WXXI TV

Samantha Brown’s Places to Love • WXXI-TV

Samantha takes viewers on a discovery of the emotional heart of travel by highlighting the people who are changing, challenging and strengthening a destination to deliver a decidedly refreshing and enriching travel experience.

Samantha Brown’s Places to Love airs Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV

In each episode, Samantha seeks out the little-known spots and haunts where innovators and disrupters are creating a brand new travel experience. Whether it’s through food and drink, art and design, culture or adventure, at the end of each episode viewers will have a well-curated list of new experiences that focus on not just how to visit a destination, but how to fully immerse in it. Season 7 encourages the viewer to experience the passion of people and the soul of a place in a way that only traveling can do.

Photo: Samantha eating Laksa noodle soup at Mindi Beach night market in Darwin, Australia • Provided by APT

Sister Boniface Mysteries • WXXI-TV

Father Brown fans will love this light-hearted murder mystery series starring a Vespa driving, crime solving Catholic nun: Sister Boniface.

Sister Boniface Mysteries airs Saturdays at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV

It’s the 1960s and police forensics are rudimentary. Luckily the residents of Great Slaughter have a secret weapon. Sister Boniface. If there’s evidence to be found, Boniface will find it, with a little help from dashing DI Sam Gillespie and buttoned-up Bermudan DS Felix Livingstone.

Photo: Sister Boniface Credit: BBC

https://youtu.be/mhAV0Tcf-14?si=RhCsQLWLrsyUXXa3

Jamaica Inn • WXXI-TV

Based on the novel by the English writer Daphne Du Maurier, this gripping mystery tells the story of Mary Yellan, a woman who is forced to move into the ominous Jamaica Inn with her aunt and uncle.

Jamaica Inn, a three-part series airs Thursdays, January 4-18 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Mary must uncover the secrets of a local group of smugglers while also managing her growing attraction to the mysterious Jem Merlyn.

Photo: Jamaica Inn cast Credit: PBS

Finding Your Roots: Forever Young • WXXI-TV

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of actors Valerie Bertinelli and Brendan Fraser.

Finding Your Roots: Forever Young airs Sunday, January 9 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets Valerie Bertinelli and Brendan Fraser—two actors who found fame when they were young and lived their lives in the limelight, cut off from their roots. Each discovers ancestors who paved the way for their success.

Photo: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Credit: PBS

The American Buffalo: Into the Storm • WXXI-TV

This Ken Burns film traces the near demise – and ultimate return – of the U.S. national mammal while examining the species’ connection to indigenous communities and the land.

The American Buffalo: Into the Storm, part two of two, airs Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the PBS app.

For untold generations, America’s national mammal sustained the lives of Native people, whose cultures were intertwined with the animal. Newcomers to the continent bring a different view of the natural world, and the buffalo are driven to the brink of extinction.

Illustration “The Last of the Buffalo” by Albert Bierstadt, 1888 l Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

My Ascension • WXXI-TV

Emma sitting cross-legged under a tree, reaching toward the sunlight. A suicide attempt left Emma paralyzed but propelled her on a mission to help others. — A suicide attempt left Emma paralyzed but propelled her on a mission to help others.

A suicide attempt left 16-year-old varsity cheerleader, Emma Benoit, paralyzed, but propelled her on a mission to use her painful experience to help other young people find hope and stay alive.

My Ascension airs Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 11 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

As Emma navigates the challenges of her physical and mental health recovery, she works to shine more light on the fact that 20 young people die every day by suicide in the in the United States.

This program is presented as part of Dialogue on Disability, a partnership between WXXI and Al Sigl Community of Agencies – in conjunction with the Herman and Margaret Schwartz Community Series. Dialogue on Disability is supported by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation with additional support from The Golisano Foundation. The weeklong initiative runs January 13-19, 2025

WXXI and Al Sigl have been hosting Dialogue on Disability since 2005. In 2014, with the support of businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation, Move to Include™ was formed. This initiative enables WXXI to present and develop programming that promotes inclusion year round.

The Letter: A Message for Our Earth

This film tells the story about the Pope’s call to care for our planet. In 2015, Pope Francis wrote Laudato Si’, a letter to the world confronting the looming calamity of human impact on Earth and ourselves. It is one of the most ambitious and revolutionary papal statements in history and outlines the most critical environmental and social issues that we collectively face. The Letter: A Message for Our Earth airs Sunday, April 2 at 2:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Great Performances at the Met: The Hours

Premieres Friday, March 17 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Rochester’s own Renée Fleming makes her return to the Met in this new opera by from Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts, adapted from Michael Cunningham’s novel, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway.” Also inspired by the 2002 Oscar-winning film, the opera follows three women from different eras who each grapple with inner demons and their roles in society. The opera also stars Tony winner Kelli O’Hara and opera star Joyce DiDonato. Phelim McDermott directs with Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting. Christine Baranski hosts.