visual feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material, much of which has never before been seen by the public, the film features a diverse cast of characters who played key roles in these historic events.
The American Southwest
Wednesday, July 8 @ 10pm
From the Rockies to scorching deserts and iconic landscapes, the mighty Colorado River sustains wildlife and communities. Uncover the region’s deep cultural history and the urgent fight to protect its future. Narrated by Quannah Chasinghorse.
Antiques Roadshow
Mondays @ 8pm
Part adventure, part history lesson, part treasure hunt.
July 6 – Springs Preserve, Hour Three
ROADSHOW heads to the Mojave Desert in search of marvels at Springs Preserve. Finds include a Frank McCarthy oil painting, baseball autographs, ca. 1945 and a 1977 Elvis Presley watch presented to Redd Foxx. One is $80,000 to $120,000!
July 13 – Living History Farms, Hour Two
Watch remarkable finds from ROADSHOW's stop in Iowa and guess which appraised for $70,000 to $90,000, among a 1967 NFL Championship "Ice Bowl" ticket stub, a 1989 Ronald Reagan letter, and a Robert Riggs Saturday Evening Post illustration.
July 20 - Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms, Hour One
Discover delightful treasures at Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms including a 1954 Marilyn Monroe military defense ID photo, a Panama hat, ca. 1970 and an Andy Warhol Golden Shoe collage. Which is valued at $125,000 to $150,000?
July 27 – Maryland Zoo, Hour Two
ROADSHOW finds rare treasures at Maryland Zoo including 1973 Topps uncut card sheets, a ring collection, ca. 1970 and a 1967 Ram Kumar oil painting. Can you guess the top $180,000 treasure?
Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed The World
Tuesdays @ 10pm
Take a mind-blowing journey through human history, told through six iconic objects that modern people take for granted, and see how science, invention and technology built on one another to change everything. These are the secrets of how we got to our modern world.
July 14 – The Airplane
Take to the sky with the dreamers whose work gave humans the ability to fly. From Leonardo da Vinci's "flying machines" to the modern commercial plane, without these inventions, we may have never left the ground.
July 21 – The Telescope
Meet the brilliant minds throughout history, from Galileo to Edwin Hubble, responsible for creating the telescope. Today, their invention allows humanity to reach the furthest limits of seeing 13 billion light-years out.
July 28 – The Rocket
Learn the explosive history of the rocket, from its origin in ancient China, to its use as a weapon of war, to how adding hydrogen allowed it to carry astronauts all the way to the moon.
Bugs that Rule the World
Wednesdays @ 10pm
Explore the fascinating world of bugs, their beauty, and ecological importance. From pollinators and insect predators to the clean-up crews purifying our planet, scientists examine the decline of these essential yet least appreciated creatures.
July 15 – Insect Apocalypse
Could a world without insects survive? Follow scientists investigating the global insect “apocalypse.”
July 22 – Lifegivers
Dive into the colorful world of Earth’s essential pollinators – bees, moths, and butterflies.
July 29 – Eat or Be Eaten
Uncover the ruthless world of some of the stealthiest and cleverest insects in the animal kingdom.
Caddo Voices: A Basketry Revival
Wednesday, July 22 @ 7:30pm
In the mid-1800s, the Hasinai Caddo were forcibly removed from their East Texas homeland. Today, a group of modern Caddo are working to restore and revitalize their cultural traditions nearly lost over time. River cane basketry is one of them.
Downton Abbey, Season Two, on Masterpiece Classic
Sundays @ 10pm
Multiple Emmy® winner (including Best Miniseries!) Downton Abbey resumes the story of aristocrats and servants in the tumultuous World War I era. The international hit is written by Julian Fellowes and stars Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, plus a drawing room full of new actors, portraying the loves, feuds, and sacrifices of a glittering culture thrown into crisis.
Grantchester on Masterpiece
Sundays @ 9pm, Encore presentations Thursday @10pm
In the momentous summer of 1963, Geordie and Alphy face their greatest challenges yet. As an era comes to an end, the Grantchester family must face the depths of love, loss, and forgiveness one last time.
July 5 – Episode 4
A trip to reconcile with his mother turns deadly, leaving Alphy as the prime suspect.
July 12 – Episode 5
Church corruption shakes Alphy’s faith while Geordie’s promotion strains his marriage.
July 19 – Episode 6
Cathy’s triumph at CeCe’s turns dark when a club manager is found dead.
July 26 – Episode 7
As Alphy seeks redemption, a murder investigation spirals into a high-stakes siege.
The Kimberley: Australia’s Wild West
Wednesday, July 1 @ 10pm
In the last episode,bBask in the largest intact savannah on the planet, where mammals and insects fly through the air with the greatest of ease. Study traditional wildfire-management methods, explore a sandstone refuge, and watch a sugar glider try to escape the flames.
Nature
Wednesdays @ 8pm
Forty years on, it is the premier voice for the natural world, an essential lens on the creatures, great and small, that sustain us all on our living planet.
July 8 – Niagara Falls
Embark to Niagara Falls and witness its stunning beauty and a wide variety of wildlife—mammals, birds, and reptiles— that call it home. Through the eyes of passionate scientists, uncover a complex world forged by stone and powered by water.
July 15 – Soul of the Ocean
Experience the soul of the ocean in a never-before-seen look at how life underwater co-exists.
July 22 – Big Little Journeys: Home
In Canada, a tiny turtle ventures through a forest of giants in search of the lake where she will spend the next 50 years of her life. In South Africa, a young bushbaby is drawn towards a world of light in his quest to find a new home.
July 29 – Big Little Journeys: Survival
In Taiwan, a Formosan pangolin travels through a land of giants to find a mate in a protected forest, while in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, a family of golden-headed lion tamarins journey from the edge of their world into a land of plenty.
NOVA
Wednesdays @ 9pm
Explore the science behind the headlines in PBS's premiere science series.
July 1 – Revolutionary War Weapons
How did a ragtag army defeat the most powerful army in the world to win American independence? Discover the key military technologies that helped propel the colonies to victory, from the Brown Bess musket to the world’s first military submarine.
July 8 & 15 – Black Hole Apocalypse & Universe
Join astrophysicist and novelist Janna Levin on a mind-blowing voyage to the frontiers of black hole science, which is shining new light on the most powerful and mysterious objects in the universe.
July 22 – Chasing Pluto
Join NOVA for New Horizon's historic flyby of Pluto, the culmination of the spacecraft's nine-year, three-billion-mile journey to reveal the first-ever detailed images of this strange, icy world at the very edge of our solar system.
July 29 – Pluto & Beyond
Join the mission as the New Horizons spacecraft attempts to fly by NASA's most distant target yet. Since it explored Pluto in 2015, New Horizons is zooming toward Ultima Thule, an object four billion miles from Earth.
Once Upon a Time in Space – NEW MINISERIES!
Tuesdays @ 9pm
Drawing on intimate, unseen archive and powerful first-hand testimony, this landmark 4-part series tells the human stories behind our quest to explore space, offering a unique perspective on our changing world and where we are headed.
July 14 – America First
A pioneering class of astronauts is recruited by NASA to fly aboard its new Space Shuttle.
July 21 – The Russian Thing
When the Soviet Union falls, Russia welcomes US astronauts to their space station Mir.
July 28 – Politics Always Wins
The arrival of the International Space Station promises a new era of cooperation in space.
August 4 – Friends Forever
Relationships aboard the ISS are tested when war breaks out on Earth.
Patience
Sundays @ 8pm, Encore presentations Thursday @ 9pm
Patience returns to help tackle crimes in York. When new detective Frankie Monroe bursts on the scene, there’s initially tension but soon they learn to work as a team. Meanwhile, Patience faces challenges in love and loss.
July 5 – The Timetable
After witnessing her father’s murder, an autistic girl leads Patience to uncover the truth.
July 12 – The Runes
Patience races to solve the murder of a Viking expert, and her relationship is in crisis.
July 19 – Paco’s Revenge
Patience thinks the death of a woman in the Botanical gardens is less than natural.
July 26 – A Monk’s Tale
A monk is found dead in a chapel. Patience uncovers unholy secrets in the monastery.
Real Life with Susan Harf – NEW SEASON!
Mondays @ 7pm
This series, produced by Blue Ridge PBS, is hosted by Rose Martin and features Life Coach Susan Harf. As a trained personal and professional life coach, Susan offers solutions for everyday problems we all face in our relationships at home and at work.
July 20 - Where do you get your resilience?
July 27 - Have you ever told a big lie?
A Shot of Ag
Thursdays @ 7pm beginning July 23
Rob “The SharkFarmer” Sharkey, a Bradford, IL, farmer, nationally known podcaster and digital media personality, brings his no-nonsense take on farming, farm life and the rural/urban divide to Central Illinois. This is not your typical ag show.