Coinciding with the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, PBS explores how our nation’s founding document – the supreme law of the land – remains vital to our democracy today in the timely four-part, one-hour series Constitution USA with Peter Sagal — premieres Tuesday, May 7 at 9 pm.
The show includes a segment with Steve DeAngelo, director of Harborside Health Center – a medical marijuana dispensary – who believes that states should have the power to create and enforce their own laws without interference from the federal government.
CONSTITUTION USA is a multi-media project for PBS from tpt National Productions in association with Insignia Films that explores the Constitution and its role in the American story—from its creation, to the crises that challenged and reshaped it, to contemporary debates over rights and the role of government. CONSTITUTION USA will bring our nation’s essential document vividly to life for 21st- century Americans.
The national primetime 4 hour PBS television series, CONSTITUTION USA will search out the relevance and meaning of our founding document in America today. At the helm of the series is Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s popular Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!. Sagal was specifically chosen to host the series because of his combination of intelligence, wit, freshness, and appeal to younger audiences.
Over the course of the fast-paced and lively four hours, Sagal will hit the road, travelling cross country on a customized red, white and blue Harley-Davidson, to find out where the Constitution lives, how it works, how it unites us as a nation and how battles over it have often divided us.
From New York to San Francisco, from Missoula, Montana to Tyler, Texas, Sagal will visit dozens of cities and small towns across America introducing viewers to some of today’s major constitutional debates and the fascinating stories of the people they affect every day. And for each contemporary story, Sagal will dive into the history behind it, using an innovative visual approach combining top line animation and historical footage. Sagal will show us what the Constitution says, the dramatic historical events and crises that defined it, and why all this matters.
A production of tpt National Productions in association with Insignia Films, the series is being produced by a multiple Emmy and Peabody Award-winning team of filmmakers: Catherine Allan, executive producer (Liberty! The American Revolution; Hoop Dreams); Stephen Ives, producer/director (The West; Panama Canal); and Amanda Pollak, producer (Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided; Truman).
Follow the production on tumblr and on twitter at #constitutionPBS and stay tuned for additional updates!
