Pbs Signs Moyers, Attenborough

PBS regulars Bill Moyers and David Attenborough are set to return to public television with projects announced this week by PBS President and Chief Executive Officer Ervin Duggan at the winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif.

“Genesis: A Living Conversation With Bill Moyers,” set to premiere this fall, will examine the stories and issues of the first book of the Old Testament as interpreted by a range of religious and academic figures. The 10-part series will be presented to the network by public station WNET-TV in New York.

Attenborough will appear in several productions, including a 10-part BBC series, “The World of Birds,” in 1999, a third series of “David Attenborough’s Natural World” in 1997, and six new hourlong wildlife specials that will be incorporated into PBS’ “Nova” and “Nature” series.

Moyers’ many ventures for PBS include “Bill Moyers’ Journal” magazine, which first ran 1972-76 and was reprised 1979-81, and hosting the acclaimed “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth” in 1988.

Several of Attenborough’s landmark natural history series have aired on PBS, including “Life on Earth” in 1982 and its follow-up program “The Living Planet” in 1985.

Duggan also spelled out plans for “‘Les Miserables’ in Concert,” the latest in the “Great Performance” series, and a biography of Ronald Reagan as part of “The American Experience” series. The Reagan project will be produced by Austin Hoyt, whose credits include “Vietnam: A Television History,” “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age,” and “Eisenhower.”

The “Les Miserables” program, produced by Jac Venza, will feature Colm Wilkinson in the 10th anniversary performance of the hit musical.

Projects in the early stages of development include a series on jazz from Ken Burns, who produced the highly rated series “The Civil War,” Duggan said.

“We plan to sustain a healthy stream of top-quality programming,” said Kathy Quattrone, PBS vice president of programming, who was snowbound on the East Coast and participated in the news conference via telephone.

The new programming comes despite ongoing political pressure on public broadcasting, Duggan noted. However, he added that there has been a “sea change” in the tone and content of the discussion.

“The debate in Washington is no longer whether to have public broadcasting but what level of public broadcasting we should have,” he said. “It is no longer about zeroing out our budget but finding new ways to fund us.”