What’s on PBS tonight? Here is the full PBS schedule for Thursday, October 29, 2026, with times in Eastern Time (ET).

PBS on Thursday: a home-repair double bill, then a Spanish period drama

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

PBS spends its Thursday primetime on two very different ideas of comfort. The first hour is a pair of home-improvement shows. The 90-minute block that follows, at 9pm ET, is Velvet, a Spanish period drama that has nothing to do with either. If you only watch one thing on PBS tonight, make it Velvet.

Velvet is the reason to stay

Velvet originally aired on Antena 3 and ran four series and 54 episodes between 2014 and 2016. It sits in the romance and period-drama bracket, with Paula Echevarría, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Amaia Salamanca, Adrián Lastra and Marta Hazas in the cast. It was directed by David Pinillos and is based on Velvet: El nuevo imperio.

Ninety minutes is a long slot for a Thursday on PBS, and it is the longest programme of the evening by a distance. The channel has been putting Velvet out regularly: it turns up on six days in the current window, so this is clearly a series PBS is leaning on rather than testing. That repetition is a mild warning if you have already seen it. If you haven’t, a costume drama with 54 episodes of history is a good use of a 9pm slot, and the competition is thin: Ghosts on CBS, 9-1-1: Nashville on ABC and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test on Fox are all aimed at different viewers. Four stars.

The 8pm hour belongs to This Old House

This Old House is on at 8pm ET, with Ask This Old House straight after at 8:30pm. The main show has reached its 48th season (this evening is S48E05, the Essex County Colonial project, “Bigger Isn’t Better”), and the franchise is built around Kevin O’Connor, Norm Abram, Tom Silva, Richard Trethewey and Roger Cook. It has passed 1,200 episodes, which is a lot of kitchens.

What matters for tonight is scheduling. The same This Old House episode airs again at 10:30pm ET, so you do not have to choose between it and Velvet. Ask This Old House has its own second airing earlier, at 2:30pm ET, with a different episode. The 8:30pm entry is “Cracked Foundation Skirting”, the sort of title that tells you exactly what sort of night it is. It is not exciting television and does not pretend to be. Four stars for the main show, three for the spin-off.

Earlier and later

Antiques Roadshow US, “Thrills & Chills”, takes the 6pm hour. It is a daily fixture, so it is the habit-forming end of the evening rather than a one-off event, but the Halloween-adjacent title fits the date. PBS News Hour follows at 7pm ET.

Late, Amanpour & Company comes on at 11pm ET with its Season 9 Episode 21. If you want the day’s international news after the drama, that is the slot, and it is the only place the schedule gets serious.

Human Footprint is on twice, at 4pm and 5pm ET, which gives the afternoon a documentary spine. It is unlikely to change anybody’s plans.

How the night works

The pattern is simple: practical TV at 8pm, one big drama at 9pm, a repeat of the practical TV afterwards and then current affairs. It is a quiet Thursday with one clear highlight.


Also on TV tonight at 8pm ET

  • ABC: 9-1-1
  • NBC: The Traitors: New Blood
  • CBS: Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
  • FOX: Hell’s Kitchen
  • The CW: Scrabble
  • ION: FBI
  • TCM: The Beguiled
  • AMC: It (from 6pm ET)
  • FX: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (from 5:30pm ET)
  • Freeform: Monsters University (from 6:05pm ET)

Every channel tonight, side by side · Movies on TV this week · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on PBS tonight?

On Thursday, October 29, 2026, PBS shows This Old House at 8pm ET, Ask This Old House at 8:30pm ET, Velvet at 9pm ET and This Old House at 10:30pm ET.

Is there a movie on PBS tonight?

Yes: Velvet (2026) at 9pm ET.

What’s on PBS late tonight?

After 11pm ET, PBS has Amanpour & Company at 11pm ET.

What time does PBS’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with Antiques Roadshow US at 6pm ET.