Overview
- The live, three-hour broadcast will air Nov. 8 from 4–7 p.m. PT originating from PBS SoCal’s Burbank studios.
- A nationwide rebroadcast is set for Thanksgiving, with streaming on the PBS App from Nov. 27 to Dec. 24 and a local Thanksgiving encore at 7 p.m. PT.
- Rickey Minor will serve as music director, with announced appearances from Josh Groban, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ken Burns, Ziggy Marley, Lily Tomlin, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Marlee Matlin, Sarah Silverman and others.
- The telecast will feature live performances, viewer testimonials and archival clips from Masterpiece, Austin City Limits, Great Performances and Sesame Street, plus segments from Nashville PBS with Kathy Mattea, Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle and Ketch Secor.
- Organizers say the effort responds to a roughly $1.1 billion federal funding loss over two years, PBS’s planned 21% budget cut and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s announced year-end shutdown.