‘Saints and Strangers’ Trailer: First Look at NatGeo’s Gritty Thanksgiving Event

With Saints and Strangers, National Geographic Channel is aiming for a gritty, groundbreaking television event that will shatter American myths about the first Thanksgiving. “It’s a survival story filled with struggle, betrayal and competing agendas,” says executive producer Gina Matthews of the four-hour movie airing in two parts November 22 and 23. In other words, forget everything your third grade teacher taught you about Turkey Day.

In the exclusive first-look trailer above, an exhausted Mayflower landing party of Pilgrims (saints) and the adventurers (strangers) who joined them on the 1620 voyage arrives on New World shores. We glimpse the devout Christian faith of Pilgrim leader William Bradford (Vincent Kartheiser in his first major TV role since Mad Men), the wariness of legendary soldier Miles Standish (Michael Jibson, Hatfields & McCoys), the political savvy of Native American chief Massasoit (Raoul Trujillo, Apocalypto) and the bow-and-arrow skills of his elite warrior Hobbamock (Tatanka Means, Banshee). “Nobody—not the saints, strangers or Native Americans—walks away free of questionable morality,” Matthews says. “The question of this story is: what would you do to survive? Who would you become to protect the people that you love?”

And in addition to the trailer above, take a look at the newly revealed key art for Saints and Strangers:

Saints and Strangers, Premieres Sunday, November 22, 9/8c, National Geographic Channel