American Public Television has set the US premiere date for the Japanese sci-fi drama Teen Regime, which will be shown on numerous public TV stations across the country.
In countries across the globe — from Italy, Portugal and Spain, to Japan, South Korea and Thailand — the birth rate is dropping. Precipitously. As a result, these and other countries with falling birth rates will have increasingly higher proportions of over-60s in their populations while their overall population numbers shrink. These are not good trends.
Taking a look at this situation is the five-episode scripted drama Teen Regime. While it is science fiction, the problems it tackles are quite real, indeed.
Set in the year 202X, Teen Regime sees a deeply-stagnated economy in Japan as birth rates continue to drop. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so in an attempt to reverse the situation, the prime minister launches Project Utopi-AI, an experiment that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to select leaders to govern a demoralized city.
The AI selects Maki Aran (Fûju Kamio, High & Low: The Worst), a 17-year-old high school student with ambitions to establish an egalitarian society, to be the city’s leader. Others whom the AI chooses for the city’s government are in their early 20s.
With the help of AI, Aran and his young team get down to work to direct reforms and transform the failing, dispirited city into a thriving, idealistic community: a Utopi-AI.
Teen Regime premieres in the US on the public TV stations and networks listed below starting on or after April 1, 2023. Check your local listings or contact the station that serves your area for air dates and times. If your station isn’t listed, contact them or American Public Television to request the program.
- Alaska: KUAC
- Arizona: KAET
- Arkansas: Arkansas PBS
- California: KCET, KOCE, KPBS, KPJK, KQED, KQEH, KRCB, KVCR, KVPT
- District of Columbia/Washington, DC: WETA
- Florida: WEDU, WFSU, WGCU, WLRN, WPBT, WSRE, WUCF, WXEL
- Hawaii: PBS Hawai’i
- Illinois: WILL, WQPT, WTVP
- Indiana: WFWA, WNIT, WYIN
- Kansas: KPTS, KTWU
- Louisiana: WYES
- Massachusetts: WGBY
- Michigan: WGVU, WNMU, WTVS
- Mississippi: Mississippi Public Broadcasting
- Missouri: KMOS
- Montana: Montana PBS
- Nevada: KLVX, KNPB
- New Hampshire: NHPBS
- New Jersey: NJ PBS
- New Mexico: KENW, KNME
- New York: WCFE, WLIW, WMHT, WNYE
- North Carolina: PBS North Carolina
- Ohio: WVIZ
- Oklahoma: OETA
- Oregon: Oregon Public Broadcasting, KSYS
- Pennsylvania: WPSU
- Tennessee: WCTE
- Texas: KAMU, KEDT, KLRN, KPBT, KUHT
- Virginia: WBRA, WHRO
- Washington: KCTS
- Wisconsin: PBS Wisconsin, WMVS
Teen Regime will also be available to stream in the US with Passport on pbs.org and the PBS App beginning April 1.
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