'Bucks County, USA' Docuseries To Air Nationwide On PBS

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — "Bucks County, USA," a new five-part docuseries that explores the divisive political and cultural wars that swept through Bucks County beginning in 2020 and continuing over the next four years, will air nationwide beginning Sept. 20 on PBS. The world premiere of the first two episodes was held at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by Barry Levinson and Robert May and filmed over a four-year period beginning in 2020, the series focuses on the political turmoil that deeply divided the Central Bucks School District community during those four years and aims to "look beyond politics to offer an impartial, human perspective" on a deeply divided community in a very purple county and state.

Subscribe

The series is told through the eyes of Evi and Vanessa, who were both 14 years old and attending middle school in the Central Bucks School District when filming began.

The two friends find themselves caught between parents on opposite sides of America's culture wars and COVID issues, clashing over pandemic restrictions, school closures, LGBTQ+ rights, curriculum changes, the removal of books from school libraries over sexual content, and the weaponization of children in the political debate.

Evi and Vanessa manage to remain friends throughout the turmoil all around them as the series asks whether a community — and a country — can follow the example of its children and find a new path forward.

"Look at how these kids managed to remain friends throughout all this craziness," says a voice on the movie's trailer, just released this week.

Another man says, "We've got to stop this right now. No more conservative. No more liberal. No more this side, that side, their side. It's humanity."

The Central Bucks community will see a lot of familiar faces during the mini-series, many of whom were strongly voicing their support or criticism at the podium during sometimes volatile public comment sessions.

They'll also see familiar sights, including Central Bucks West High School and the familiar school board meeting room.

The show is set to air on PBS and be available to stream via PBS.org and the PBS app starting Sept. 20.