USA: Smithsonian Channel renews America in Color

The series, which first premiered in July, presents iconic moments in U.S. history using artistry, an expert colorizing team and cutting-edge technology to transform black-and-white films and photographs into vibrant 4K color. In what is one of the most ambitious and expansive colorizing projects in TV history, Arrow Media will painstakingly source new footage by scouring vast archives, forgotten family vaults and private collections to restore and digitize more than 27 miles of film.

Season one of America in Color spanned the 1920s to the 1960s, from footage of illegal drinking in speakeasies during the 1920s, rare home movies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression and scenes of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor to Elvis Presley’s television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show and the Nixon-Kennedy debate.

Season two will take viewers on another visually stunning journey, shifting the focus from various decades to iconic thematic episodes in history, including the story of a rising generation of industrialists like Henry Ford and inventors such as Thomas Edison; rise of the Mafia in the 1920s; the American West, and “America at Play”, a window into how Americans played and entertained themselves in the first half of the 20th century.

America in Color is produced by Arrow Media and Smithsonian Networks. For Arrow Media, Tom Brisley serves as creative director, Nick Metcalfe serves as executive producer and Lucie Ridout is series producer. John Cavanagh, Charles Poe and David Royle are executive producers for Smithsonian Channel. Composite Films leads the colorization and restoration process for the series. The series is distributed internationally by Off the Fence.