Baryshnikov & More Featured on THIRTEEN's THE 80's-TRUSTED VOICE, 9/10

In the 1980s, 100 million Americans were tuning into public television every week, and over a third of that Primetime programming was being created by New York's THIRTEEN, the PBS flagship station.

THIRTEEN's programming was original and groundbreaking, introducing many firsts including Style Wars (1983), the first portrait of hip hop culture with a soundtrack featuring music by early rap artist Grandmaster Flash;Longtime Companion (1989) on American Playhouse, the first feature film to deal with the subject of AIDS and its impact on the gay community; the documentary Brooklyn Bridge (1981) which helped to launch the career of now legendary PBS filmmaker Ken Burns; the debut of two of the station's signature series, American Masters (1986) and Nature (1982); the premiere of the first films by award-winning directors Jim Jarmusch, Ang Lee, and Spike Lee, and more.

Throughout the decade, THIRTEEN was the bold, innovative, and trusted voice of PBS.

Check out clips from the upcoming programming below!

Narrated by actress Parker Posey, whose role in the PBS miniseriesArmistead Maupin's Tales of the City (1993) kick-started her career, Pioneers of THIRTEEN: The'80s - Trusted Voice airs Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 9:30 p.m. on THIRTEEN.

Through rarely-seen clips and interviews with actors, directors, producers, journalists, and writers, the 90-minute documentary recounts the highlights of the 1980s, programs that are now classics in the annals of public television. Featured interviewees include:

• Ken Burns discussing how he experimented with zooming in and out on archival photographs, "treating a still photograph the way a feature filmmaker would a scene" and in the process creating his signature style.

• Jeremy Irons talking about working with a "who's who of British theater" in Brideshead Revisited, the acclaimed adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel:Claire Bloom, John Gielgud, and Lord Laurence Olivier.

• Fred Kaufman, a production assistant on Nature in the 1980s and now the series executive producer, tells why Nature was unlike any natural history program previously aired.

• Susan Lacy, series creator and executive producer of American Masters, recounts the incredible discovery of never-released rehearsal footage of Charlie Chaplin, which became the highlight of the series' first season in a documentary about Chaplin.

• Lindsay Law, former head of drama at THIRTEEN, tells how he commissioned Craig Lucas and Norman René to write and directLongtime Companion for American Playhouse.The film was instrumental in getting other movies and television programs produced about HIV/AIDS. Law reminisces about other memorable productions onAmerican Playhouse, citing the early performances of Laura Linney (Tales of the City), John Malkovich (True West), Gary Sinise (True West), and Alfre Woodard (For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf)

• Don Mischer, well-known for directing such live events as the Academy Awards, the Olympics and Superbowl Half Time Shows, describes the early days of shooting dance for television (Baryshnikov by Tharp with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and choreographer Twyla Tharp). Savion Glover, who, at age 15, Mischer featured in Gregory Hines' Tap Dance in America, fondly remembers working with Hines.

At a time when virtually no African Americans were on the air, THIRTEEN hired

journalist Tony Brown to be the host of Black Journal which eventually became Tony Brown's Journal. The documentary features Brown's exclusive interviews with President Ronald Reagan, and with Talmadge Hayer, one of the assassins of Malcolm X, as well as a performance by Eubie Blake. Tony Brown's Journal stayed on the air for 40 years, making it one of the longest-running public affairs show in public television history.

The MacNeil/Lehrer Report evolved into The MacNeil Lehrer NewsHour, the first hour-long Primetime news show in the history of television. It also introduced one of the first African-American women correspondents on national television, Charlayne Hunter-Gault. During the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis in the early '80s, Robert MacNeil was the first American journalist to interview Ayatollah Khomeini. During this period, MacNeil also landed the first major American interview Cuban leader Fidel Castro had given in six years.

The '80s - Trusted Voice features archival clips of Nam June Paik's homage to the George Orwell's novel 1984, Good Morning, Mr. Orwell, a live event hosted by George Plimpton and featuring Laurie Anderson, Merce Cunningham, and other members of the New York avant-garde.

From Wrap Around the World, showcasing the talents of comedian Al Franken and singer David Bowie, and The Lathe of Heaven, THIRTEEN's first made-for-TV science fiction film; to Bill Moyers' captivating six-part interview series Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,and The Times of Harvey Milk, considered a milestone in the gay rights movement; THIRTEEN consistently presented programming that was thought-provoking and compelling.

The '80s - Trusted Voice is the third episode of a four-part documentary series, Pioneers of THIRTEEN, celebrating THIRTEEN's 50thanniversary. The fourth and final episode, The '90s and Beyond - Changing Landscape, will be broadcast later this year. The first episode,The '60s - Experimental Days, aired September 2012 and the second episode, The '70s - Bold and Fearless, aired January 2013, and both are available for online streaming at thirteen.org/50.

Pioneers of THIRTEEN is a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC in association with WNET. WNET is the parent company of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV. Julie Anderson is executive producer. Charlotte Mangin and Denise A. Greene are producers. Sue Ding is associate producer. Funding for Pioneers of THIRTEEN is provided by Rosalind P. Walter and the members of THIRTEEN.

Featured clips include:

• Adam Smith's Money World

o Interview with Warren Buffett

• American Masters

o "Martin Scorsese Directs"

o "Unknown Chaplin"

• American Playhouse

o "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" starring Alfre Woodard

o "Longtime Companion" starring Bruce Davison

o "Tales of the City" starring Laura Linney and Parker Posey

o "True West" starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise

• Art of the Western World
• The Brain
• Brideshead Revisited

o Starring Claire Bloom, John Gielgud, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Olivier

• Brooklyn Bridge
• Childhood
• Ethics in America
• Good Morning, Mr. Orwell

o Hosted by George Plimpton

o Oingo Boingo performing "Wake Up (It's 1984)"

• Great Performances

o "Baryshnikov by Tharp" with Mikhail Baryshnikov

o "Tap Dance in America" featuring Gregory Hines and Savion Glover

• Heritage: Civilization and the Jews

o Hosted by Abba Eban

• Independent Focus

o Jim Jarmusch's "Permanent Vacation"

o Ang Lee's "Fine Line"

o Spike Lee's "Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads"

• Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers
• Koyaanisqatsi
• The Lathe of Heaven
• Life on Earth

o Hosted by Sir David Attenborough

• MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour

o Interview with Ayatollah Khomeini

o Interview with Fidel Castro

• Nature

o "The Flight of the Condor"

o "Sexual Encounters of the Floral Kind"

• The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis

o Interview with then-Senator John Kerry

• Sesame Street

o Introduction of Elmo

o "Monsterpiece Theater"

o "Special Report: The Missing Cookies Affair"

• Shining Time Station

o Hosted by Ringo Starr

• Style Wars
• The Times of Harvey Milk
• Tony Brown's Journal

o Interview with President Ronald Reagan

o Interview with Tamalge Hayer, one of the assassins of Malcolm X

o Performance by Eubie Blake

• Wrap Around the World

o Performance by David Bowie

o Comedy skit by Al Franken and Tom Davis

Featured interviews include:

• Perry Miller Adato, executive producer, Art of the Western World
• Erna Akuginow, independent filmmaker
• Dr. William Baker, president, THIRTEEN 1987-2008
• Stephen Battaglio, television historian & author
• Richard I. Beattie, Vice chairman emeritus, THIRTEEN Board of Trustees
• Tony Brown, host & creator, Tony Brown's Journal
• Ken Burns, Oscar-nominated filmmaker
• Bill Chase, production manager, Good Morning, Mr. Orwell; and director of production management, THIRTEEN 1979-1988
• Roslyn Davis, general manager, THIRTEEN
• William M. Ellinghaus, chairman emeritus, THIRTEEN Board of Trustees
• Harvey Fierstein, award-winning actor & playwright
• Savion Glover, award-winning choreographer
• Geoffrey Haines-Stiles, independent filmmaker
• David Horn, executive producer, Great Performances
• Charlayne Hunter-Gault, national correspondent, The MacNeil/Lehrer Report
• Fred Kaufman, executive producer, Nature
• Gary Knell, senior vp & general counsel, THIRTEEN 1982-1989
• Joan Konner, executive producer, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
• Robert Kotlowitz, senior vp for programming, THIRTEEN, 1971-1990
• Jeremy Irons, Oscar-winning actor
• Arnold Labaton, executive producer , THIRTEEN & Heritage: Civilization and the Jews
• Susan Lacy, creator & executive producer, American Masters
• Lindsay Law, executive producer, American Playhouse
• Ursula K. Le Guin, author, The Lathe of Heaven
• Ang Lee, Oscar-winning director
• Jim Lehrer, creator & anchor, The MacNeil/Lehrer Report
• George Lucas, Oscar-winning director
• Robert MacNeil, creator & anchor, The MacNeil/Lehrer Report
• Don Mischer, director, Baryshnikov by Tharp and Tap Dance in America
• Bill Moyers, host, The Secret Government and Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
• Al Perlmutter, executive producer, The Secret Government and Adam Smith's Money World
• Sam Pollard, editor, Style Wars
• Hudson Stoddard, director of development, THIRTEEN 1965-1987
• Stuart Sucherman, senior editorial consultant, Ethics in America
• Jac Venza, culture & arts executive producer, THIRTEEN 1962-2005

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