June 2023 Programming Highlights
Check out the latest and greatest programming from Connecticut Public for June, including CPTV, CPTV Spirit, Pride Month, and Juneteenth.
On CPTV
Father Brown | Season 10
Thursdays at 8 p.m.
The drama based on the stories by GK Chesterton, about a crime-solving Roman Catholic priest, continues with all new mysteries to be solved.
Death in Paradise | Season 12
Thursdays at 9:30 p.m.
It’s all fun in the sun until someone gets murdered. Join DI Neville Parker and his team for brand new murder mysteries on the beautiful tropical island of Saint Marie.
Midsomer Murders | Season 2
Fridays at 8 p.m.
Go back to the beginning, with early episodes of Midsomer Murders airing for the first time on CPTV! Blackmail, intrigue, deceit, adultery and murder abound, as the dastardly goings on in the seemingly idyllic county of Midsomer are unraveled by DCI Barnaby.
Ridley
Sundays at 8 p.m. starting June 18
Retired Detective Inspector Alex Ridley is called back to advise on a complex and compelling murder case by his replacement and former protege DI Carol Farman. Carol is keen to access Ridley’s unique insight into crime-solving which served them so well in the past, but the investigation takes a dark and unexpected twist.
Endeavour on Masterpiece | Season 9
Sundays at 9 p.m. starting June 18
Shaun Evans and Roger Allam return for the ninth and final season of the critically acclaimed detective drama Endeavour, only on MASTERPIECE on PBS. Set in the early 70s, the final season finds Endeavour and Thursday entering a new era of change both professionally and personally with the return of some familiar faces along the way including Sam, played by Jack Bannon (Pennyworth), who arrives back from Northern Ireland following his service in the British Army.
The Great American Recipe | Season 2
Mondays at 9 p.m. starting June 19
Join host Alejandra Ramos and judges Leah Cohen, Tiffany Derry and Graham Elliot as a new group of talented home cooks showcase signature dishes, share heartfelt stories and compete to win the national search for “The Great American Recipe.”
Shakespeare & Hathaway | Season 4
Thursday at 9 p.m. starting June 22
Corpses, comedy and cracking mysteries. The mismatched private detective duo investigate crime in Stratford-upon-Avon. Quirky, crime-fighting fun with Mark Benton and Jo Joyner.
Grantchester | Season 7
Fridays at 9:30 p.m. starting June 23
Catch up with an encore of the previous season of Granchester, before Season 8 premieres in July! The series picks up in the long hot summer of 1959 with wedding season in full swing in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester. Starring Robson Green as Geordie Keating and Tom Brittney as Will Davenport.
On CPTV Spirit
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
Fridays at 8 p.m.
Two celebrities hit the road in classic cars for a tour through Great Britain. With antiques experts by their sides, they search the local stores for treasures, competing to see who can turn a £200 budget into a small fortune. Their adventures take them off the beaten path and allow them to learn about the little-known stories behind some of the greatest events in British history.
WWII Night
Tuesday, June 20 starting at 8 p.m.
Explore the history of World War II with a trio of features focused on Dunkirk, D-Day, and the USS Missouri.
- NOVA: Great Escape at Dunkirk at 8 p.m.
- D-Day 360 at 9 p.m.
- Surrender on the USS Missouri at 10 p.m.
Before We Die
Saturdays at 9 p.m. starting June 24
Detective Inspector Hannah Laing and crime matriarch Dubravka Mimica, two mothers on opposite sides of the law, both lost sons in season one. Hannah’s son fell in love with Bianca Mimica and fled overseas while Dubravka’s son is missing presumed dead. While Dubravka seeks revenge, Hannah must finish the job her son started and expose the Mimica gang.
Great Yellowstone Thaw Marathon
Sunday, June 25 starting a 8 p.m.
Journey with Kirk Johnson to Yellowstone, where wolves, grizzlies, beavers and Great Gray owls survive one of the greatest seasonal changes on the planet. As the temperature swings 140 degrees, cameras capture how the animals cope.
Space Travel Marathon
Tuesday, June 27 starting at 8 p.m.
Learn about the past, present, and future of space travel with a 3-hour marathon looking at moon travel, rockets, and SpaceX co-founder, Elon Musk.
- NOVA: Back to the Moon at 8 p.m.
- NOVA: Rise of the Rockets at 9 p.m.
- In Their Own Words: Elon Musk at 10 p.m.
Last Tango In Halifax Marathon
Friday, June 30 starting at 8 p.m.
In this heartwarming and uplifting drama, childhood sweethearts Alan and Celia, both widowed and in their 70s, fall for each other all over again when they are reunited on the internet after nearly 60 years. Their relationship is a celebratory tale of the power of love at any age.
Pride Month
American Masters: Little Richard – The King and Queen of Rock & Roll
Friday, June 2 at 10:30 p.m. on CPTV
Experience the meteoric rise and enduring legacy of Little Richard. This portrait of the “King and Queen of Rock and Roll” explores his far-reaching influence as well as his advocacy for the rights of Black artists in the music industry.
Prideland
Tuesday, June 20 at 9 p.m. on CPTV
Follow queer actor Dyllón Burnside on a journey to discover how LGBTQ Americans are finding ways to live authentically and with pride in the modern South.
Independent Lens: Mama Bears
Tuesday, June 20 at 10 p.m. on CPTV
Although they grew up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians, these moms are now willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to champion their kids — even if it challenges their belief systems and rips apart their worlds.
American Experience: Casa Susanna
Tuesday, June 27 at 9 p.m. on CPTV
Visit the Catskills hideaway where, in the 1950s and 60s, an underground network of transgender women and cross-dressing men found refuge. A moving look inside a secret world where the persecuted found freedom and acceptance.
We’ll Meet Again: Coming Out
Tuesday, June 27 at 11 p.m. on CPTV
Join Ann Curry as those whose lives were changed by the early days of the gay rights movement reunite. Tom wants to find the childhood friend who urged him to come out, while Paul seeks a fellow student who inspired him to stand up for his beliefs.
Juneteenth
Abolition: The Friendship of Frederick Douglass & John Brown
Monday, June 19 at 10 p.m. on CPTV Spirit
This is the story of two friends. John Brown – he whose “body lies a-mouldering in the grave” – who led the raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, a major stepping stone toward the War. And Frederick Douglass who was born a slave in Maryland, escaped to freedom at 20, and became an important voice in America. The bond and strife between these two men is explored in an intimate re-imagination of the era.
Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting On Two Fronts
Wednesday, June 21 at 10 p.m. on CPTV Spirit
Explore the complex history of Black Americans who enlisted in the U.S. military as a path to citizenship, a livelihood, and greater respect, and how they fought in military conflicts abroad and civil rights struggles at home.
POV: After Sherman
Monday, June 26 at 10 p.m. on CPTV
POV, America’s longest running non-fiction series, opens its 36th season with After Sherman, a gripping film about inheritance, landscape identity and tensions within Black Belt communities that define America’s collective history. The film marks director Jon-Sesie Goff’s (Out in the Night) feature debut, and is produced by Goff, blair dorosh-walther, and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich. In After Sherman Goff returns to the coastal South Carolina land that his family purchased after emancipation. His desire to explore his Gullah Geechee roots leads to a poetic investigation of Black inheritance, trauma, and generational wisdom.