WXXI TV

Marie Antoinette, Season 2 • WXXI-TV

The period drama Marie Antoinette continues to chronicle the life of one of history’s most influential and controversial figures.

Marie Antoinette, Season 2 premieres Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 10p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the web and the PBS app.

Emilia Schüle (“Berlin Dance School”) returns as the title character, Marie Antoinette, and Louis Cunningham (“Bridgerton”) reprises his role as Louis XVI. The series, a CANAL+ Creation Originale in association with CAPA Drama (Newen Studios), Banijay Studios France, and Beside Productions, invites audiences to peek behind the curtain of the personal and political life of the last Queen of France.

Marie Antoinette sees Antoinette and Louis facing unprecedented challenges at the height of their power. As financial crises loom across the nation and political rivalries intensify, the royal couple must navigate an increasingly hostile court and a changing France. From Versailles to the Palais Royal, the seeds of a revolution began to take root, threatening the very foundations of France’s long-standing monarchy.

The ensemble cast includes Freya Mavor, Jack Archer (“Call the Midwife”), Jasmine Blackborow (“Shadow and Bone”), Oscar Lesage (“Dangerous Liaisons”), Crystal Shepherd-Cross (“Chronicles of the Sun”), Roxane Duran (“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”), Caroline Piette (“Beats Per Minute”) and others.

Photo: Patrick ALBENQUE (Breteuil), Emilia Schüle (Marie Antoinette), Louis Cunningham (Louis XVI), Guy HENRY (Vergennes) • Credit: Caroline Dubois / Capa Drama / Canal Plus

Great Performances at the Met “Grounded” • WXXI-TV

Two-time Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera Grounded, commissioned by the Met and based on librettist George Brant’s acclaimed play, has its awaited company premiere.

Great Performances at the Met “Grounded” airs Friday, March 21, 2025 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, one of opera’s most compelling young stars, headlines in the tour-de-force role of Jess, a hot-shot fighter pilot whose unplanned pregnancy takes her out of the cockpit and lands her in Las Vegas, operating a Reaper drone halfway around the world. As she adjusts to this new way of doing battle, she struggles under the pressure to be the perfect soldier, the perfect wife, and the perfect mother all at the same time. Met Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin takes the podium, leading a cast that also features tenor Ben Bliss as the Wyoming rancher who sweeps Jess off her feet. Michael Mayer’s high-tech staging, using a vast array of LED screens, presents a variety of perspectives on the action, including the drone’s predatory view from high above.

Photo: Emily D’Angelo as Jess and Kyle Miller as the Sensor • Credit: Ken Howard

The Philadelphia Eleven • WXXI-TV

A largely unknown women’s rights story, this film introduces you to the trailblazers who challenged the very essence of patriarchy within Christendom and successfully created a blueprint for lasting institutional change.

The Philadelphia Eleven airs Saturday, March 22 at 4 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

The film explores the lives of these remarkable women who succeeded in transforming an age-old institution despite the threats to their personal safety and the risk of rejection by the church they loved.

One of the 11 priests featured in the film is Merrill Bittner, who served in the Diocese of Rochester (1973- 1976) where she was an associate at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Webster, New York, and a co-founder of the Rochester Women’s Jail Project.

Exclusion of women from ordination and other church leadership roles made headlines in 2023 when the Southern Baptist Convention banned women from the most senior leadership roles. Today, women in many parts of the Christian church continue to struggle for full inclusion in the sacraments and leadership of the church.

A group of brave women began the fight more than 50 years ago. In 1974, there was a dramatic breakthrough when the so-called ‘stained glass ceiling’ was shattered. At a church in Philadelphia, a group of eleven women were ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in what was seen as a violation of the canons of the Episcopal Church—traditionally, only men were eligible for ordination.

Photo credit: Nikki Bramley, courtesy of Time Travel Productions

Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter • WXXI-TV

In celebration of Women’s History Month, WXXI presents this new documentary on the legacy and life of one of American history’s unsung heroes, Liz Carpenter.

Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter airs Monday, March 17 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Shaking It Up: The Life & Times of Liz Carpenter offers an up-close look at the pioneering journalist, high-ranking White House aide, and women’s rights leader. The film is produced and directed by Peabody award-winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg and Liz’s daughter, Christy Carpenter.

The film recounts Carpenter’s powerful story through new, candid interviews with LBJ’s daughters, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb; feminist leader Gloria Steinem, legendary journalists Dan Rather and Bill Moyers, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, and the late U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. The film features never-seen home movies, photos, interview clips of her on Meet the Press, The Today Show and The David Frost Show, and rarely-shown artifacts, including Carpenter’s initial handwritten draft of LBJ’s first remarks given as President in the immediate aftermath of JFK’s death, which she referred to as “probably the most important 58 words I ever wrote.”

Tony Bennett: Viva Duets • WXXI-TV

Tony Bennett performs duets with a celebrated roster of international artists.

Tony Bennett: Viva Duets airs Friday, March 7 at 10:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Viva Duets presents Tony Bennett’s classic songs with an international flavor, as he performs some of his greatest hits with a celebrated roster of artists, including Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Franco De Vita and Vicente Fernández. Filmed in 2012 during the making of the album, VIVA DUETS features behind-the-scenes tapings of the performances in English and Spanish, with artists representing multiple countries and continents.

Tractor Wars • WXXI-TV

In 1909, hundreds of companies were trying to bring powered implements to America’s farms.

Tractor Wars airs Monday, March 3 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

By the 1920s, Deere, Ford and International were in a battle to develop a reliable tractor that would become part of everyday agriculture.

Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen • WXXI-TV

Restaurateur, cookbook author and judge on The Great British Baking Show, Prue Leith opens the doors to her Cotswold Kitchen.

Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen airs Sunday, March 9 at 12 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming on the WXXI app.

Prue shares cherished recipes, tips, and handy culinary hacks in this series. Joined by her husband, John, and a cast of special friends, each episode is a unique culinary adventure as Prue celebrates her personal food heroes and husband John explores a mix of country activities on offer in the Cotswolds.

Please note: This is a 10-episode series. WXXI-TV will air episodes 1 & 2. The remaining eight episodes will be on PBS Passport. To learn more about PBS Passport, click here.

The Marley Brothers: The Legacy Concert • WXXI-TV

Join the reggae legend’s sons for a concert tribute in honor of Bob Marley’s 80th birthday in 2025.

The Marley Brothers: The Legacy Concert airs Saturday, March 1 at 9:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming on the WXXI app.

Join the reggae legend’s sons for a concert in honor of Bob Marley’s 80th birthday in 2025. Renowned as solo artists, Ziggy, Stephen, Damian, Julian and Ky-mani reunited in 2024 for the first time in 20 years to celebrate his universal impact.