PBS this spring: musicals, mini-series, more

As the Olympics fade from our TV screens, viewers might re-discover PBS.
They’ll find a lot, from music (Broadway, opera, chamber) and mini-series (“Forsytes” is shown here) to documentaries pointing to Earth Day and the 250th birthday of the U.S.
On the night the Olympics end, PBS will have both the AARP’s “Movies for Grownups Awards” (7 p.m., Feb. 22) and the feel-good season-finale of “All Creatures Great and Small” (9 p.m.).
It will follow with with a compelling portrait of pioneering Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (10 p.m., Feb. 23) and an interesting trip to Turkey, site of the oldest temple on Earth (9 p.m., Feb. 25). Then, after a pause, things will be busy beginning in mid-March. Highlights, subject to change, include:
— MUSIC: “La Boheme” — a Franco Zeffirelli production at the Metropolitan Opera — will be March 20. On April 10, “Now Hear This” starts a four-Friday stretch, traveling the globe to range from Brahms to Scott Joplin.
Then come two Broadway musicals: “Suffs” (May 8) is the story of the suffragette movement for women’s voting rights’; “Top Hat” (May 15) is Kathleen Marshall’s take on a 1935 movie stuffed with Irving Berlin songs.
— 250TH ANNIVERSARY: Ken Burns has already had his epic “American Revolution,” but now we see this from the other side. On April 7 and 14, Lucy Worsley looks at how her country — with the world’s mightiest military — managed to lose to a ragged batch of rebels.
The next day (April 15), “Nova” views Greek artifacts (including an ancient voting machine), to see hints of the first large-scale, direct democracy. And on April 20, “Antiques Roadshow” looks back at its own 30-year history, to show people with Revolutionary War artifacts.
— ENVIRONMENT: On Earth (April 22), “Wilding” views the British couple that set a trend by turning a 3,500-acre estate back to nature. Also that day is a rerun of “Rain Bombs,” looking at the increase in fierce rainstorms.
A week later, “Shared Planet” begins, showing balances between people, animals and the land.
Earlier, “Thoreau” (March 30 and 31) is Burns’ richly crafted look at one of the original ecologists …. And “Our New World” (April 1 and 8) views the resilience of nature.
— DRAMAS: After a pause, PBS’ Sunday line-up refuels on March 22.
“Call the Midwife” is now in 1971, juggling deeply tragic stories, alongside the staff’s enthusiasm for women’s rights. That will be joined by two epic, six-week period pieces.
“The Forsytes” is the third take on John Galsworthy’s novels about wealth, envy, romance and the class structures, late in the Victorian age. Lushly filmed, it’s already been renewed for a second season.
And “The Count of Monte Cristo” re-tells the Alexandre Dumas epic of corruption, betrayal and revenge in 19th-century France.
— PROFILES: In addition to the Jordan film, PBS has a new documentary about W.E.B. Dubois (May 19) and reruns a Bella Abzug profile (March 17).
— AND MORE: “Antiques Roadshow” returns with new episodes, from April 6 to May 18.
Two films look at horse racing — the workers who groom the champions (April 13) and a rerun of the portrait of Seabiscuit (May 26).
Elsewhere, documentaries include “Nature” portraits of elephants (April 8 and 15) and tigers (April 22) and a “Secrets of the Dead” look at recently discovered remains of an ancient Chinese kingdom (May 27).
And “Independent Lens” ranges from the Jordan film to ones dealing with the competing histories of Natchez. Mississippi (May 11) and a filmmaker’s portrait (May 25) of her father, Robert Nakamura, ranging from World War II incarceration to becoming a key champion of Asian-American filmmaking.