PBS Celebrates the Summer of 1969 With Lineup of New Specials

Rick and Christina Gables May 5, 2019, 12:00 pm

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PBS Summer Slate — Courtesy of NASA, June 1965

Celebrating the golden anniversaries of pivotal moments and movements in U.S. history – gay liberation, the lunar landing and Woodstock – PBS will premiere new specials and limited series.

They’ll air The Lavender Scare on Tuesday, June 18, the epic three-part Chasing the Moon on American Experience (Monday, July 8 through Wednesday, July 10, 8 Days: To the Moon and Back on Wednesday, July 17, Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation on American Experience Tuesday, August 6 and more, throughout the summer.

Courtesy of the New York Public Library

In addition, PBS is dedicating the entire month of July to commemorate the wonder and awe of the universe with its Summer of Space multi-platform experience. Viewers can watch on PBS stations, PBS.org and the PBS Video App (check local listings) to explore one of the most critical and eventful periods in American history.

Courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The most monumental achievement of 1969 occurred on July 20, when Apollo 11 astronauts Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins became the first crew to successfully land on the moon.

To honor this incredible feat and its 50th anniversary, PBS is offering more than 15 hours of new science and history programming with Summer of Space, anchored by the epic and highly anticipated Chasing the Moon on American Experience. The this film tells the entire story of the space race, from its earliest beginnings to the first lunar landing.

Larry Morris/The New York Times/Redux Pictures

Another touchstone during this transformative year was the Woodstock Music and Art Fair—considered the most famous of rock festivals in the 1960s—held on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York in mid-August. In Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation, American Experience brings the three-day concert to life through the voices of those who were present during what became the defining moment of the counter-culture revolution.