Rather than just airing BBC shows, PBS will now co-produce its own BBC shows

By Sam Barsanti | January 20, 2015 | 1:38am

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In a deal that seems heavily reminiscent of the groundbreaking 1928 alliance between chocolate and peanut butter, PBS has announced that it will start co-producing shows with the BBC—its main source of non-Ken Burns/Sesame Street programming. This comes from Variety, which reports that PBS and BBC will develop “eight to 10 new programming specials across roughly 20 hours per year.” They could be entirely new productions or installments in PBS’ existing series, and they’ll reportedly “cover a full range of genres,” including “natural history, history, science, religion, and the arts.” For those wondering why beloved genres like “sci-fi western” or “superhero movie” weren’t included, it’s because PBS’ definition of genre is a bit more highbrow than we’re used to.

BBC’s Matt Forde expressed excitement about the deal, saying, “Our organizations have a long-standing relationship in bringing the best of British content to American audiences…and this is the perfect foundation on which to extend this partnership into the factual space.” He phrased it like that because he’s from England, and simply shouting “it’s gonna kick ass!” wouldn’t be fancy enough. Also, we assume that if he had been given the chance, Forde would’ve added “we don’t know when Sherlock is coming back. Stop asking us when Sherlock is coming back.”