• October 31, 2011

The producers of “America in Primetime,” a four-week documentary series on PBS that began Sundayalso produced underwriting spots for Unilever’s Dove brand that helped to pay for the program, reports The New York Times. The 30-second spots, which run at the beginning and end of the hourlong episodes, made by the Documentary Group, are shot in a style similar to the show. The talent behind prime-time television shows are interviewed; in the underwriting spots, unnamed Dove marketing and public relations executives are interviewed. Such crossover producing is common in commercial TV, but it may be a first for a PBS documentary.