PBS to Air Ken Burns's 'The National Parks: America’s Best Idea'

PBS has just announced that in the fall of 2009 it will air a new Ken Burns documentary series: 'The National Parks: Americas Best Idea'. This will be a 12-hour, six-part documentary series, directed by Ken Burns and co-produced by his longtime colleague, Dayton Duncan. According to the release, the series is "the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone."

The film combines stunning cinematography of the beauty and majesty of our national parks with the rich history of their creation. As an example, the film profiles George Masa, the Japanese immigrant whose photographs of the Great Smoky Mountains served in the fight to protect this region in the southern Appalachians as a national park.

As with most of the other films produced by Ken Burns, there will be an interactive web site, a companion book, as well as a DVD box set.

If this series is anything like some of his previous works, such as the documentaries about baseball, Lewis and Clark, or Thomas Jefferson, then we should be expecting another outstanding program next fall.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com