What to Watch This April: 16 Must-See Programs to Stream
This article was revised to correct the number of programs.
Stories about music, the environment, human resilience and scientific breakthroughs pack the programming schedule this April on KCET. From new episodes of "Great Performances," environmental documentaries like "Forever Wild" and "Changing Planet," as well as poignant films from "Frontline," "Independent Lens," and "NOVA," this month has it all — all you have to do is choose your pick.
Also, KCET's award-winning original series "Lost LA" continues, with two more new episodes this month. Tune in Saturdays at 9 p.m. or stream them here.
Read on for all programs available to stream this month.
Streaming Now
Lost LA
"Lost LA" explores the region's past through documents, photos and other rare artifacts from California libraries and archives. This season, find out more about what happened to the Red Car, the Japanese American community in Crenshaw and winemaking in Southern California. Watch Now.
Saturday, April 2
Frontline: Plot to Overturn the Election – 10 p.m.
"Frontline" and ProPublica examine how lies about election fraud in 2020 have made their way to the center of American politics and how a handful of people have had an outsized impact on the current crisis of democratic legitimacy in the United States. Watch Now.
Independent Lens: Writing with Fire – 11 p.m.
Meet the women journalists of India's only all-female news network, who risk everything in a male-dominated world to uncover their country's political inequities. Watch Now.
Sunday, April 3
Forever Wild – 4 p.m.
Chronicle an environmental and democratic triumph in the historic town of Telluride, Colorado. When a billionaire developer plotted to turn 600 acres of pristine valley floor into a mammoth lake, a small group of citizens united the residents, rallied the community, and fought for the land. Watch Now.
Wednesday, April 6
Great Performances at the Met: Fire Shut Up in My Bones – 8 p.m.
Experience Grammy-winning composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Kasi Lemmon's adaptation of Charles M. Blow's memoir. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown co-direct with Brown choreographing. Baritone Will Liverman stars with soprano Angel Blue. Watch Preview.Benjamin Franklin – 4 p.m.
Ken Burns' two-part documentary explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century's most consequential and compelling personalities, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States. Watch Now.
Saturday, April 9
Frontline: Marcos Doesn't Live Here Anymore - 10 p.m.
A decorated Marine veteran fights to reunite her family after her undocumented husband is deported. A parallel love and immigration story set in a world often lived in the shadows. Watch Now.
Sunday, April 10
Return to Auschwitz: The Survival of Vladimir Munk – 4 p.m.
The life of Czech Holocaust survivor and retired U.S. professor Vladimir Munk. The program follows Vladimir in 2020, at age 95, as he returned to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, one of the camps where he was held prisoner during World War II. This trip was his last chance to honor 30 of his close relatives, including his parents who were murdered there. Watch Now.
NOVA: Determined: Fighting Alzheimer's – 10 p.m.
Follow three women at risk of developing Alzheimer's as they join a groundbreaking study to try to prevent the disease — sharing their ups and downs, anxiously watching for symptoms, and hoping they can make a difference. Watch Now.
Wednesday, April 13
Great Performances: Now Hear This – Wednesdays, 8 p.m.
Join Scott Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, as they investigate the work and life of one of America's greatest Romantic composers along with her European counterparts by performing her work and exploring where she spent her early life. Watch Now.
Chamber Music Society Returns – Wednesdays, 10 p.m.
Experience the exciting yet daunting process of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center coming back to its home, Alice Tully Hall, after a year and a half away due to the pandemic. Go inside the planning and execution of the celebratory first concert back. Watch Now.
Saturday, April 16
Independent Lens: Jim Allison: Breakthrough – 11 p.m.
Meet a visionary doctor on a journey to find a cure for cancer. Nobel Prize winner Dr. Jim Allison spent decades waging a lonely but ultimately fruitful quest to discover a way the immune system can stop cancer in its tracks. Watch Now.
Sunday, April 17
Independent Lens: Cooked: Survival by Zip Code – 12 a.m.
Learn the story of a heat wave that overtook Chicago in July 1995, killing 739 residents, most of them poor, elderly and African American. The heat wave revealed a long-term crisis of poverty, racism, and economic and social isolation in the city. Watch Now.
Saturday, April 23
POV: On the Divide – 11 p.m.
McAllen, Texas, is home to the last reproductive health clinic on the Texas-Mexico border. It is the center of the tension between religious protesters who try to stop patients coming inside and the security staff of the clinic who fight to protect it. Follow three different Latinx members of this community and the unforeseen choices they face for their daily survival. Watch Now.
Sunday, April 24
Changing Planet – 10 p.m.
Every year over seven years, conservationist M. Sanjayan anchors a global storytelling effort to monitor seven iconic locations across the planet. Featuring the latest science and emphasizing local voices, each location represents a unique biome and a litmus test for change happening across the planet. Watch Now.
Saturday, April 30
Independent Lens: Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness – 11 p.m.
What begins as a science film emerges far beyond the explicable. Follow six brilliant researchers approaching consciousness from different perspectives. Watch Preview.
