What to Watch in April
Lisa Tipton
March 26, 2025
There's a huge amount of worthwhile TV out there nowadays, so it can be hard to choose what to watch. But who better to recommend shows than the person who programs them? Lisa Tipton, WTTW’s Head of Programming and Pledge, constructs the WTTW schedule by searching through offerings from many different sources which include the national PBS network, the BBC, and independent filmmakers to put together a varied and engaging broadcast schedule. Each month, she recommends a few shows that she thinks you should watch.
Find all the ways to watch WTTW here. Many of the below shows are available to stream or will be once they premiere, especially by WTTW Passport members.
Music
Celebrate some icons of American music and theater this month, with a documentary profile of Liza Minnelli from American Masters, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story (Tuesday, April 1 at 8:00 pm) and a star-studded concert in Austin City Limits Celebrates 50 Years (Friday, April 4 at 9:00 pm). Then groove along as esteemed documentarian Stanley Nelson explores the history and influence of funk in Independent Lens: We Want the Funk (Tuesday, April 8 at 8:00 pm). Finally, trace Chopin's journey and evolution from Poland to Paris, Rachmaninoff's tragedy in Russia and reinvention in America, and more stories of composers and dancers in a new season of Great Performance's Now Hear This (Fridays at 9:00 pm beginning April 11, with an extra episode April 11 at 10:00 pm).
Mystery
Travel to Jazz Age Melbourne in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (8:00 pm on Fridays beginning April 4) as the glamorous Phryne Fisher solves crimes. Whitstable Pearl (8:00 pm on Saturdays beginning April 19) brings us to a family restaurant in an English coastal town, from which single mother Pearl Nolan runs a private detective agency. We'll have recaps of Whitstable Pearl to help you follow the twists and turns.
Touring Chicago’s Lakefront with Geoffrey Baer
Geoffrey Baer is back just as the weather begins to warm to explore Lake Michigan in Chicago. He meets colorful characters both past and present, learns about its history and what needs to be done for its future, and delights in such things as a rodeo and fishing. Dive even deeper at wttw.com/lakefront.
Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On
The famed historian Simon Schama was born 80 years ago, while Allied troops were liberating the final concentration camps in which the Nazis perpetrated the Holocaust. In this new film, Schama looks beyond just the Nazis at how the Holocaust was abetted throughout Europe, visiting his mother's native country of Lithuania as well as the Netherlands, where he began his work as a historian.
