Pendle Hill and surrounding Lancashire villages remain associated with the 1612 witch trials, in which 12 people were accused and nine were executed. The feature traces the accused people’s routes and visits places including Newchurch-in-Pendle, Roughlee, Ashlar House, the Forest of Bowland and Lancaster Castle, while describing local legends, memorials and tourism inspired by the trials. Historians emphasize that the accused were vulnerable people caught in a period of religious superstition and social turmoil, and that many haunting stories are local folklore.

Current’s Pipeline 2027 survey provides an early look at 109 series and specials planned for public television distribution in 2027 and 2028, based on submissions received by September 9. The total is nearly unchanged from the previous survey’s 108 programs, while this year’s responses include more short-form programming and fewer broadcast-length documentaries and historical or biographical series. Current says descriptions and details were supplied by participating organizations and edited for consistency, with AI-assisted tools used to organize and check data; editors reviewed the final presentation and made the editorial decisions.

PBS Kids has expanded Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures from short-form episodes into a 39-episode series, using comic-book stories, humor, songs and recurring characters to teach preschoolers phonics, letter recognition and early reading. Creator Angela Santomero and PBS Kids content executive Adriano Schmid say the longer format offers more opportunities to reinforce literacy, with Alpha Pig returning after viewers missed the character in the shorts. The original short episodes drew more than 21 million streams in their first month. PBS Kids is supporting the new series with station screening kits, community events, a companion letter-racing game and planned digital storybooks, aiming to make reading enjoyable for children and families.

William Jackson Harper says the success and financial security he gained from The Good Place have let him choose roles for artistic fulfillment rather than simply taking work. His recent and upcoming projects—including American Hostage, The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd, and Cry Wolf—reflect his desire to take on varied, complex material. Harper describes his path from theater in Dallas to New York and television, and says he is now interested in creating stories from the ground up, potentially as a producer, writer, or director, while following his own curiosity.

GBH has used a production pause caused by cuts to public-broadcasting support to redesign American Experience for younger audiences. The strategy emphasizes short-form videos on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, along with renewed use of the series’ archive, generating more than 19 million views in five months and sharply increasing engagement. The program is also adopting a broadcast “tentpole” model, beginning with a 2027 Charles Lindbergh series and followed by projects on the FBI and the Great Depression. By consolidating American Experience, Frontline and Nova under Raney Aronson-Rath, GBH aims to coordinate its history, investigative and science programming while preserving each brand’s distinct role.

A new documentary, “Occupational Hazard: The First Coral Reefers,” explores how Jimmy Buffett’s move to Key West in 1971 shaped his music, career and lasting relationship with the island. Directed by John H. Cunningham and produced with Ted E. Haynes, the film focuses on the original Coral Reefer members, the vibrant and often excessive 1970s Key West music scene, and Buffett’s decision to pull back from the band’s hard-partying lifestyle as his fame grew. Narrated by Jeff Bridges, the 92-minute documentary is scheduled for a Key West screening in September 2026, additional Florida screenings through October and a subsequent video-on-demand release.

Arizona PBS and science journalist Miles O’Brien created Resolve to Solve With Miles O’Brien, a five-part PBS prime-time series about scientists and innovators addressing climate change, extreme heat, drought, addiction and other major problems. Funded partly by a $10 million donation from Searle and Sue Hart-Wadley, the $3 million production became Arizona PBS’s first nationally distributed prime-time program. PBS supported the series because of O’Brien’s credentials and its solution-oriented approach, while requiring broader subject matter and factual treatment of a segment involving O’Brien’s use of psilocybin in a phantom-pain study. The producers hope the show will expand the role of local stations in national public media and are seeking funding for a second season.

New York Public Radio CEO Christy Tanner outlines plans to expand the organization’s local, national and global reach while maintaining profitability after the loss of nearly $3 million in annual Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding. She says members and funders have increased their support, enabling NYPR to sustain its Station-to-Station Programming Project and invest in public service. Tanner emphasizes audience-focused digital strategy, creator partnerships with URL Media, live journalism and cultural programming, including Broadway on the Radio and an affordability series, while saying NYPR is currently the right size and does not anticipate further reductions.

John Landis and Rick Baker’s 1981 horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London transformed werewolf cinema through a brightly lit, visceral sequence showing David’s painful metamorphosis in full view. Baker’s combination of prosthetics, animatronics, pneumatic effects and make-up made the transformation feel emotional as well as physically horrifying, earning him the inaugural Academy Award for best make-up and hairstyling. The film helped legitimize practical make-up effects, influenced later horror-comedies such as Gremlins, Evil Dead 2 and Beetlejuice, and provided a blueprint for Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.

Elizabeth Cook’s semi-autobiographical film The Easy Kind, a documentary-narrative hybrid directed by Katy Chevigny, is being released nearly eight years after production began. Cook makes her acting debut as EC, a fictionalized musician whose experiences reflect aspects of Cook’s difficult upbringing, family losses, addiction recovery and career in country music. The film explores the struggle of making a living from art while emphasizing resilience, creative freedom and personal definitions of success. Cook, a Florida native now based in Nashville, also discusses her musical roots, genre-blurring approach and forthcoming seventh album, Great Television.