When PBS hits its mid-season stride, it will have lots of strong women.
Some are real (Bella Abzug, Barbara Jordan, Vivien Hargrove), some are fictional (Eliza Scarlet, shown here), some are yet-to-be-determined (female gladiators).
All will share the channel with Henry David Thoreau, Adam Sandler, animal parents, ambitious European dramas and an age-old question: Do dogs really understand words?
That’s in the stretch (January through March) when all the networks have makeovers. CBS and Fox are each adding two new series, ABC is adding one and finally bringing two (“Will Trent” and “The Rookie”) off the shelf.
For PBS, the biggest swings are the Sunday dramas. “All Creatures Great and Small” has an exceptionally strong start on Jan. 11, as its story nears the end of World War II. On March 22, two big-scale stories — “The Forsytes” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” — start six-week mini-series.
Things begin with the season-openers of “Antique Roadshow” at 8 p.m. Jan. 5 and “Finding Your Roots” at 8 p.m. Jan. 6 — the same night “Bombshell” (10 p.m.) views the efforts to cover up the development and impact of atomic bombs. There’s much more, in subjects ranging from elephants to librarians. Subject to change (and with more coming), that includes:
MUSIC
— The New Year’s celebration from Vienna, 8 p.m., Jan. 1.
— “La Boheme,” from the Metropolitan Opera, 9 p.m., March 20.
DRAMA
— “All Creatures Great and Small” starts its seven-week season with a pivotal episode at 9 p.m. Jan. 11.
— That’s surrounded by six-week seasons of two shows. The “Miss Scarlet” mystery returns at 8 p.m.; at 10 is the debut of “Bookish,” with a former spy running a quiet book store … while, of course, solving crimes.
— On March 22, “Call the Midwife” starts its 14th season at 8 p.m. The early seasons were set in the 1950s; we’re now up to 1971.
— That’s followed by six-week epics. At 9 p.m. is PBS third “Forsytes” miniseries; at 10 is approximately the zillionth version of “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
PERSONAL PORTRAITS
— Two portraits of history-making congresswomen — Jordan (“Independent Len,” 10 p.m. Feb. 23) and abzug (“American Masters,” 9 p.m. March 17.
–An “Independent Lens” portrait of Hilgrove, an esteemed film editor who re-invented herself as an artist as her sight failed. tHat’s 10 p.m. Jan. 26.
— An “American Masters” view of Elie Wiesel, the author and Holocaust survivor, at 9 p.m. Jan. 27.
— Ken Burn’s profile of Thoreau, March 30 and 31.
— Also, Sandler will get a career award during the “Movies For Grownups” awards, at 7 p.m. Feb. 22. And “Finding Your Roots” will have new episodes from Jan. 6 to Feb, 22, including the roots of everyone from Kristen Chenoweth to Britney Griner.
MORE DOCUMENTARIES
— A five-week series, viewing parenting in the animal world. That’s on “Nature,” at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, from Jan. 14 to February 4 … which is the day a 9 p.m. Nova asks “Can Dogs Talk?”
— Two weather-related hours. One, tentatively titled “Weathered” (10 p.m. Jan. 7) looks at the Los Angeles wildfires and the efforts to build back in a more secure way. Then “Nova” has “Rain Bombs,” at 9 p.m. Feb. 18; it views the increasing number of fierce rainstorms.
— Several looks at ancient dynasties. At 9 p.m. Jan. 28, “Nova” eyes the rise and fall of Angkor, capital of the Kymer Empire; at 9 p.m. Feb. 25, it views the oldest temple on Earth, in modern-days Turkey. Also, “Secrets of the Dead” probes whether Rome had female gladiators. That’s at 10 p.m., Jan. 28; a week later, it asks whether there was anything in real life that stirred the fictional tales of Camelot.
— And more. At 10 p.m. Jan. 12, the Latino-themed “Voces” meets a brotherhood of Marines, a decade after their time in Afghanistan.
At 8 p.m. Jam. 14, “Nature” follows a group of elephants. At 9 p.m. Jan. 21, “Nova” asks if asteroids could have actually brought the first spark of life to Earth; at 9 p.m. Feb. 11, it studies the origins of mammals. And at 10 p.m. Feb. 9, “The Librarians” views a once-peaceful job, in a time of discord.