PBS People’s Choice – The Best of 2019

December 28, 2019

By Taryn Jackson Stewart

We made it to the end of a decade! From politics, to tumultuous weather to pop culture, 2019 kept us all very busy. We work hard to bring you the best programming and digital content from across the country and it was fun to look back at your favorites from this past year. Look through the list to see if we captured yours and check out some others you may have missed.

American Experience: Chasing the Moon

We spent this summer in space and Chasing the Moon invited us to relive the journey that defined a generation.

This film recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama, utilizing a feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material.

Say it Loud: “Black Sounding” Names and Their Surprising History

Say it Loud premiered back in February and covers topics around African American history, culture, and context. While all of the episodes in the series kept people talking, the discussion around the history, culture, and influence on "black sounding names" is still going strong.

Black names have been satirized and stereotyped for a long time, but they have a unique and downright surprising history.

Masterpiece: Les Miserables

Masterpiece’s epic new adaptation of Victor Hugo's iconic Les Misérables did not disappoint.

Viewers and critics agreed that the six-part series was a big hit!

FRONTLINE: The Mueller Investigation

After two years of Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election dominating the headlines, viewers turned to FRONTLINE for the full story.

Back in March, FRONTLINE’s Mueller Investigation offered an inside look into the investigation that President Donald Trump has continually deemed a "witch hunt."

Call the Midwife Season 8

We couldn’t wait until the new season and it looks like we weren’t alone.

The nuns and nurses faced a variety of challenging issues such as interracial adoption, cleft palate and sickle cell.

Ken Burns Presents Country Music

Country Music dominated our playlists this Fall. Ken Burns explored the entire history of country music from its deep roots in ballads, hymns and blues, to its mainstream popularity.

We also had a great time talking about our favorite country songs.

Nature: Octopus - Making Contact

Only Nature can make an octopus go viral. This short video from Octopus: Making Contact shows an octopus changing color.

It is just as amazing as you would imagine.

Lynn Novick's College Behind Bars

We are closing out 2019 with some very powerful programming. College Behind Bars explores the transformative power of education through the eyes of a dozen incarcerated men and women trying to earn college degrees.

For Bard Prison Initiative graduates, coming home isn’t the end of a journey, it’s a new beginning. This is an inspirational story of defying expectations.

We traveled to outer space, spent time with our favorite midwives and stayed on top of current events all while listening to country music. Here’s to looking forward to even more adventures in the new year!