UNC-TV REMEMBERS…
THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT
JOHN F. KENNEDY

There are few dates in recent American memory with the same magnitude as November 22, 1963 — the day President John F. Kennedy was killed. To mark the 40th anniversary of his assassination, UNC-TV presents a host of programs that examine the events that led up to those dark days in Dallas.

To commemorate this event, American Experience reprises The Kennedys, a dramatic portrait of America’s most famous political family and their repeated pursuit of the presidency. The Emmy Award-winning film airs on UNC-TV, Monday-Tuesday, November 17-18, at 9 PM. Narrated by Stacy Keach, The Kennedysis part of American Experience’s Peabody Award-winning Presidents series. The two-part series chronicles four decades in the life of the Massachusetts clan, focusing on the family’s master builder, Joseph P. Kennedy, and his sons, Joe Jr., John, Robert and Edward.

The Father, the first episode of The Kennedys airing Monday, November 17, at 9 PM, tells the remarkable story of patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy and his creation of a dynasty that would enable him to realize, through his sons, his own failed ambitions to become America’s first Roman Catholic President. The Sons, the conclusion of The Kennedys airing Tuesday, November 18, at 9 PM, follows the Kennedy story from the glamorous imagery of Jack and Jackie Kennedy’s White House — carefully cultivated by both the president and first lady — through the national tragedies of the assassinations of JFK and RFK.

In the midst of the turmoil surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Texas reporters found themselves faced with the responsibility of bringing accurate news to the American people and providing groundbreaking, live coverage of the events surrounding Kennedy's death. Wednesday, November 19, at 8 PM, the hour-long documentary JFK: Breaking the News revisits those days in Dallas that shocked the world and reshaped broadcast journalism. Narrated by Emmy Award-winning journalist Jane Pauley, the one-hour special focuses on media coverage of the national tragedy, with an insightful look at the emergence of television as the nation's primary source of breaking news information.

On Thursday, November 20, at 9:30 PM, FRONTLINE presents Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?—an investigative biography of the man at the center of the political crime of the 20th century. The three-hour documentary special traces Oswald's life from his boyhood to that fateful day in Dallas, posing a number of questions: Was Oswald the emotionally disturbed "lone gunman?" Was he one of two gunmen that day in Dallas? Or was he an unwitting scapegoat for the real assassins? Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? follows Oswald's movements in the days and weeks leading up to the assassination and contains several investigative exclusives including:~ the final interviews with several KGB agents who handled Oswald, the final photographic evidence linking Oswald to the notorious CIA pilot David Ferrie, and the definitive proof that Oswald's fingerprints were on the rifle that killed John F. Kennedy.

Leading up to the anniversary, UNC-TV will also present short vignettes entitled 4 Days in November, 40 years ago... including little-known facts about the period surrounding Kennedy’s death and reactions from prominent North Carolina figures to the question: "where were you when you heard the news of JFK’s assassination?" 

UNC-TV is North Carolina’s only statewide public broadcasting service, made possible through a unique partnership of public investment and private support. Its commitment to producing and broadcasting programs for and about North Carolina makes it one of the state’s most important sources of information.

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