PBS - World's Greatest Cemeteries Series 1 (2021)

The world's greatest cemeteries hold more than mortal remains. They are also monuments to landscape, design, horticulture and history. In a world where differences are seen as dangerous, our history must be as inclusive as possible.

Ch1: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston
Mount Auburn Cemetery, founded in 1831, is a National Historic Landmark. The stunning landscape, monuments and gardens draw over 200,000 visitors per year. Host Roberto Mighty explores the lives of Dorothea Dix, a pioneering advocate for the mentally ill; and Edmonia Lewis, a renowned African-American/Native-American sculptor. Reenactments: escaped slave-turned philanthropist; a medical student's sacrifice.

Ch2: Highgate Cemetery, London
London's Highgate Cemetery contains some of the finest funerary architecture in Great Britain. Host Roberto Mighty shares Victorian-era attractions. Roberto and expert guests visit the lives of Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy; Mary Ann Evans/"George Eliot", author of Silas Marner and Middlemarch; Black World War I hero Lt. Walter Tull; and discuss landscape architecture.

Ch3: Green-Wood Cemetery, New York
Brooklyn's 478 acre Green-Wood Cemetery is a National Historic Landmark. Host Roberto Mighty and experts explore landscape, glacial ponds and paths containing one of the largest outdoor collections of 19th- and 20th-century statuary and mausoleums. Roberto visits the lives of composer Leonard Bernstein; modern artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; and Civil War era Black physician Thomas Joiner-White.

Ch4: Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles
Roberto Mighty visits monuments and the lives of screen/music legends - Judy Garland; Mickey Rooney; Johnny Ramone; Herb Jeffries ("The Bronze Buckaroo"); Hattie McDaniel, the first African American woman to win an Oscar; Mel Blanc, the voice of “Bugs Bunny” and other beloved cartoon characters; and studio mogul Cecil B. DeMille.

Ch5: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati
The 3rd largest cemetery in the USA and a National Historic Landmark. Experts show Champion Trees and check out water features. Historical Reenactments: Feminist firebrand Frances Wright; Abolitionist Levi Coffin and Landscape Architect Adolph Strauch. Visit to monument of formerly enslaved African-American inventor Henry Boyd.

Ch6: Season Finale
Roberto Mighty visits the Chateau of one of France's greatest authors; a Cincinnati monument to a Civil War family; a Victorian London cemetery; and a Boston Revolutionary War graveyard. Cemetery experts give a primer on funerary iconography and a horticultural peek at pondside plantings; and we drop hints about our exciting Season 2.