What To Watch Now: Passport Picks For November

In a world of seemingly unlimited TV choices, finding the programs that matter to our viewers is what I love most about my job as Senior Programming Manager. Working with GBH’s Senior Director of Programming, we acquire, curate and schedule shows and films across GBH’s channels and for Passport.

As GBH’s Senior Director of Programming, Ron Bachman oversees programming for the Boston station’s slate of six public television channels.

November 16, 2020

Updated August 08, 2023

Looking for some great shows to dig into this month? GBH Passport is where you should be looking, and below are some top selections from Ron Bachman, Senior Director of Programming, and Devin Karambelas, Programming Manager. The member benefit that provides you with extended access to an on-demand library of quality public television programming, GBH Passport features current and past seasons of PBS and GBH shows — including drama, science, history, and the arts. Watch anytime on GBH.org or the PBS App.

Classic Albums

I’ve rarely met a music doc I wasn’t game to watch, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered that sixteen of them were available for streaming on Passport. Classic Albums — which explores the definitive albums of classic rock and pop history — first aired on the BBC in the early 1990s and inspired VH1’s short-lived 2002 series Ultimate Albums. Each episode turns it up to 11 with band and producer interviews and a wealth of vintage concert and session footage. Three of the albums featured (that would be Carly Simon’s No Secrets, Queen’s A Night at the Opera and Cream’s Disraeli Gears) are celebrating anniversaries in November. I can’t think of a better time to indulge in good music and memories. —Devin

Watch the preview for John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band:

Stream Classic Albums now with GBH Passport

Though Shalt Not Kill: Season 2

(Available November 19 on GBH Passport) The first season of this Italian detective drama has aired on GBH 44, but if you can’t wait for the second to hit the airwaves, you can stream all 12 episodes starting this month on GBH Passport. The series focuses on detective Valeria Ferro (Miriam Leone, a former Miss Italy), who has a sixth sense for crimes motivated by jealousy, revenge and anger. In the season opener, the body of a woman is found near a domestic violence shelter, and suspicion immediately falls on the husband. But this a mystery story, so naturally there’s more going on than meets the eye. The series is set in the rain-soaked, industrial sprawl of Turin, a noirish setting that may challenge your more romantic notions of Italy. —Ron

Watch the Season 2 preview:

Stream Though Shalt Not Kill now with GBH Passport

Dickensian

Scrooge, Miss Havisham and Fagin walk into a pub. Welcome to Dickensian, a bold 10-part reinvention of Charles Dickens’ novels that imagines what might happen if their most notable characters wound up living alongside each other in Victorian London. Despite the audacious premise of a Dickens mashup, here you’ll find a familiar, homey whodunnit mystery in the spirit of Midsomer Murders. The acting is first-rate: Stephen Rea’s methodical Inspector Bucket steals scenes more artfully than the Dodger but I couldn’t get enough of Mrs. Bumble’s (Caroline Quentin) and Mrs. Gamp’s (Pauline Collins) comic relief. Binge this around the holidays and you’re in for the best of times! —Devin

Watch a preview:

Stream Dickensian now with GBH Passport

Thomas Hart Benton

Before Ken Burns turned to making epic-length historical documentary series like The Civil War, Baseball and The Roosevelts, he crafted smaller-scale films such as this 1988 profile of painter Thomas Hart Benton. Benton’s paintings were burly, energetic and uncompromising and portrayed a self-reliant America emerging from the Great Depression. Seems like a good time to be reminded of that robust spirit of survival. —Ron

Watch a clip from the film:

Stream Thomas Hart Benton now with GBH Passport

No Passport Required

Born in Ethiopia, raised by adoptive parents in Sweden and now firmly ensconced in Harlem, NYC, chef and restauranteur Marcus Samuelsson has been exploring the rich and diverse food cultures of immigrant communities well before Padma Lakshmi’s Taste the Nation premiered last summer. Chef Marcus — who can pull off a jaunty purple cravat like nobody’s business — is equally at home eating yam fufu in Houston as he is in a churrascaria here in Boston. At its heart, No Passport Required is a mediation on how closely linked food, culture and identity are, but it’s a lot of fun to armchair eat your way through America with our affable host. The James Beard award-winning chef also recently published an excellent new cookbook, The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food. Between the book and PBS series, cooking at home for the billionth month in a row seems a lot more appealing. —Devin

Watch a preview from the Boston episode:

Stream No Passport Required now with GBH Passport

View more selections for November and beyond in the GBH Passport collection.